• Well, folks, bad news to those of you who aren’t attending Clark University — Tickets for Kevin’s upcoming appearance there are COMPLETELY sold out! Clark University had tickets open to students only for the first week, and demand was so high that they lasted just two days. Sorry for the bad news, folks. To those of you who attend Clark and got some of those tickets – Have a great time!

• Two new Jay & Bob DVD reviews today (folks are finally finding the time to get through all that content!): First, DVD supersite The Digital Bits gives the disc a good review, but tends to be a bit negative at times as well. You can check that one out HERE.
• On a smaller scale, this review of the disc comes from Northern Kentucky University’s college newspaper.
• Popular space nerd Wil Wheaton put in a plug for the movie in an interview:

He’s obviously a big fan of the DVD. Check out the whole interview HERE if you’re so inclined.

• And finally today, though not directly Askew related, a film festival will take place in Red Bank, New Jersey from August 21st through the 25th. Visit the official site for more information. The flicks will be shown in the same theaters that houses Vulgarthon, so it’s easy to find (and a block away from the Stash!). See ya next time, and thanks for stopping by today.

• The long-awaited Bluntman & Chronic figures are shipping out to comic stores (and your homes) THIS WEEK! Diamond lists their official ship date as TOMORROW. In case you missed it, be sure to check out our exclusive first look at the toys HERE, and order your set from the Stash or ask your local comic shop about them today.

• Something very cool to share with you today — There’s more and more amazingly talented artists sending stuff in here lately! The above covers come from Fernando Goñi and are his envisioning of what he thinks the new “Black Cat” should look like. Definitely a different style from what we saw on the official cover, but some fantastic work. Click above for a better look. He’s looking for work, so if any of you comic type folk out there need some talent, drop him a line.
• Jason Mewes is still set to host NAZZ 2002, a radio station’s local music festival. You can visit the event’s official site for more details.
• Finally, a fun fact for today: A website called “Live Journal” lets people record their interests and hobbies, and allows you to do a search on the statistics. One users did a “popular interest search” and found the following fun statistics: Kevin’s name came up 4639 times, and Tim Burton’s at 4432. Kevin also slightly edged out alchocol at 4539, and even Jesus at a mere 2777! You can check stats yourself HERE.

• Above you’ll see the full-page, color ad that Ventura is running for A BETTER PLACE on VHS and DVD in their next month’s VIP booklet. Also, according to Don May, “Suncoast/Musicland/Sam Goody/Media Play are officially in. they are running a Kevin Smith promotion and the disc is a part of that..”, so A BETTER PLACE will soon be showing up on DVD at all of those stores very soon! That’s right, folks, you’ll be able to grab this excellent film on DVD and VHS at your local mall very, very soon. We’ll keep you posted. If you don’t own a copy yet, you definitely need to check it out. It’s a must-have for your collection. Visit the official ABP site for more.

• Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back has been confirmed as rental only in the UK. The DVD (with no features) and VHS will be available to rent from May 27th. The film will not be available to buy in the UK until October 2002 at the earliest.
• WiggyWorld’s has a new poll: This onel asks which animated film are you looking forward to the most. Clerks: Sell Out is an option and is currently winning. The site can be found HERE.
• Dogma composer Howard Shore is appearing on NPR’s “Fresh Air” today. The Real Audio feed should be upby this evening.
• Mallrats alum Claire Forlani appeared on Europe’s MTV Top 20 and revealed she’ll be playing the role of med student Kate in Terminator 3.

• We’ve proud to present your exclusive first look at the cover to “Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do #1”, the first issue of the four-part mini-series (1st issue on sale June 26th) that Kevin is writing. This is the cover by Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson, who are illustrating the series.

Here’s the full description of the 1st issue:

SPIDER-MAN/BLACK CAT: THE EVIL THAT MEN DO #1 Cover by Terry & Rachel Dodson Kevin Smith/Terry Dodson/Rachel Dodson * THE SCOOP: King of All Comics Kevin Smith takes the reins of comics’ hottest character — Spider-Man — in an all-new four-part story that will send the wall-crawler on a collision course with his old flame, the Black Cat! * THE STORY: The mysterious disappearance of an old friend brings Felicia Hardy to the Big Apple in search of answers. But, as luck would have it, a certain web-slinger — who also happens to be her ex-lover — is following the same trail! How long will it take before they do some… catching up? * THE CREATORS: You know he’s a famous moviemaker and comics writer, but wait until you see Kevin Smith cut loose on the one-and-only Spider-Man! And is there a more perfect artist to draw the shapely Black Cat than Terry Dodson (Harley Quinn)? * THE FORMAT: The first issue of this four-part series is 32 pages, with ads. Printed on glossy paper with a cardstock cover. On Sale June 26th (MarvelPG)$ 2.99

Thanks to Kevin Smith, View Askew, and Joe Quesada at Marvel for providing us with the scan!

• Every once in a while we get some artwork here that’s SO cool that we just hafta share it – This has to be one of the coolest original pieces from the Askewniverse we’ve seen in a while. Page Branson created this amazing piece, which features pretty much every character to ever exist in View Askew films, and presented it to Kevin at Megacon. She was kind enough to save a scan though, so look above to see what way cool artwork is now in Kev’s posession! This took her over 30 hours to create, and it shows. Click above for a better look.
• A new interview with Bob Schreck has been posted over at the Comic Book Resources website. We recommend you give it a read, as Kevin does come up a few times, but here’s a very interesting bit:

• Just a followup: The Chasing Amy poster (the couch imagine) we mentioned recently has been available for several years. Many stores order it but very few order it more than once, as the image itself is fairly blurry. We recommend you check it out in person before purchasing. College campus poster sales sometimes carry it.
• The official site for Affleck’s “Changing Lanes” is now open with new stills and more.
• The results to WiggyWorld’s poll on your favorite Kevin Smith film are now online, as well as a review for the Jay & Silent Bob Strke Back DVD. Check them all out HERE.
• From Cinescape comes information on 2 Saturn award recipients for this year that are Askew type folks: Lee of course for his Mallrats appearance, and Struzan for his design of the excellent Mallrats poster. Struzan won the “Life Career Award” and Lee took home the “Life Career Award”. Great stuff, and congrats to both!
• The Twisted Kaju Theater is an award-winning web comic, and we hear they’ve got some View Askew references in their archived strips. Check out #111 and #71. Enjoy.
• Another bad review for a non-region one DVD, this one the Australian Chasing Amy DVD.

• Finally today, check these guys out — Yep, they’re for real! They’ve got nothing on Buddy Christ, but perhaps a good example of life imitating art. You can actually purchase ‘em too!

• eJay, the View Askew auction site, is entering it’s record-breaking sixth week of items! This week’s got one of the coolest collectibles yet, Kevin’s very shirt from “Dogma”! In addition to that, there’s more signed merchandise, including a Mewes/Smith/Lee signed Mallrats poster, a Clerks cartoon script, another one of a kind Mooby poster, and more. And yes, Jennifer Farley is back yet again to display all the merchandise, folks. As always, happy bidding to ya, and the best of luck!

• The fourth Arena column has now been transcribed into text format. Those of you who had trouble reading the graphical version can check it out at our Arena Page. Many thanks again to Martin for his Arena work!
• You can find a TON of publicity stills from Jason Lee’s delayed but upcoming “Big Trouble” at the Yahoo Movies website.
• Those of you in the Little Rock, Arkansas area may someday be able to visit a club or restaraunt owned by Joey Lauren Adams. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the actress is considering purchasing Owens Funeral Home, a historic 1928 Spanish mission-style building in North Little Rock. She apparently would convert the building into a restaurant or club while keeping one of the two loft-style apartments for herself. “I’ve been watching that area,” Adams says. “It’s nice to see they’re starting to do something with it. It’d be nice to be part of the community. I come home quite a bit.” She’s also still looking for casting and financing for her film:

• And finally today, “Attack of the Clerks”? One fan’s re-imagination of the Attack of the Clones one sheet above.

• We’re happy to announce a 10-issue hardbound collection of Kevin’s Green Arrow run, “Quiver” is now available from the Stash and in comic book shops everywhere! Here’s details:

The book costs a mere $24.95 from the Stash, and is an excellent way to catch up on the story if you missed some or all of the first issues. Quiver marks another excellent superhero arc for Kevin, and this hardcover is a must-have for any View Askew comic collection.