• 9 years ago on this day, our first View Askew venture, titled Drinks Askew, went online. It’s been a blur since then, and we’ve been getting bigger, stronger, and better ever since. Thanks to the endless support of the fans, the View Askew family, and of course Kevin Smith himself, we’re happy to be your continued official news source for everything that’s Askew on the web. 1 more year before we hit the big 10 – News Askew X! We’ve got a year to plan for that one, not sure what quite to do to celebrate that milestone…Until then, we’d like to say we appreciate your continued support, scoops, and most of all, just your stopping by and spending a few moments of your precious web time with us. We appreciate you all!

• Coming Soon has a mention and a few pics of Clerks II in their summer wrapup of Weinstein Company releases.
• Looks like Dave Klein, the Clerks II DP, has a steady job working for The N’s “Beyond the Break”, a new teen drama series. Congrats Dave!
• Hear Jason Lee’s voice in the trailer for the upcoming animated feature “Monster House”.
• And hey, while we’re talking trailers with “My Name Is Earl” starts, how about this one for “Art School Confidential” featuring Ethan Suplee? Haven’t seen anything about this thought i would make you guys aware – if you weren’t already. From the trailer this looks like it could be quite funny and it stars Willam himself Ethan Suplee!
• And finally today, want to see who the 37th (yes, 37th) pick of the 6th round of yesterdays’ NFL Draft was? Funny. Catch ya next time!

• The Clerks II release date is moving?!?! Wha!??! We’re pretty good at reading between the lines Kevin drops, though Kevin makes it easy to read between, we must admit. But a recent post, announcing the release date of Sam Jackson flick “Snakes on a Plane”, seems to have stirred discussion and a post from the man himself indiciating that Clerks II won’t be hitting screens on that day — Meaning we’re MOVING! Will it be up? Stay tuned, and in the meantime, watch Kevin’s thread and News Askew.

• Wanna read some sample pages of “Where’s the Beef?!?!” – the “Clerks II” comic that reveals how Dante and Randal went from working at Quick Stop to flipping burger at Mooby’s? Kevin’s been kind enough to post some scripts from the comic, which will be available exclusively in the summer released book collecting ALL the View Askew comics into a nice hardback. Yes, you should have bought it anyway. But now, with this exclusive comic, you MUST OWN IT. No question about it. You can read Kevin’s Myspace Blog for the whole deal, but…in the meantime…Let’s just preview you Panel Five for now…

We thank Kevin for sharing with us, and can’t wait to see the final product. It’s been a while since a new View Askew comic hit, so this one’s highly anticipated by these webmasters.

• Clerks is featured in today’s IMDB Poll asking your favorite Black & White flick. Head over and give us some votes! We’re doing very well so far.
• Jason Lee makes an appearance in the latest photo email from his Stereo Sound Agency. Check it out.
• And last, but certainly not least – A quick congrats to Dan Clay, for hitting the magic 19 million — We’re working on getting a better screenshot from the guy if we can, but as always, are humbled and most appreciative of your continued visits to News Askew. We thank you, and hope you’ll stick around. We have so much excitement in store for you. And you are going to LOVE Clerks 2. LOVE IT. See ya next time!

• Okay, so there’s a headline and no news, but impending news is always kind of exciting too, no? Here’s what Kevin had to say recently:

Our popular guess (and many others’) is the confirmation of an unrated release for Clerks II. Or perhaps, even more shocking, an R without any cuts? Ya never know. Stay tuned folks.

• This sounds like one of the cooler events we can recall since we’ve been doing this page — Clerks will be featured in the Netflix Rolling Roadshow, which will screen films at special locations and tie film-related events to them. On August 6th, Clerks will screen AT the actual QUICK STOP in Leonardo! We imagine a big screen in the parking lot with folks gathered about. Even cooler, Kevin and some of the flick’s cast are scheduled to attend. What a FANTASTIC thing to do before the sequel comes out. This looks to be a can’t miss event. As soon as we learn more, we’ll pass that info on to you. This could go down in the books as one of the coolest Askew events ever!

• A hearty congratulations to the super cool Bryan Johnson, as the new head honcho of Stash West. Kev says:

• We’ll have them at the Stash signed by release time, but Amazon’s already announced 2 new script books that we haven’t heard about yet, coming from Graphitti.

The Clerks II Screenplay (due August 25, 2006)

and…

“In-Convenience: The View Askewniverse From Clerks To Clerks II (Unbound)” (due February 25, 2007), which collects every script Kevin’s ever written along with new photos. Sounds great! We’ll let ya know when we have them available for you.

• And attention, Degrassi fans: This weekend in Toronto at the Paradise Comics TORONTO COMICON there’s a Degrassi graphic novel launch panel. The panel takes paces from 1-2 PM on Saturday, and features starts from teh show, prizes, and more. There will be book signings with the cast as well! 11 to noon, and 3 to 4:30. Appearing at the booth will be: Stacey Farber (Ellie), Ryan Cooley (J.T.), Miriam McDonald (Emma), Stefan Brogren (Snake from Degrassi Jr. High and DNG), and J. Torres. Check promotion info out HERE, or visit the con’s website http://torontocomicon.com/.

• By far our most popular scoop today, news broke this morning of our beloved Jason Lee taking on a new film role — The voice of the animated title character of the forthing film, “Underdog”, of all things! CNN/Hollywood Reporter has the story:

Speed of lightning, roar of Jason Lee

‘My Name is Earl’ actor to give voice to ‘Underdog’

LOS ANGELES, California (Hollywood Reporter) — Have no fear, the voice of Underdog is here.

“My Name Is Earl” star Jason Lee is lending his voice to the title character of “Underdog,” a live-action Disney adaptation of the classic 1960s cartoon.

“Underdog” followed the adventures of a humble dog named Shoeshine Boy who became the superheroic Underdog, who spoke in rhyme. In the movie, he is adopted by a 12-year-old boy and uses his superpower to protect his love, Polly Purebred, and the citizens of Capitol City from the evil Simon Barsinister. Peter Dinklage has been cast as Barsinister.

Frederik Du Chau (”Racing Stripes”) is directing. Spyglass Entertainment is producing for Walt Disney Pictures.

During his “Earl” hiatus, Lee will direct a short film that he wrote. The silent love story stars Giovanni Ribisi and Beth Riesgraf. Lee is also working on photography projects for such publications as Anthem and Flaunt.

Lee voiced the character of Syndrome in “The Incredibles.” In the summer, he will appear in Sony’s motion-capture feature “Monster House,” and he has a cameo in Kevin Smith’s “Clerks II.”

Many other sites picked up the scoop today, including Yahoo Movies and Aint It Cool News.

“Fuck You, Rich Little!”

• Watch Jeff Anderson spout off a few amazingly accurate impressions as he and Trevor introduce this new segment of Train Wreck, the Clerks II video blog. This one was filmed on the last day at Mooby’s — Could we actually be approaching the New Jersey editions of the series? Find out what’s stuck to Jeff’s hat, too! Thanks again to Zak and Joey for keepin’ the hits comin’! View the vids at Kev’s Mypsace or the official Clerks II site.