• We’re going into comic meltdown here, NEEDING to see this stuff sooner than later, as today Kevin’s given us another treat — The first look at some gorgeous pencils from issue #2 of Daredevil/Bullseye: Target. Kevin tells us it’s coming Mid 2006, and that both this series and Spidey/Black Cat are now priority projects. YES! We’re going to let Kevin introduce you to these, as his words do it just perfectly:

It’ll be great to see Kevin’s name topping all the Wizard charts again when these books hit, as we know that’s what they’ll do. With these books and upcoming “Clerks” comic project (see newsbites below), it’s a great time to be a View Askew fan AND a comic fan.

• The speculation is over! Clerks 2 has a female lead in the lovely and talented Rosario Dawson, as reported by VARIETY today. We’ll have more to say on this later today, but in the meantime, we’re digging JoBlo’s report:

Rosario Dawson, whose performance in ALEXANDER is nothing short of brilliant, has signed on to star in a pair of movies for the new Weinstein Co. First up, Dawson will star in KILLSHOT, the Tarantino-produced flick that co-stars Diane Lane, Thomas Jane, Mickey Rourke and Johnny Knoxville. In the film Dawson will play the girlfriend of one of the gangsters pursuing a couple (Lane, Jane) trying to hide in the witness protection program. John Madden (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE) will direct the film starting in October. Dawson will then seque into a leading role in Kevin Smith’s PASSION OF THE CLERKS. Her details in that film are a little sketchy but one might assume she’d play a romantic interest for either of our two leads, Dante and Randal. CLERKS is scheduled to begin filming in Los Angeles in January. Dawson can be seen next this December in RENT. But seriously: go get ALEXANDER on DVD. Thank me later.

More on this breaking story later! We see that Rotten Tomatoes and Coming Soon are also running with the story.

• More Terry Dodson magic for you here, courtesy of Kevin. It’s the cover to Black Cat/Spidey issue #5 in pencil format. Can’t WAIT to read the final issues in this series. Hurry hurry hurry!
• The book “Degrassi: Generations” is now shipping from bookstores everywhere. It features a new foreword by Kevin himself on his love affair with the show.
• The Hollywood Reporter had more details on the great news of “My Name Is Earl” taking top honors on the tube last night:

• And finally today, an odd fact — A bit of View Askew trivia to impress your friends with. From sccoper Kyle today:

Pretty neat, eh? Alright, that’s it. Now get outside and play. Later.

• Now here’s a pickle — The Stash signing gig WILL start at 2 PM as planned on Saturday. Get ready to pick up your new Mallrats DVD there, it’s a beat. Jason Lee WILL make it, but due to scheduling issues, won’t show up until AFTER 7 PM. SO…You early birds won’t get to see Lee. There’s still plenty of folks to go around, and we’re still going to suggest you get there early. Let the chips fall where they will. As Kevin says, though, adjust your travel plans accordingly if you want to see Lee in the flesh. We know, it’s a tough call. We also imagine some of you may suggest getting BACK in line after getting the early autographs. If we learn more, we’ll tell ya. And remember, to keep the line moving, you can ONLY bring up to THREE other items for autographs. Might we suggest a Mallrats poster though. Oh, how we wish we were there to get more autographs on ours…

• You know, it’s such an exciting time to be a part of the Askewniverse. Then again, it kinda always is, isn’t it? But wow, lately, when you think about it, there’s a ton of amazing stuff going on.

Alright, so first off, Rosario Dawson in Clerks 2. She’s officially a female lead in the film, and man are we stoked. What an amazing addition to the ever-expanding Askewniverse. Kevin says he’s got some amazing things in store for her role and the way she fits into the picture. We can’t wait to find out. Rosario’s shown a great bit of versatility in past roles, and we just know she’s going to deliver Kevin’s words perfectly. We hope you’re all stoked for this one. Kevin’s now posted a full cast list, which includes Jennifer Schwalbach making her return to the screen as well!

There it is – which makes our “Clerks 2” leads: Brian O’Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Rosario Dawson, Trevor Fehrman, Jennifer Schwalbach, Jason Mewes, and Kevin Smith.

Now, we got Lee’s “My Name Is Earl” — You folks know the story, that Kevin basically gave Lee his break in Mallrats — Now, the show’s premiere has won the night with some amazing numbers for NBC — Beating out everyone else, some tough competition, too. Bigtime congrats to Jason Lee for the show’s success. We’re sure folks will be back for more week after week.

And speaking of Mallrats, man, BIG signing on the way this weekend – TWO DAYS AWAY! Are you gonna be there? Stash Westwood. You can’t afford to miss it. Tons of Mallrats cast, View Askew fans are far as the eye can see — Don’t miss this one. The banner at the top of the page will fill you in on every detail.

And hey, finally, don’t forget, there’s a MOVIE to shoot too! Clerks 2 is less than a month away from starting production. WOW. Is it a cool time to be a fan, or what?