To celebrate the event, a massive article on Kevin’s run titled “DAREDEVIL: The Director’s Commentary” is featured, and we’ve got the scans. This fantastic piece takes all the elements of this epic tale, featuring frames from the books, accompanied by remarks from the creators (the dream team of Smith, Quesada, and Palmiotti) themselves. Folks, this is a MUST-OWN issue if you want to keep your collection complete. Much like owning the special edition DVD for flicks you like, you’ll want to pick up this issue of Wizard. Check out the entire article via scans above, and pick up your copy of Wizard today before they’re gone.

Reading it is one thing, but let’s first start out with some live video. The Movie Blog presents choice segments from the now mythical panel featuring Judd Apatow, Zach Snyder, Frank Miller and, of course, Kevin Smith.

Here’s a rundown and snips from more press from this year’s San Diego Comic Con:

CNN: “Director wanted ‘Porno’ to have attractive sex”


“…”Going into it I wanted it to look better than the stuff we’d done in the past. It kind of looks like a real movie,” Smith said. “The most important thing was how do you shoot sex because I’ve never done that before. … I wanted the sex to look much better than my sex.”

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Zap2It: “‘Watchmen,’ Judd Apatow win Kevin Smith’s Comic-Con love”


“…Even though the Visionaries panel for filmmakers features heavyweights like Frank Miller and Zack Snyder, it’s pretty much the Kevin Smith show all the way, with a little comedic support from Judd Apatow.”

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New York Times: “More Sneak Peeks at Comic-Con”


“Also at Comic-Con, the writer and director Kevin Smith (“Clerks”) presented some footage from his new film, “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.” The comedy, starring Seth Rogen (“Knocked Up”) and Elizabeth Banks (“Meet Dave”), has been rated NC-17 by the Motion Picture Association of America, though Mr. Smith said he was hoping to have the rating changed to R. He told a crowd on Saturday that he edited and resubmitted the movie three times and that another hearing was scheduled for Aug. 4 to evaluate his latest cut.”

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Huffington Post: “I’m a Freak and Geek”


Cites that Kevin “received the biggest applause upon entering” the filmmakers’ panel, and that Zack & Miri “looks like it could be the funniest he’s ever made.”

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USA Today Blogs “Kevin Smith Welcomed Home”


The Comic-Con crowd certainly loves Smith, who has been to 15 straight comic-book conventions. Attendees kept him for almost an hour with questions, praise and the occasional stand-up routine.


“These are my people,” Smith says. “It almost doesn’t matter what kind of movie you bring here. If they feel you’re one of them – someone who loves comics, someone who really loves movies, they’ll get behind you.”

NBC Interviewed Kevin for a few minutes at the event, which we’ve got embedded above for your viewing pleasure. In it, he reveals they are looking to start shooting “Red State” early in 2009.

Here’s more coverage on Kevin’s antics from around the web:

AP: “Kevin Smith gets raunchier with his new film” (WARNING – MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD)


…The “Zack and Miri” clip shown to the crowd of thousands featured a heated discussion between a gay couple played by Justin Long and Brandon Routh. Long’s character is a porn star who has appeared in various films with unprintable titles, and Zack (Seth Rogen) is fascinated.


Banks, who plays Miri, described the film as “a really sweet love story,” but Smith assured fans it was just as raunchy as any of his past flicks, including “Clerks,” “Dogma” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.”


The film is a departure visually, though, he said.


“Going into it I wanted it to look better than the stuff we’d done in the past. It kind of looks like a real movie,” Smith said. “The most important thing was how do you shoot sex because I’ve never done that before. … I wanted the sex to look much better than my sex.”

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Los Angeles Times Blog: Comic-Con: Quote of the day from Kevin Smith


“You’re like the Miley Cyrus of porn!”


— Kevin Smith, after finding out Traci Lords made her first porno when she was 15.


Lords just completed filming on Smith’s latest “Zack and Miri Make A Porno” which the the two are promoting at Comic-Con.

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EW Popwatch: “Judd Apatow and Kevin Smith bring the house down at EW’s “Visionaries Panel”


AUDIENCE QUESTION: As filmmakers, I wanted to ask who in the past or present as filmmakers have inspired you in your careers to get involved in this genre?


KEVIN SMITH: For me, it was likely Jim Jarmusch, Richard LInklater, Hal Hartley that made me want to get into indie film.


JUDD APATOW: Well, Kevin Smith laid down the track.


SMITH: Yes, b—-, yes. [Smith and Apatow hug.] Say that s— in print, motherf—er. I’m taking that into the studio, ‘You see what fucking Apatow said.’ Give me a job.


APATOW: But also Hal Ashby and Cameron Crowe…


SMITH: F— those guys.

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Hollywood.Com: “Seth Rogen Explains How ‘Zack and Miri Make a Porno'”


HW: Kevin Smith likes to write long passages of dialogue about his favorite films, what did he choose for this one?


SR: There was a big chunk where I talk about Clerks for like three pages. [laughs] We make fun of a lot of movie titles. There is a Sleeping with the Enemy moment.

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LA Times Blog: “‘Battlestar Galactica’ and .. Kevin Smith?”


“This show is so good that it’ll get you pregnant.”


And that’s what “Clerks” director and fanboy icon Kevin Smith brought to the “Battlestar Galactica” panel that he moderated Saturday. A bit of raunch, a scattering of F-bombs. And I don’t mean “frak.”

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EW Popwatch: “Want to know who the final Cylon will be on ‘Battlestar Galactica’?”


…moderator Kevin Smith, who introduced himself with his trademark coarse wit: “I have nothing to do with this show, which is probably why it is so f—ing good.” (No fraks for Mr. Smith.)

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CinemaBlend: “Kevin Smith Heading For The Final Frontier”


“So what’s up next for Smith? It looks like he’s still trying to find a home for his horror movie, Red State, deeply anticipated by fans but without a studio as of yet. After that, Smith grew a little tight-lipped, but hinted that it might be a movie set in space.”

And there ya have it! Space, eh? We’re thinking that “Ranger Danger” may come to be after “Red State”, though right now, all eyes are on “Zack & Miri”, which is 3 months away from theaters. Whoohoo!

SDCC ’08 – DiDio on Kevin Smith, Batman and Onomatopoeia


As was announced by special panel guest Kevin Smith himself at today’s DC Nation panel at San Diego Comic-Con, the filmmaker and occasional comic book writer will be coming to DC Comics starting in November.

The three issue miniseries will re-introduce the unique villain (and flashback to English class), Onomatopoeia, who first saw life in a two-part story in Smith’s Green Arrow run (issues #12-#13). The character is largely a mystery, and has had only very minor appearances since Smith’s original story. What is known about Onomatopoeia could fill a thimble – he can perfectly imitate the sounds around him, may have some super-human abilities, rarely, if ever speaks, and is deadly with many kinds of weapons. He nearly killed Connor Hawke during his first appearance.

As for the character’s origins, Smith related the idea behind the character in a 2007 interview, saying: “When I did Green Arrow, I went with Onomatopoeia for a villain, just because I loved that word, and it kind of formed the character inasmuch as he would say sounds out loud. It only kind of works – I think – on a comic book page because if you have a gun going off, they usually write BLAM! and then you can have, you know, the character saying “BLAM!” in a word balloon, but like if you tried to do that cinematically you can’t really rock it. A gun in a film sounds completely different. It doesn’t read as BLAM! and so to have a dude say BLAM! after a true gunshot, all these people would be like ‘he’s just retarded’. I think it works great in print and on a comic book page. I don’t think that character would translate very well outside of that.”

While the announcement of the three issue miniseries due to start in November may have caused some in attendance to roll their eyes, given the notorious lateness (and unfinished nature) of some of Smith’s previous comic work, Didio told Newsarama: “The best part of it all – we have scripts in hand! The story’s already being drawn by Kevin’s feature collaborator, Walter.

“We never really used the character after Green Arrow, because we felt it was so unique to Kevin,” DiDio continued. “So when he called and said he wanted to do a story that featured Batman and Onomatopoeia, we couldn’t resist but to go ahead with this. It’s a really good Batman story, and will be coming out at a time when people’s attention will really be focused on the character.”

Last week, a vigilant scooper spotted Smith and Flanagan at the NYC premiere of “The Dark Knight” – This fits right in with the duo working together on the book. Adding a villain like this to such an iconic character is brilliant, and the perfect way to return to a medium that we’ve missed Kevin in for many years. With lifetime comic fan Walt Flanagan drawing from Kevin’s words, it’s going to be a real treat. Expect big things for this all too short 3 book series. IGN chimes in as well. We’ll keep you posted as we hear more on this and more from San Diego. What a way to start.

Thursday – 7/24
3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Kevin will be moderating the Spike TV Scream panel discussion called ‘Scream’ Like a Girl: Spike Salutes the Women of Sci-Fi (check con schedule for location).


Friday – 7/25
5:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. – Kevin’s taking part in Entertainment Weekly’s panel – “The Visionaries: Filmmakers” panel in Hall H
6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. – Kevin’s Main Q&A panel in Hall H (ED. NOTE – “Zack & Miri” Footage is likely!)


Saturday – 7/26
2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. – Kevin will be participating in the Battlestar Galactica panel (check con schedule for location)

We can’t see why you’d want to miss any of these events, all fantastic topics — We’re once again incredibly envious of the Galactica gig, what a blast and what a fantastic job Kev did at the last one. Plus, the Friday night event in Hall H will likely be the hottest ticket of the entire con – Line up early, and make sure that you can get it. The hall ALWAYS fills to capacity when Kev’s in town. All times are subject to change, so if anything moves around, we’ll let ya know.

Busy year for me at the Con this time; I’m doing four different panels, including my usual gig (Friday night, 6:30 to 8:00pm).

No details on the Con’s official site just yet, but we will have the full schedule right here as soon as it’s revealed. We can only assume one of the other panels may be as moderator (perhaps a Heroes or Galactica panel?), and perhaps a few other surprises. The San Diego Comic Con runs July 24-27 and is arguably the best Con in the world. A MAJOR media event for not just comics, but now the latest in film and television as well.

…I did notice Brian O’Halloran was in the movie and thought you guys should know since I haven’t seen any reference to it anywhere on View Askew related sites.


He plays a Jeep driver and it’s like Clerks for a moment where he is acting through expressions on the rear view mirror to the other actors in the car. Needless to say none of them recited a story about their cousin Walter breaking his neck.


I won’t give away any plot details as the less you know the better.

The film has been getting mixed and negative reviews thus far. Judge it for yourself in theaters this weekend. Congrats to Brian on the role; always good to see the guy onscreen.