Been reading all your thoughts – ecstatic, good, bad, and horrific. Much appreciated on all fronts. For those who dug – thanks; we liked the show too. For those who felt let-down – we tried (to do well, that is; not to let you down).

Here are my thoughts on our first airing of ‘Clerks’ last night.

We threw a little shindig here, during which I barbecued, folks drank, and we shared an ice cream cake that read “Fuck the critics. Clerks Rules.” I watched the show with the love of my life, our kid, the really funny friend I created the show with (Mandel), Mosier’s proxy (his other half, Monica; Mosier was out of town, and was missed), two of my oldest friends, the friend who nudged me into filmmaking in the first place, my amazing and supportive parents-in-law, the guy who made our first film so memorable, and his lady (who was the voice of Nicole Corwin – the surprise witness). We had a great time, and were particularly fond of the ‘bumpers’ (those things before the commercials that identify the program and the network), as it made the show feel official. Afterwards, I fielded calls from well-wishers (including Mewes, who opted to watch it with his mom at home), and then we cruised the board and read reaction with great interest, delight, and eye-rolling, talking for hours about the past, the present, the future, and how delighted Mewes was to meet the guy who played ‘Spawn’ at the Television Critics Association press conference back in Feb/March. When the evening ended around three in the morning, I cleaned up a bit, smoked a cigarette, and climbed into bed next to the wife, falling asleep pretty soon after.

All in all, a great night, and one I’m not likely to forget.

All your reactions are valid. None of you are right or wrong. At the end of the day, they have as much or as little impact as my emotional/psychological filters allow. Again, though – I do so appreciate hearing from anyone who took the time to register their thoughts.

But here are mine.

Understand, seven or eight years ago when I sat down at a clunky old Smith Corona Word Processor (which was essentially an electric typewriter that converted into something slightly more high-tech when you attached the disk drive and the screen to it) and started banging out a story about guys who work in a convenience store, I never really thought anyone outside of my friends and some cats in the Monmouth county area would see it. I never dreamed it would get released nationally in arthouses, or that it would travel abroad. I never imagined that it would give me a career in the entertainment biz. And most of all, I never… NEVER, NEVER, NEVER… fathomed that it would lead, for one brief, shining moment, to me having (and being one of the stars of) my very own cartoon. Remembered fondly, or remembered as a debacle, that’ll warm me for the rest of my life in such a way that I can’t do justice here.

What a weird and wonderful trip it’s been. Thanks for taking the ride with me (or at least standing by the side of the road, praying I careen into an embankment).

If all goes well, next year brings an end to the ten year journey (from seeing ‘Slacker’ in ‘91 and making the decision to be a filmmaker, to the last outing for our Jersey stoner duo) that has been the View Askewniverse proper. We’ll be closing the book on Jay, Bob, Dante, Randal, Brodie, Holden, Banky, Alyssa, Bartleby, Loki and all the other characters who populated our filthy little soap opera, and maybe starting a new volume with stories that don’t rely or trade off on the memory of the others. The ‘Clerks’ cartoon was (is) an important chapter in that unnecessarily metaphorical book that has been my film career, and can stand shoulder to shoulder with the other stuff we’ve done, as far as I’m concerned. For that chapter, I thank Scott, Dave, Brian, Steve, O’Halloran, Jeff, Mewes, Phil, Ari, Billy, Sloss, Harvey, Bob, Angela, Bush, Bailey and everyone else who worked on the show or made it possible (hell – even Eisner, Iger, Bloomberg and Braun). You all made a life-long cartoon lover from Jersey very, very happy.

Thanks for indulging that momentary burst of sentimentality. We now return you to Lucifer Lyndon Razoodock’s unending musings about ‘Dogma’ (and for the record, tom – I was a huge ‘Exorcist III’ fan too’).