Let’s take a look back at the last 12 months, shall we? 2009: The Year In Askew, part one, is straight ahead.

January 2009

2009 kicked off in an uncharacteristically quiet, low key way. Kevin’s normally regular web presence continued to remain at low-key levels. Interviews and promotions for his latest comic, “Batman: Cacophony”, which he wrote, continued — longtime friend and fan favorite Walt Flanagan drew the book. However, it was obvious that this was a much more subdued press push than the past. We’d soon know why. Meanwhile, as the shrinking home video window continued, a February release date was already announced for “Porno”, which had just hit theaters at the end of October. The Bluray release would be day and date with the DVD, a first for a View Askew flick. Despite a lower than expected box office bow, the film would wind up on many “Best of 2008” lists which were revealed this month.

While Kevin wasn’t posting to the web and conducting as many regular interviews, the great SModcast would not be stopped. Episode #71 hit the webs in early January. Before the year was out, Kevin and Scott would hit a significant SMod milestone. By the end of the month, the guys would have recorded 3 more episodes for the web.

As the month continued, details began to surface for the “Zack and Miri” discs. Thankfully, View Askew would not let us down once again as far as extras go — The package would include a brand new documentary, a pile of deleted scenes, bloopers, and lots more. As Kevin and Scott had discussed the film at length on SModcast, for the first time, a View Askew DVD would not include an audio commentary track (though the extras would more than make up for the lack of one). Kevin made a rare post to explain his feelings on the commentary and how SModcast was an even better replacement. Our extensive review of the film details the greatness of the discs.



His first live appearance of the year took place in Hartford, laying groundwork for what would be the most significant year for Kevin’s stage show yet. Meanwhile, Smith made plans for a major event in Toronto for early February…

February 2009

February 2009 arrived with rave reviews for the “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” DVD. Critics and fans alike praised the film and the disc’s abundance of extras, some who had unfortunately discovered the film for the first time in their homes. Canadians were gifted with versions of the disc that featured exclusive “scratch and sniff” packaging.



While it had now been over 2 years since the last Vulgarthon film festival, Toronto celebrated their own mini-film fest of sorts in early February. With Kevin coming to town for a historic two-night appearance at the beloved Roy Thompson Hall, where every one of his gigs continually sells out, the Bloor Cinema tacked on a 3-night film festival following the appearances. Kevin appeared live for a Q&A session following each of the films, creating Canada’s own mini-Vulgarthon — a bright spot among their normally brutally cold winter. Audience reports raved that the appearances were among the best ever, with Jason Mewes making a rare onstage appearance alongside Kevin for most of the second night.

Kevin capped February with more live shows in New York and Ohio. At these shows, rumors began to circle on what his next project would be. Would it be “Red State”? “Ranger Danger”? Something new? It seemed that anything was possible, though Kevin’s immediate concern was getting out in front of the public, as his love for being onstage continued to blossom, as fans continued to pack seats to watch Kevin spend a few hours taking questions and entertaining crowds with one of the best impromptu shows in the land….A theme that would continue throughout the year. Until…

March 2009

In the most exciting, unexpected announcement of the year, March 2009 kicked off with a bombshell — Kevin had become a director for hire. But not just for any studio, and not just for any movie. Warner Brothers pictures signed Kevin to direct a major motion picture starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, titled “A Couple of Dicks”. The film was one of the great unpublished screenplays of 2008, so to see this script land in Kevin’s lap was a dialogue-lover’s dream. Full of raunchy, hilarious text, the script was the perfect fit for Kevin’s sensibilities. It would also mark the first time that Kevin would direct a feature film that was not from his own script. News agencies across the web picked up the news, and it appeared that we now had our main project/theme for 2009. This would be the year of “A Couple of Dicks”.

Within mere days of the announcement, rumors already started to circle that the title may change, to the more tame “A Couple of Cops”.

In mid-March, “Reaper”, a show with a pedigree similar to “Dicks” (Kevin directed, but did not write, the pilot episode), returned to the CW airwaves for a second season. While building on its mythology and critical acclaim, the program would not survive past its second-season finale.

In comic news, artist Walt Flanagan revealed that he and Kevin were working on a yet-to-be-titled follow-up project to the highly successful “Batman: Cacophony”. Before the year was out, we’d not only know its identity, but have quite a few issues on shelves to enjoy. Astute listeners to SModcast soon suggested that it had slipped that a “Batman” series was being written after the first series was already in the can, prompting us to speculate correctly that the next series would once again feature the caped crusader.

As March “marched” on, Kevin’s signing to direct “A Couple of Dicks” continued to generate quite a bit of press and speculation. In the middle of the month, though, another film briefly stole the spotlight — After a great deal of anticipation due to his praise of an early cut of the film, the world finally got to see “Watchmen”, one of the greatest graphic novels of all time, come to life on the big screen. And as one highly-anticipated geek movie debuted, one of the most beloved geek series of recent memory concluded — Sci Fi aired the final two hours of the incredible “Battlestar Galactica”, a show beloved to Kevin (who had the pleasure of making a set visit before everything was struck and boxed for good).

Around this time, when Kevin was in a particularly introspective mood, journalist Lee Stranhan scheduled what would become one of the most amazing sit-down interviews of his entire career. The interview, which was conducted earlier in the month, would feature the director discussing all aspects of his life and career in an even more open and honest way than ever before (a feat many thought not even possible for the already public Smith).

Since “Clerks”, hockey had always played a role in the films of View Askew. But in late March, Kevin laid groundwork to take his love of the game to a whole new level. After being touched by the story of Wayne Gretzky and his father Walter, Kevin mounted efforts to bring himself, fans, and friends to Brantford, Ontario for June’s Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Invitational. During an appearance in Vancouver, he also mentioned, for the first time, that he had an interest in making a hockey-themed film in the future.

By the end of March, SModcast, still rolling strong, had celebrated its 81st episode of free entertainment.

April 2009

It would become a buzzword on many reporter’s lists of the best of 2009. Twitter. Tweeting. While the service had been active for a few years prior to 2009, it wasn’t until this year that the mainstream embraced this service, burgeoned by the sudden celebrity love for the technology. By eliminating publicists, for the first time, celebs could use twitter as a direct line to their fans. By contrast, this was a practice that Kevin had adopted from early in his career with ViewAskew.com. Still, always being in the forefront of technology, Smith saw Twitter as yet another viable communication vehicle. Frequent use of the service started in early April, when Kevin trekked back to the east coast, where he would live for many months as production on “A Couple of Dicks” took place. The film would shoot in and around New York City, mostly on location.

Not ones to shy away from technology, News Askew also began tweeting our headlines and stories as well, giving readers yet another way to keep up with the latest.

Following a pre-production trip into NYC, Kevin jetted to Vail, Colorado, where he was presented with the Renegade Award at the Vail Film Festival, celebrating his entire body of work.

The good news continued, as Kevin made a weeklong visual clue game of one of the biggest announcements of the year: He would bring his beloved Q&A act to the stage of New York City’s prestigious Carnegie Hall in mid-June. To sweeten the announcement, it was also revealed that a new book would arrive in the Fall: “Shooting the Shit with Kevin Smith” would collect some of the best moments of SModcast in print form.

Hockey came back in a big way in April, when Kevin revealed he would be writing a new blog for the NHL to highlight the experience of watching the Devils in the playoffs. He’d also purchased a luxury box at Prudential’s center city Newark arena, The Rock, where he would entertain family and friends and introduce newcomers to the great game of ice hockey, with his beloved Jersey team.

May 2009

With the popularity of SModcast continuing on iTunes and Quick Stop Entertainment, Kevin and Scott decided to try an experiment – It was announced that the first LIVE SModcast would be held next month in Canada, the same weekend that the crew would be heading north for the Gretzky hockey tournament. Dubbed “Stocky Night in Canada”, the limited event would sell out in record time.

We also had a new date to add to calendars – Before film had started to roll on the movie, we had a tentative release date for “A Couple of Dicks” – February 26, 2010. Those brothers Warner sure don’t mess around.



By the middle of the month, Entertainment Weekly announced another newsworthy release — Kevin and Walt would indeed return with that speculated “Batman” series. This one, titled “The Widening Gyre” was already half completed with issue 1 set to debut in August. In addition to this expected news, it was also revealed that Kevin’s “Green Hornet” script ideas would see the light of day in comic form. A new miniseries would be on the way following the completion of “Gyre”.

Movie Trailers – Movies Blog

The month of big announcements continued when on May 14th, Kevin revealed to MTV that he wasn’t kidding around when he mentioned that hockey-themed movie idea in March. “Hit Somebody” would be the title of this one, based on a Warren Zevon song penned by author Mitch Albom. Following the announcement, quite a bit of articles on and by Kevin tied into the sport. It was apparent that hockey was on the brain, and in a very big way.

Followed by all the good news in May, a spot of bad news arrived on the 19th via Twitter – Star Ethan Suplee revealed that he and longtime-Askewer Jason Lee’s hilarious sitcom “My Name is Earl” had been cancelled by NBC. A glimmer of hope via a save by network TBS would come briefly before the official June cancellation announcement.

With filming getting close to rolling, May capped off with the announcement of two more cast members for “Dicks”: Seann William Scott and Adam Brody. By the end of May, the cast would have gathered for the first full read-through of the script.

June 2009



Production might have been starting on “A Couple of Dicks” as of June 2nd, but Kevin wasn’t going back to work behind the cameras without a gift to the fans — He and Scott presented SModcast #87 on the eve of the shoot. Due to the public nature of the on-location summer in New York City set, fans were quick to locate the cast and crew and snapped the first of what would be many looks at Willis, Morgan, and Smith in action.

Though filming had begun, Kevin wasn’t about to let that stop his hockey-themed weekend plans in Canada. Starting on June 6th, he and a large crew of friends and fans took to Brantford, Ontario for the Wayne Gretzky Hockey Tournament and the first live SModcast. The View Askew all-star team name? Puck U.



Then, on Saturday, the first ever live SModcast found Smith and Mosier on stage before a sold-out crowd of 1,100 where history was made.



On June 17th, we arrived at one of the biggest events of the year, and one of the most significant in Kevin’s life — Kevin took the stage to a sold out crowd in Carnegie Hall. Some of the world’s greatest performers have stepped onto that stage, and Kevin had now joined the ranks of a very elite few — Especially from the point of view that this was a one man show, where he’d single-handedly entertain the packed house for almost three full hours. News Askew was fortunate enough to witness this magical and historic event – One of Kevin’s finest performances of all-time.

While the first half of the year would have already celebrated a fairly busy, public schedule for Kevin as far as events, the next six months would set records, as Kevin announced a very aggressive Fall Tour schedule which would take him across the United States, to new cities, and abroad.

Finally, as June came to a close, more confirmed casting reports for “A Couple of Dicks” that built on an already impressive cast: Michele Trachtenberg, Kevin Pollak, and the great Jason Lee were all confirmed for supporting or cameo roles.

Join us later this week as we wrap it up, and cover the last 6 months of 2009. See you then.

Me & @smosier sitting down to record SModcast 101 in six hours. No new ep tonight, though. Next week. P.S.-Everything changes with SMod 101.

Via @Choccster “Everything changes with SMod 101? will you start charging?” As long as I can pay for server space, SMod will always be free.

@conantbrian “isn’t there at least the view askew tag?” No – because it’s not a View Askew Production. Peep the billing block and you’ll see I actually have only one less credit than I normally do: writer. Still my flick.

Via @Capn_Midnight “check the tree for wrap-up to BULLSEYE series!” You’ll find an IOU that reads “This year, if Marvel’s still into it.”

Via @FooRay “did you cut the trailer together yourself?” Nah. They have a whole department for that kinda thing.

Via @rtward “You don’t get to edit your own trailer?” Most directors don’t. I’ve cut some online trailers, but filmmakers are not marketers.

Via @jdr822 “proudest moment in your film career?” 8 minute standing ovation for CLERKS II at Cannes: http://clerks2.com/trainwreck/?p=79

Via @Modesix “Why is there only 1 show for Toronto? You know it’s almost sold out already?” Chill: if it sells out, we can just add another.

John Hughes said my name!!! “I saw Clerks, and it made me a little jealous. I wanted to do something similar. I like how he stays in New Jersey and retains that regional flavor. I admire what he’s doing.” Fuck. Thanks Mr. Hughes; the feeling was very mutual.

The full Hughes interview is, one of (if not THE) last he gave.

To usher in the series, issue #1 has 4 covers in total, which have now been revealed (click above for a better look). Several sites have picked up the covers and posted some commentary. GeekTyrant has a nice little summary
of what little has been revealed thus far:

Smith?s unproduced screenplay has been adapted into a 10 part miniseries, that has been illustrated by Jonathan Lau. The series will be fully complete before the first issue hits the shelf, which is great to hear because we wont have to impatiently wait a long amount of unorganized time for each issue to hit the comic shops.

The story follows the original Green Hornet Britt Reid as he passes the torch to his son Britt Jr. who will continue the adventures. And it looks as if his crime fighting Kato type character is a lovely lady sporting a tight leather outfit. I assume this is Mishi Kato who is the grand daughter of Kato. You can learn more about her here.

For more on this story, check out /Film and Bleeding Cool.

Via @smilinstanlee “Haven’t seen Kev for awhile. expecting call for Rats sequel” Alright: ur in the hockey flick, Stan. Damn needy actors…

So, it looks like Stan Lee will join Wil Wheaton (recently revealed to be quite evil on a “Big Bang Theory” episode) for “Hit Somebody”. Let the casting rumors continue!

13. CLERKS (1994)

Kevin Smith’s debut, about a day in the life of two service-industry suburbanites, was made for $27,575. It’s hard to tell where all that money went, but the cruddy lensing and muddy sound actually enhance the experience. This spitball of nonstop scatology and pop-cult obsessiveness — what are the ethical implications of killing independent contractors aboard the Death Star? — feels like a bootleg copy of an adolescent mind. SIGNATURE LINE “I’m not even supposed to be here today.”

Earlier today, I heard you talking about how you were inspired by the movie Clerks. I thought that was somewhat surprising.

MW: I was inspired because there’s always been this story that the machinery of filmmaking was going to make its way down to the population. And I was inspired by the fact that this guy made a movie in his basement, and it was a complete movie, and it was entertaining, and he pulled it off. My wife and I went to Paris on the world’s cheapest vacation — $319 airfare, we stayed in someone else’s apartment — and all I remember is we went to the Pompidou Centre and I was like, “Clerks is playing here. That’s incredible!”

I found that very inspiring that, you know what? We all have these aspirations, and … just to see that that guy got off his a- and made that movie, I was blown away.

Kevin Smith is actually a massive Mad Men fan.

MW: Well, that’s cool!

The other day he sent me a question to ask you …

MW: Wow. Don will never try to fellate himself. (Everyone laughs)

Bummer. I never even heard about this. I love Kevin Smith. Might be time for me to find a new movie agent. One who doesn’t suck ass. That would have been amazing to be in Jay and Silent Bob… Huh…… Also, if you can let Kevin Smith know I would love him to stop up here to the web show. That would be rad. Also ask him if he knows any movie agents who are not money grubbing douche bags.

So, there ya go. Perhaps Kevin will find a use for Green in a future project. We think it’d be a good pairing, the guy’s got a fun, odd sense of humor that might be a good match for one of Kev’s scripts. Maybe he’ll even work him in “Hit Somebody”, with those whole Canadian thing going on. Never know.

Smith completed the first six issues and will begin writing another batch of six. “We’re breaking it up into a volume 1, volume 2 kind of thing,” Smith continued. “So the first six issues happen, then there’s a break, and then the next six issues happen, but I don’t know. DC’ll probably ultimately wind up going, ‘Why don’t we just make it two separate miniseries? 1-6 is one thing, and call the next one something else.’ So we may do that. I don’t know, but I know we’re going to stop at six for the time being and take a little break. Then whether or not the next issue is 7 or a new number 1 for a volume 2 miniseries remains to be seen.”

Keeping the audience entertained between sets was Jason Mewes — famous for playing Jay, a pot dealer in the Jay and Silent Bob flicks.

“It’s a lot of fun. It’s been great,” said Mewes, between signing autographs for a huge lineup of fans. “(There are) a lot of cool bands (and) a lot of cool people here.”

Between acts, Mewes dutifully told the crowd to “drink water, be safe, recycle and Jesus loves you.”

“BATMAN: THE WIDENING GYRE” #1 (DC): Back in May, Kevin Smith told Splash Page that this could be the last Batman story he ever writes–which should be reason enough to pick it up. Having previously authored “Batman: Cacophony” (which featured my favorite new villain, Onomatopoeia, created by Smith during his “Green Arrow” run), Smith promises to introduce a brand new character in “Widening Gyre,” which he’s writing alongside his frequent collaborator in both comics and film, artist/actor Walt Flanagan.

With the combined comics cred of Smith and Flanagan and a new character in the wings, this one’s a can’t-miss pickup for readers this week.

Can’t sleep or wait until you local comic shop opens? How’s about a nice look at some finished pages from the new series, eh? DC’s Source presents the two covers for issue #1 and some colorful looks at key moments. Click the pages here for a bigger look, or visit DC Source. Enjoy issue #1!

The series will run 12 issues, made up of 2, six-part arcs. There will be a break between the two arcs. A new DC universe hero is introduced in book two. MTV ran a nice story and interview with Kevin earlier this year that you might want to take a look back on as well. Hurry up, Wednesday.

This first article focuses on “A Couple of Dicks”. Of particular interest, it reveals that Kevin was offered directing gigs on both “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” and Eddie Murphy’s upcoming “Imagine That”.

Kevin Smith On Trying To ‘Breathe New Life’ Into The Buddy Cop Genre With ‘A Couple of Dicks’

“For years, I’d been like, ‘No, I only direct stuff I wrote,'” Smith said. “I would do interviews and be like, ‘If you ever see me directing a script I didn’t write, I’m clearly paying off a mortgage.’ Stuff like that, because I never thought I would.”

But Robinov, who’d been a big fan of Smith’s “Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” thought the director would be the perfect guy to helm “Dicks.” And based on the personal way in which the script resonated with Smith, he was only too happy to accept–even as he continued to be surprised that the directorial offer had ever been made.

“I’ve never even directed anything but a Kevin Smith movie, so why would you trust me with anything else?” he said. “That’s why this is amazing. I can’t believe that somebody would be like, ‘Here, try to breathe new life in the buddy cop franchise.’ But I guess it makes sense. All I do is buddy movies. In this one they have guns and there’s a plot. As opposed to them sitting around talking about ‘Star Wars’ and sex.”

Smith’s ultimate goal, he said with a laugh, is to make “Dicks” a TNT channel classic. “It’s a throwback to ’48 Hrs.,’ ‘Beverly Hills Cop,'” Smith said. “It’s a buddy cop flick. It’s not like, ‘He’s a by-the-rules white guy and he is a jive-talking black guy, but together they’re gonna fight crime!’ They just happen to be black and white and they’re long-time friends.”

Next up, Kevin’s daughter Harley presents her own review of the vampy chick-flick “Twilight”:

Kevin Smith’s Daughter Reviews ‘Twilight’

Writer/director/actor/all-around nice-guy Kevin Smith stopped by recently to chat with MTV’s Josh Horowitz on a variety of subjects. While the ever-busy Smith had plenty to say about his own work, he also managed to squeeze in a brief review of “Twilight.” In all honesty, Smith didn’t have much to say about the movie other than mentioning that it made him wish he was a 14 year old girl. It’s his daughter who’s the real fan, and she was brave enough to step in front of the camera so she could share her thoughts.

Finally, Kevin mentions that he currently does not have any interest in taking comics and making movies out of them:

Kevin Smith Has ‘No Interest’ In Working On Big-Screen Comic Book Adaptations

“I have no interest in making those movies,” Smith told MTV News. “They look very tedious to make. It takes a talent that I just do not have. But I love to kick back and watch them.”

He went on to cite Christopher Nolan (“The Dark Knight”) and Jon Favreau (“Iron Man”) among the ideal candidates to direct comic book properties. And when it came to the question of writing another script, Smith questioned the very need for a “name writer.”

“When I got hired for that ‘Superman’ gig, the first thing out of my mouth was like, ‘Why are you talking to me?'” he said. “Why don’t you talk to Dan Jurgens or somebody who works on ‘Superman?’ You’ll get a great script out of a dude who’s worked on 60 issues of ‘Superman.’ I guarantee it.”

“But then it was all about, ‘Well, they’re not in movies.’ And now it’s different,” continued Smith. “Now you can cherry-pick and go into a genre and be like, ‘Let’s take these dudes. They write on ‘Lost.’ Their episodes are good. Let’s let them write a script.’ You don’t need a cat like me. And you shouldn’t get a cat like me.”

The new Bat-book from Smith and Flanagan will be titled “The Widening Gyre” and run a nice 12 issues. The series will be revealed in two 6-book volumes, and the first volume, with writing by Smith and art by Flanagan, is ALREADY DONE! Issue one is due in August. No word on an artist on the back 6 yet. An extra bit of coolness: Kevin once created a new villain for DC, and in this one, he’s creating a new HERO.

But nope, that’s not all. Dynamite Entertainment has also locked up the rights to Green Hornet, allowing Kevin to take his feature film script, as penned, and adapt it into a book. It’s an amazingly cool chance to see exactly what Kevin’s movie would have played like, in comic form. No number of issues or street date is given, though Kevin thinks we’ll see the book on shelves before the Gondry/Rogen feature film.

Here’s a more detailed reveal as it appeared on the Entertainment Weekly PopWatch website:

EW Exclusive: Kevin Smith takes on Batman and the Green Hornet

Comic fans have a love-hate relationship with Kevin Smith. They love it when he bends his attention to writing comics, as he knows them as well as anyone, has a genuine love for them, and turns out damned interesting reads. They hate it because, on occasion, Smith has been known to let a deadline slip…sometimes for years.

But after his recent Batman miniseries, Cacophony, shipped on time — much to the delight of both DC Comics and Bat-buffs everywhere — Smith is climbing back into the saddle for two more comics projects. One is a new Batman miniseries called The Widening Gyre, in which Smith is also creating a new hero for the DC Universe, and the other is a Green Hornet miniseries for Dynamite Entertainment- based on the screenplay he wrote back in 2004 for a scuttled GH film.

According to Smith, “The Widening Gyre is a 12-issue Batman mini-series split into two volumes, with a half year break between each. Issues one through six (Book I) will ship monthly. Then, the story goes on hold for six months. Then, issues seven through 12 (Book II) will once again ship monthly. Yes, I built in the break to insure we don’t run into my usual problems with lateness. But I’m trying to improve, folks: first six scripts and first issue’s art — by Cacophony artist Walt Flanagan — were already done before we took this public. But here’s the kicker: three weeks after the last issue of The Widening Gyre, we’ll launch a solo series featuring the new character, which I’ll be writing bi-monthly.”

And then there’s Green Hornet. “Dynamite honcho Nick Barrucci hit me with an email, saying he’d locked up the license [for masked crimefighter Brit Reid and his nimble sidekick, Kato], and asking if I wanted to write an arc,” says Smith. “But had to decline because I was in the middle of the Batman scripts. But then I thought ‘I already wrote a Hornet story once…’ It’s the Hornet movie I’d make if I was making it today. And there’s no better time to do that than before Seth Rogen and Michel Gondry’s version defines the character for the mainstream. We haven’t picked an interior artist yet, but we’ve got some stellar cover talent on board already: Alex Ross, John Cassaday, Jae Lee, and David Finch.”

All of this while Smith preps to shoot A Couple of Dicks — a surely-to-be-retitled NYPD detective comedy with Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan — this June. “You know me: plates, plates, plates, spin, spin, spin.” The Widening Gyre hits stands in August, with Green Hornet following soon after.

Kevin himself used his blog to say a few words, reveal the plan AFTER the 12-issue mini, and present some new artwork to boot:

“…three weeks after the last issue of “The Widening Gyre”, we’ll launch a solo series featuring the new character, which I’ll be writing bi-monthly! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I wanna go back in time and tell 18 year old me about this. 18 year old me would be slack-jawed shocked, barely able to mutter “Look how fat I get…” Later, after a good lie-down, I’m sure he’d then add something like “At least we work for DC Comics – which means I might still get to kiss a girl looking like that.”

ON HORNET: “So while it’s not a straight-up adaptation of the “Green Hornet” movie script I wrote some years back, it’s definitely gonna take its cues from that script – just as that script took its cues from all the source material available (radio, TV, comics). So this is about as close as I’ll get to making that “Green Hornet” flick I walked away from directing all those years ago, when I was too chicken-shit and gay-in-love with my own characters to try something outside my comfort zone.”

…

What I’m saying is this: if you buy the books, great. But please – all we ask is that you read them. And we want you to read them so badly, I make you this promise: you can come to Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash in Red Bank, NJ and read them for free while standing in the store, and you will not get hassled by the old fuck behind the counter who’s not paying attention to all the shoplifting going on ’cause he’s drawing some overtly homoerotic funny books.

Hit up Kev’s blog for the entire post, what you see above are just a few select words. Alex Ross is doing Green Hornet art with a FEMALE Kato!

And there ya have it, folks. Talk about a busy summer for the man — Directing a major film and TWO new comic projects, with a third featuring a NEW hero on the horizon to boot. Whew! We’re hoping for some sneak peeks and details on the new Batman book in the coming months. And of course we’ll have any breaking news on these projects for ya right here. ‘Til then, be sure to make sure your local comic shop has you on their list for these upcoming series.

For more coverage, check out G4TV’s “Daily Feed” video (about 3 minutes in), as well as a small blurb over at Comic Book Resources.