Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, here’s a look at what Kevin’s contributed to EW. First and foremost, one of our favorite pieces of ALL TIME. This article, titled “A Guided Tour of my Geeky Career”, spans 21 photo and text pages on the website, and features quotes direct from the man himself on all of these milestones. Directors talking about their films and lives is always fascinating to us, and this article has to be among the best of the year. We’ve taken a few snippets to share here, but surfing over to EW to peep the entire article is required reading, or you’re going to bed without dessert:

ON CHASING AMY: “”When I watch that flick now, I feel like Holden is such a f–ing child. Then I remember that I was that guy, and that’s why I wrote the flick in the first place: to stop being that guy. Still…I’m so disconnected from that jealous boyfriend/male sexual-insecurity thing now that it’s baffling to watch. Love the flick, though. Very pure. [It was made by] a bunch of people who either had to redeem themselves (me and Mosier, post-Rats) or were waiting for their breakout role (Ben and Joey) or a guy who’d let the world know he could do more than skateboard.””

ON THE CLERKS CARTOON: “”If you love the Clerks cartoon, and I do too, you owe a big thanks to [executive producer] Dave Mandel. Rather than do a real-world, straightforward adaptation of the flick, Mandel’s the guy who — thankfully — made it surreal. The process, though — six months per episode, from script to screen — killed us. I wish we’d done it more like South Park and let the animation slip a bit in favor of getting more episodes in the can, or being more current. We pitched it to ABC when they were in third place and were willing to try anything to find a hit. By the time we turned in our six episodes, they’d already found said hit in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, and suddenly our show seemed like a waste of time. Only two ever aired. The Clerks cartoon left a bad taste in my mouth, in terms of working in TV.””

ON CLERKS II: “”Even though it was high time (maybe past due, according to some folks), it was kinda sad. But at the same time, you couldn’t ask for a better end-to-end experience: from the writing all the way up to the DVD release. I loved that movie with every iota of my being, man. Even when people were pooh-poohing on the Web during preproduction, I didn’t care: I knew it was the best thing I could do for myself. That flick completely recharged my batteries, man. I have zero regrets about any aspect of that flick. Jeff Anderson…that guy gave such a great performance. He owns that film, because it’s all about Randal — the guy who’s completely out of step with the world around him. And that’s how I felt when I wrote it.””

Not only did Kevin contribute all that great stuff, but also submitted a two-part article summarizing the coolest folks he’s met at the San Diego Con. Let’s first get some select snippets here from both, and then we’ll let you know how to get to full versions:

Robert Downey Jr. – Comic-Con 2007: The Con the Iron Man trailer debuted (the July before its May 2008 opening). RDJ was in town, big pimpin’ his Starkness. He and the Iron Man entourage emerged from a freight elevator onto a loading dock at the back of the venue, where I was smoking a cigarette, waiting for a ride. We made brief eye contact, but I’m the guy who never says “hi” to anybody for fear they’ll be like “I hate your stuff.” Proving he’s the bigger man, Downey stepped over, extended his hand, and introduced himself. Class act. We exchanged pleasantries and moved on, but that was always the classiest Con move I’ve ever seen.

Joe Quesada & Jimmy Palmiotti – Comic-Con ’95. Then, the rock stars of the comics world, with their Event Comics label, I met Jimmy and Joe at an early Mallrats sneak screening. Afterward, they offered to do artwork for the opening credits, and our friendship began.

Neil Gaiman (author of the Sandman comic series and the novella Coraline, among others) – At last year’s Comic-Con, backstage. I’ve always loved Neil’s writing, so what a delight and relief it was to discover him a sweetheart.

Leslie Mann – After the EW panel last year, I was backstage talking to Zack Snyder about an early peep at Watchmen when Leslie Mann (the actress and Judd Apatow’s wife) was passing by, stopped, and said, “Oh my God…you are so funny.” I just about passed out.

Bob Chapman – Maybe he’s not a celeb to anybody else, but Chapman was like a rock star to me. Because before Chappy, people simply read comics.

Those are just snips of each of the 5, so you’ll of course want to surf over to the EW website for the whole thing. Here’s the way:

“The five coolest people I’ve met at the San Diego Comic-Con” Part One

“The five coolest people I’ve met at the San Diego Comic-Con” Part Two