Kevin Smith and I go back a long ways, from his days on Mallrats to my early days drawing Ash. He’s also been one of my best friends and most valued advisors. These days, we communicate mostly via e-mail an instant messenger. I caught up with Kevin in the only way I knew how. INSTANT SMITH

JoeyDaQ Hey, man, wassup!?

KEVIN: Hello, sir.

JoeyDaQ You ready to do this?

KEVIN: Yes.

KEVIN: Ready to impress the world with our poor spelling and inability to communicate in text-speak?

JoeyDaQ Absolutely and the beauty of IM speak is the talking over each other*

KEVIN: Indeed.

*To save everyone the confusion, I took the liberty of going into the text and arranging as much of it as possible so that the question asked was the next one answered.

Kevin, some guy from Craft Services, and JoeJoeyDaQ And disjointed referring to questions that happened seven sentences beforehand

KEVIN: Type away, sir.

KEVIN: Let’s get our chat groove on.

JoeyDaQ Wow, when you say that I feel so dirty

KEVIN: Wait ’til I start in with all the "I’m touching down there" stuff.

KEVIN: Or "I’m typing with one hand..."

KEVIN: C’mon, EEK - fire away.

JoeyDaQ I see you’ve done this before

KEVIN: Let’s talk comics!

JoeyDaQ Still, this is kind of what I wanted to accomplish with these Quesadarama interviews

JoeyDaQ I wanted to give fandom a taste of the day to day stuff we do

JoeyDaQ The gossip, the silly IMing

KEVIN: And here it is.

KEVIN: Here’s how we spend their money.

KEVIN: Homo-erotic flirtation and not getting anything done.

KEVIN: I’m the king of both.

JoeyDaQ Speak for yourself

JoeyDaQ So, lets get down to it, the burning question

KEVIN: Remember that "Spider-Man/Black Cat" series?

KEVIN: What happened with that?

JoeyDaQ Yeah, we’ve heard it already

JoeyDaQ The question though really is what happened?

KEVIN: You should explain to fandom why you’ve let it go on as long as you have.

JoeyDaQ You love comics and you love the fans and they’ve given you hell online, yet they fill your panels to standing room only and hang on your every word

KEVIN: Ah, but the folks at those panels aren’t all comics folks.

KEVIN: Or at least comics-only folks.

KEVIN: If I had to rely on comics-only folks to fill those panels, they’d be half-full. Unless the panel was called "Kevin Smith Gets Hung Up By His #@$# and You Can Beat Him for His Lateness!"

JoeyDaQ Like a pinata

KEVIN: I’ve read on a few sites that folks can’t understand why you didn’t just assign someone to finish it.

JoeyDaQ Because it’s yours to finish

JoeyDaQ and you never told me how it ends

JoeyDaQ Seriously, you’ve done so much for comics and people give you such crap

JoeyDaQ I think they forget what your arrival in the comic’s industry got in motion

KEVIN: I get a lot of crap because a) I’m always late, and b) I’m always late.

KEVIN: Most comics folks are of the "What have you done for me lately" variety.

KEVIN: That’s why it’s easy to love Millar and Bendis.

KEVIN: Quality work, on time.

JoeyDaQ I often wonder how many doors were open because of you.

KEVIN: Dunno.

KEVIN: Who would those doors be opening for?

JoeyDaQ How many Hollywood folk and people from bigger ponds thought about comics seriously because you took the plunge?

KEVIN: To be fair, there were movie guys who penned comics long before me.

KEVIN: Sam Hamm wrote a Batman arc.

JoeyDaQ Let me talk for a second here, stop interrupting

KEVIN: And, of course, Jeph Loeb.

KEVIN: I don’t know. You’d know that better than I would, because you’ve dealt with folks like the Buffy guy.

KEVIN: Would you say he was influenced to write X-Men at all by my comics dabbling?

KEVIN: I doubt it.

JoeyDaQ But let’s be serious here. I think folks forget what you had to put on the line. Loeb wrote a few movies as did Hamm but they weren’t celebrity types like yourself. Arguably you have become as important as the movies

JoeyDaQ As Joss has become with Buffy

JoeyDaQ Now, I’m not saying that you directly influenced, but you did leave a wake

KEVIN: All I did was make it easier to ASK folks outside the comics market. Because if I was willing to write comics, others outside the field might be willing to do so, too.

JoeyDaQ See,that’s what I’m getting at. People either forget or don’t think about the actual risk involved here

JoeyDaQ here you have this big ass Hollywood career

KEVIN: Let’s be honest: it’s hardly big ass.

JoeyDaQ Your knee deep in coke and whores, your movies are grossing big bucks with little expense

KEVIN: But my point is, if some of these alternate media authors had been asked years ago to pen a title, they might have - regardless of me doing it first.

KEVIN: I’ve always been small potatoes in H’wood.

JoeyDaQ Still, if the comics are a failure, if you die in the small pond, it does have ramifications.

KEVIN: I just do my own thing.

KEVIN: And because I’ve always done my own thing, it was no big deal to say "Hey - I’m writing comics now."

JoeyDaQ Oh, sure, you say that now, you weren’t on my side of the fence when you said no

KEVIN: I’m just glad I did it when I did it. If I tried to break in now, I’d look like a carpet-bagger; like a guy who’s like "Comics are cool now? Oh, I’m in."

JoeyDaQ Still, you need to stop with the self defacing stuff and accept your part in this.

KEVIN: When I said no, I was just terrified of not being Frank Miller on Daredevil.

KEVIN: Surprise, surprise - I wasn’t. Nobody can be.

JoeyDaQ Yeah, well none of us are

KEVIN: But I was me on Daredevil, and that seemed to be good enough.

KEVIN: Certainly made me happy.

JoeyDaQ See there’s that annoying IM double speak

KEVIN: And we sold a few books, too.

JoeyDaQ You make it sound so long ago

KEVIN: It was almost ten years ago, sir.

KEVIN: It was like eight years ago.

JoeyDaQ That’s not possible

KEVIN: Seven or eight.

KEVIN: Time flies.

JoeyDaQ seven years ago

KEVIN: Back then, you were the Ash man.

JoeyDaQ Just a waif of n artist

KEVIN: Now you’re the EIC of Marvel f#@$ing Comics, sir.

JoeyDaQ yeah, yeah

JoeyDaQ Okay, let’s talk Black Cat

KEVIN: I would say YOU’RE the one who made the huge leaps.

JoeyDaQ Enough mutual brown nosing

KEVIN: Black Cat.

JoeyDaQ So, we have two issues that came flying through the door

JoeyDaQ One more to go

JoeyDaQ Can we talk about your artistic windfall a bit

KEVIN: To address this issue of why you, as EIC, have let it dangle for so long, you’ve gotta plead friendship.

KEVIN: Thank you for not assigning someone else to finish my story.

JoeyDaQ I plead several things

KEVIN: There were times that you’d ask, and there were times I’d almost say yes.

KEVIN: But you stuck by me, and let me finish it.

JoeyDaQ Friendship is one of them, but it’s no less than I would have done for anyone of my guys who asked

JoeyDaQ Also, you like several creators, are an eight hundred pound gorilla

KEVIN: That’s what makes you a good EIC: you stand by the story-teller.

KEVIN: I’m eight hundred pounds, alright.

KEVIN: I’m looking more and more like the Simpsons’ Comic Book Guy everyday.

JoeyDaQ I dunno, you looked pretty thin in recent pics

JoeyDaQ As much as the fans would want to see you bounced and have someone else finish it, they wouldn’t buy it if it wasn’t you

KEVIN: They might. Who knows who’ll buy it at this point, years later.

KEVIN: Some of those cats like to vote with their wallet.

KEVIN: And if some folks drop off the series, I guess I had that coming.

JoeyDaQ Agreed, we’ll see what happens

KEVIN: But for those who stick around/come back - they’re in for a wild ride.

JoeyDaQ All we can do is hope that they want to forgive and enjoy the book

KEVIN: The story takes a weird, weird turn, doesn’t it?

KEVIN: I was proud of that turn.

JoeyDaQ Ohhhhh yeah. Anything you want to tell the folks out there

JoeyDaQ I’ll stay quiet for a bit

JoeyDaQ From the heart baby!

JoeyDaQ This is your forum

KEVIN: And we should talk about part of the reason I couldn’t get back behind the keyboard for "Spidey".

KEVIN: My insecurity.

KEVIN: It took me two years to get over the fact that I’m not Bendis.

JoeyDaQ Well, talk about it, bro

KEVIN: Remember how many times you had to talk me off a ledge?

JoeyDaQ I never understood that

JoeyDaQ And neither did Bendis

KEVIN: I was like "Why should I bother? He’s better and quicker."

JoeyDaQ But it is interesting in the sense that so many people see you as the man and yet you’re just like the rest of us losers except your wife is hot and in Playboy

KEVIN: It’s like the guy who &@#$ your wife and makes her @#% harder.

KEVIN: You’re like "Why bother trying anymore?"

KEVIN: I’m like everybody else in as much as I have huge bouts of insecurity about what I do.

KEVIN: Most writers deal with that.

JoeyDaQ So do we EIC’s

KEVIN: It was the comics writing that I felt most insecure about.

KEVIN: Because I always felt like a poser to begin with.

JoeyDaQ Funny, isn’t it,

JoeyDaQ Well, all I can say is that we need you back

KEVIN: That field doesn’t need me anymore, sir.

KEVIN: I mean, what do I know about writing comics? All I ever was was a comics reader, and suddenly, I was being allowed to write ’em.

JoeyDaQ You’re a writer with skills and something to say

KEVIN: You’ve got Buffy, Bendis, Brad, and all the movies to drive sales of comics.

JoeyDaQ And we have more coming, but I need the Smith!

JoeyDaQ I may have to boot myself offline if you keep with this whining

KEVIN: When I popped in, it was during a time when sales had slumped, and comics were way the f$%# off the pop culture radar.

KEVIN: It was like playing in an abandoned toy factory.

JoeyDaQ You know that scene from Bladerunner, "I need the ol’ Bladerunner back!"

KEVIN: But now, the world’s watching comics.

JoeyDaQ So, what are you telling everyone out there, is Black Cat it for you?

KEVIN: I once had this convo with Todd McFarlane, when he was suggesting we write a flick together. And I was like " f$%# a flick - let’s do a comic together, man! I’ll write, you draw - it’ll be awesome." And he didn’t want to do it. He said it was like the old gun-slinger coming back for one last fight. He said he didn’t need all the carping from the "fans" that would come along with it - stuff like "This pales in comparison to his old stuff." And I used to think "What the f%$#? He’s Todd McFarlane! Why would he be worried about drawing a comic!" Now, I get it.

KEVIN: I think once I finish Spider-Man/Black Cat and Target, I should stay out of comics.

KEVIN: At least ’til nobody cares about them anymore.

JoeyDaQ And I think that’s a huge mistake

KEVIN: It’s always more fun when there’s no expectation attached.

JoeyDaQ Let’s put it this way, I won’t let you go through with it

KEVIN: I know. But honestly, I just don’t know how many stories I’ve got left in me.

JoeyDaQ Dude, you’re a writer--- write

KEVIN: I mean, back when I wrote DD and Green Arrow, that was during a period when (in my opinion) there weren’t a lot of great, enjoyable writing in comics. Now, throw a rock and hit a good writer.

KEVIN: What used to be an artist-driven market is now, definitely, a writer-driven market.

JoeyDaQ Okay, all of this is bumming me out. We’ve dealt with the past and the future, lets talk about now

KEVIN: I’m happy about that - but also a bit intimidate.

JoeyDaQ I’ll yell at you on the phone about this

KEVIN: There are too many good writers in the field for a tourist like me to make a dent anymore.

KEVIN: Intimidating, I meant.

JoeyDaQ La la lalalalalalalala

KEVIN: The now.

JoeyDaQ Black Cat

KEVIN: The now, I owe one more script on "Spidey/BC".

JoeyDaQ And?

KEVIN: I was out in the desert a few months ago, and I whipped out two issues like they were a twelve inch &%$#.

KEVIN: I was at this colonic spa at the time.

JoeyDaQ Ah yes

KEVIN: Fasting for a week, and getting my colon irrigated.

JoeyDaQ You’re so Hollywood

JoeyDaQ How did that turn the writing on?

KEVIN: A tube up my @$$ every day dragged not just a bunch of old $#!@ out of me, but also two comics scripts (which the folks who don’t like me will tell you is the same difference).

JoeyDaQ LOL!

KEVIN: I think I was able to dive back into Black Cat because I was desperately avoiding writing the "Green Hornet" flick.

JoeyDaQ But you managed to write that too

KEVIN: So I wasn’t feeling one mask, but feeling another.

KEVIN: Yeah - I eventually got to that, too.

JoeyDaQ You ever think that maybe it’s not that you don’t have stories but your just a lazy $#!@

KEVIN: Maybe it’s a bit of both.

KEVIN: I can definitely be lazy.

KEVIN: But really, it’s more insecurity than anything else.

JoeyDaQ How can anyone with your creative juice feel like they have no stories to tell

KEVIN: Insecurity almost kept me from writing DD the first time around.

KEVIN: It happens.

KEVIN: There’s no worse crime for a writer than to bang it out when they’ve got nothing to say.

KEVIN: That’s when you’re truly a "hack,"

KEVIN: A million people will call you a hack online, but they always misuse the term.

KEVIN: A hack is someone who does the work solely for the money.

KEVIN: I’ve never done that.

JoeyDaQ Come on, the lure of that big comic pay check

JoeyDaQ Maybe if you stopped experiencing life I could see that happening, but you’re no Howard Huges here.

KEVIN: I wish I was Hughes.

KEVIN: I’ve tried urinating in glass jars, but I’m no richer because of it.

JoeyDaQ and the groupies

KEVIN: I wonder if anyone’s ever gotten laid off of comics work.

KEVIN: You think?

KEVIN: What about you?

JoeyDaQ Oh yeah

JoeyDaQ There was a time during the glut years

KEVIN: Any chick (or guy) ever say "You’re NinJak #&*% made me wet. &$#@ me."

JoeyDaQ Not quite in that way, no

KEVIN: That would’ve been awesome, though.

JoeyDaQ Mr. Quesada, the way you broke that panel border

JoeyDaQ And the way you paced that action sequence

KEVIN: "Now break me."

KEVIN: "Now pace me."

JoeyDaQ Packs of girls looking over each other’s shoulders screaming at every page turn

KEVIN: Y’know what comics work I’ve always felt on solid ground about: the Clerks/Jay and Bob stuff.

KEVIN: Because nobody could ever compare it to someone else’s version.

KEVIN: I mean, their my characters.

JoeyDaQ True

KEVIN: Who could write them better than me.

JoeyDaQ Bendis

JoeyDaQ LOL!

JoeyDaQ Sorry you left that wide open

JoeyDaQ I had to go for it

KEVIN: I know.

KEVIN: I used to feel great about my GA stuff, ’til some folks said Brad’s run was better.

JoeyDaQ I liked your GA

KEVIN: Me too.

JoeyDaQ First time I cared about the character

JoeyDaQ I think you did a better job on that than on DD

JoeyDaQ Only because you got the craft down

KEVIN: C’mon - a guy with bows and arrows? How could you not care about him?

JoeyDaQ I like that he dresses in green

JoeyDaQ And adds that to his moniker

KEVIN: If I did, it was only because I’d gotten comics writing down a little better than when I was on DD.

KEVIN: I went from red to green.

KEVIN: If I could write for Professor Zoom, I will have conquered the stop light.

JoeyDaQ Man,that’s even too deep for me

KEVIN: I’ve gotta chat with Geoff Johns to make references like that.

KEVIN: I love Johns; he’s the geek’s geek.

JoeyDaQ So, I hear your going to Sundance

KEVIN: I’m heading up to Sundance in the morning. There’s a movie we exec produced - a documentary called "Reel Paradise" - that’s debuting.

KEVIN: Directed by Steve "Hoop Dreams" James.

JoeyDaQ What’s it about?

KEVIN: My friend, John Pierson, moved his entire family to Fiji for a year to run the world’s most remote movie theater.

KEVIN: He shows free movies to the Fijian natives.

KEVIN: It’s a great documentary.

KEVIN: We’ve been calling it "Capturing the Piersons."

KEVIN: Did I tell you about "Degrassi"?

JoeyDaQ No?

KEVIN: There’s this Canadian teen soap opera called "Degrassi - The Next Generation" that I’m guesting on. Three episodes - Jan 31, Feb 7, and Feb 14.

KEVIN: Me and Mewes too.

JoeyDaQ Canadian?

KEVIN: Yeah.

KEVIN: Playing ourselves, up in Canada to shoot a flick called "Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh?"

KEVIN: Love the show.

JoeyDaQ Sounds like fun. does it air here?

KEVIN: The show’s aired on Noggin down here.

KEVIN: But the eps are running a bit behind down here. I think they hit Noggin in the summer.

KEVIN: Mind you - I’m the guy who walked away from "Green Hornet."

KEVIN: So I’m kind of an idiot.

KEVIN: Can we talk about that? Because I’d like the comics folks to know what we were talking about doing.

KEVIN: Let’s tell ’em what we wanted to do with "Hornet", sir.

JoeyDaQ Hornet would have been cool

JoeyDaQ You had asked me to do story boards

JoeyDaQ I was quite flattered

KEVIN: And then what did I ask you to do?

KEVIN: Besides oral.

JoeyDaQ Aw shucks....

KEVIN: Tell ’em...

JoeyDaQ Okay, you asked me to co direct

KEVIN: How cool would that have been?

JoeyDaQ

KEVIN: I might have happened, too - were it not for two things:

JoeyDaQ It would have rocked if all the chips had fallen in the right place and if I would have had the ability to do it

KEVIN: 1) Miramax is in a weird, falling-apart place right now.

JoeyDaQ 1- I wouldn’t give you oral

KEVIN: 2) They wanted a really by-the-numbers movie.

JoeyDaQ 2- I would have had to get a leave from Marvel for a few months

JoeyDaQ That’s a biggy too

KEVIN: That’s the thing folks don’t get. They’re like "You’re gonna finally make an excellent comic book flick." But I wasn’t gonna be able to make an excellent comic book flick. I was gonna have to make something with beats from the "Spider-Man" movie; beats from the "Batman" movie.

JoeyDaQ But unfortunately it never got that far

KEVIN: With that huge budget comes a certain expectation of sameness.

KEVIN: To hedge their bets, studios want a movie that resembles a successful movie (or many) that came before.

JoeyDaQ Don’t you have enough banked up to do your own

KEVIN: When I do a comic book movie, I’ve decided it’s gonna be my own concept.

KEVIN: "Ranger Danger" is kind of a comic book movie.

JoeyDaQ So, where is that Hornet script now?

KEVIN: "Hornet" script: I’m almost done with the second draft.

KEVIN: I stayed on as just a writer. I’m doing a draft based on the studio’s notes.

JoeyDaQ Who’s going to do the movie now?

KEVIN: Don’t know who they’ll get now.

JoeyDaQ maybe Joel Shoemacker

KEVIN: You know, Joel’s not solely to blame for how bad "Batman" got. I blame Akiva Goldsman.

KEVIN: It’d be nice if it was Robert, but I think he’s been eyeing "Madman" for a few years now.

KEVIN: I’m still kinda bummed. The "Hornet" movie we would’ve made would’ve been cool as hell.

JoeyDaQ Yup, it would have and I have some early story boards to prove it. Maybe someday we’ll show them off.

JoeyDaQ So, we’ve barely talked comics

JoeyDaQ And it looks like you’re past whoa is me

KEVIN: The writer’s gotta take the majority of the blame - unless the director just completely f#@! the writer’s script.

KEVIN: A director (or, in comics - an artist) should elevate the writer’s script.

KEVIN: Like you did with my DD scripts.

JoeyDaQ You looking forward to Batman

JoeyDaQ I read the script, or an early version of it and it was very good

KEVIN: The new Batman movie?

KEVIN: Yeah - I’ll totally see it.

KEVIN: But there’s an air of been there/done that to it.

KEVIN: I mean, how’s it gonna compare to "Spider-Man 2."

KEVIN: I finally saw that on DVD, and man, was it good.

JoeyDaQ I think that’s because there hasn’t been enough time between movies

KEVIN: Soooooo much better than the first flick.

JoeyDaQ It does rock

KEVIN: I mean, based on the still and stuff, the outfit doesn’t look all that different.

KEVIN: How many ways can that cat be skinned, after all.

JoeyDaQ Yeah, I wondered about the black rubber suit, especially when that dude did that little indy Batman predator thing and made a gray pajama look sweet

KEVIN: I know. That short was tremendous, and the costume was spot-on.

JoeyDaQ It showed that you can do the spandex and make it work.

KEVIN: Felt like you were watching a comic book come to life.

JoeyDaQ On the flip side there’s great anticipation with Superman

KEVIN: I look more forward to Superman.

KEVIN: I loved "X-Men 2", so I think a Superman flick’s in great hands with Bryan Singer.

KEVIN: "X2" was so insanely &$*#ing good.

JoeyDaQ That to me is the greater achievement in a sense because of the size of the cast and the idea behind it

KEVIN: Indeed.

JoeyDaQ It just worked

KEVIN: It did.

KEVIN: He balanced a lot of character in "X2", and that flick was never boring. Excellent opening in the White House. How great was it to finally hear "BAMF!"

JoeyDaQ yeah, he nailed it

JoeyDaQ So, what else you got cooking, bro

JoeyDaQ plug away

KEVIN: We’re gonna be holding the first West Coast Vulgarthon out here in L.A. in March, I believe.

KEVIN: (V’thon is a film fest full of flicks View Askew has made/been involved with).

JoeyDaQ cool, is that going to be close to Wizardworld Long Beach?

KEVIN: I think it will be close to the Long Beach show, yeah.

JoeyDaQ Cool. so, we’ve been on for over an hour and we haven’t said much of anything

KEVIN: I’m uneasy about plugging anything here, because we had this signing at the West Coast Stash, and Matt was nice enough to publish pics from the event - solely because Jim Lee totally tagged the back door in the store with a Bats/Supes/Jay/Silent Bob piece of artwork. And some crank in the talk-backs was like "This isn’t news. This is free publicity for Kevin Smith’s store. This sucks. Newsarama has sold out." All that standard internet bulls$#@.

JoeyDaQ And that one crank gets to you. No wonder you’re an easy mark.

KEVIN: In April, we start "Clerks 2: The Passion of the Clerks."

JoeyDaQ There we go!

KEVIN: In March, I shoot the second half of "An Evening With Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder" in London.

JoeyDaQ That’s the Kev I know and love!

eQuesada: That’s it baby, keep it coming

KEVIN: I’m going to almost all the cons this year - starting with WonderCon next month.

KEVIN: And, if all goes well, we’ll also be shooting "Fletch Won" this year. In October.

JoeyDaQ You’re like your own bottom ----.

KEVIN: It’s an ambitious year: two movies in eight months.

KEVIN: If I can’t plug s$#@ on Quesadarama, where can I plug it?

JoeyDaQ get in the saddle dude, I need my SAG card

KEVIN: You’re close, aren’t you?

KEVIN: "Yo, yo, yo - Marvelous pizza coming..."

JoeyDaQ By the way, I thinking of legally changing my name to Quesadarama

KEVIN: Joe Quesadarama.

JoeyDaQ No, just Quesadarama

JoeyDaQ it has a ring to it

KEVIN: I think most folks would charge you with sincere modesty for such an act.

JoeyDaQ hey, how about my staring role in the New York video you shot for 9-11

KEVIN: That’s right - "Why I Love $*%&* New York."

KEVIN: (Available on the "Concert for NYC" dvd)

JoeyDaQ so, yeah, I think the Pizza guy has to make a reappearnance

JoeyDaQ What starlett can I dry hump next?

KEVIN: The rate we’re going, we’ll probably get around to a Pizza guy inaction figure.

KEVIN: She was your Tru Calling.

JoeyDaQ Yeah, uh huh

KEVIN: I heard they were thinking Dushku for Black Cat in "Spidey 3."

KEVIN: That’d be great.

KEVIN: She’s a really good actress.

JoeyDaQ You have to be kidding, really?

KEVIN: And easy to look at.

JoeyDaQ How serendipitous

KEVIN: S’what I heard.

JoeyDaQ The Pizza man may have to make a trip out West

JoeyDaQ I think she wanted me

KEVIN: They all do, sir.

KEVIN: We all want a little Quesadarama.

JoeyDaQ They usually get to me after Affleck is done with them

KEVIN: Taking Affleck’s leavings wouldn’t be a bad gig.

KEVIN: What’s the big Marvel book at the moment?

KEVIN: (Here’s where you get to plug. Or rather, preach to the choir)

JoeyDaQ New Avengers is rocking the world right now

KEVIN: Right on.

KEVIN: Haven’t peeped it yet, but I’ve got two on my "To Read" pile.

JoeyDaQ Fans want to crucify Bendis, not unlike a certain Hollywood director, but they’re buying and reading the book like crazy

KEVIN: I’ve still yet to finish "Identity Crisis" too.

JoeyDaQ Good book

JoeyDaQ Best DC title in a long time

JoeyDaQ The book you have to check out is Young Avengers

KEVIN: I’m really into "Gotham Central."

KEVIN: Excellent DC book.

KEVIN: Who’s doing "Young Avengers"?

JoeyDaQ Allen Heinberg

JoeyDaQ Writes for the OC, Sex and the City

JoeyDaQ His love of comics reminds me so much of yours

JoeyDaQ Almost the same story of apprehension

JoeyDaQ Fun read, especially for the hard core fan

KEVIN: Has s$#@ settled between you and DC? Or does Paul still want you dead?

JoeyDaQ Beats me?

KEVIN: I guess that Batman/DD book’s a loooooong way off, then.

JoeyDaQ Again, beats me, that was Bendis and Brubaker’s thing

JoeyDaQ My only part in it was to say sure we’d do it

KEVIN: Always above the fray, you.

JoeyDaQ I’m a class act

KEVIN: Do you miss the %$#@-stirring early days of your EIC-dom?

KEVIN: The Bill and Joe Show?

KEVIN: People bitched about it (a lot of folks on this site, if I recall), but it instilled a kind of fun back into the behind-the-scenes of comics that’d been missing for awhile.

JoeyDaQ A bit, but I’m not done with it yet

KEVIN: It was like watching wrestling.

JoeyDaQ I still have some stuff up my sleeve, but there comes a time when you have to change it around

KEVIN: You’re like "I know this is fake, but I’m still buying it."

JoeyDaQ Thank you, that’s exactly what I was giving people

JoeyDaQ That’s the thing, many people didn’t and still don’t realize

KEVIN: You were like the Sgt. Slaughter of old, sir.

KEVIN: And through all the bitching, the books still sold.

JoeyDaQ The problem comes in that that’s okay and fun when you’re down and out and trying to claw you’re way back up

KEVIN: It was like the comics beyond the comics.

JoeyDaQ But once you’re back on your feet and your kicking &%$ now you’re kind of kicking for know reason and if you continue the crowd will turn on you.

KEVIN: Yeah - you guys certainly got turned on, at a certain point.

JoeyDaQ It’s funny, we have this new guy that works across from my office

KEVIN: And you use his mouth like a urinal?

JoeyDaQ Wow, that’s horrible, NO! At our Christmas party he comes up to me and tells me how nice I am to work for, he thought I was this crazy nut-job from online and instead I’m just some mild manner artist who got lucky

KEVIN: Folks will remember that crazy period when you guys were razzing DC. They’ll remember it for years to come.

KEVIN: And they’ll miss it one day.

KEVIN: It was almost as fun as reading the comics.

JoeyDaQ That’s kind of the idea

KEVIN: (At this point, the non-fan chimes in with "Yeah - YOUR comics, maybe.")

KEVIN: Gotta love the talk-backs.

JoeyDaQ Like I said, we’ll still do some fun stuff, if people come to my panels they’ll hear stuff that will make the chuckle?

JoeyDaQ An ultimately it also served it’s grander purpose, it got people talking and it woke all the right people up. For example, there are certain people whose hairs on the back of their necks are bristling as they read this--- YOU"RE WHO I"M TALKING ABOUT!

KEVIN: Making friends and winning hearts, I see.

JoeyDaQ Just keeping it stirred.

JoeyDaQ Don’t get my Cuban up, Smith!

KEVIN: What cons are you doing this year?

JoeyDaQ Well, I’m flying off to Angouleme France next week. Doing Philly, Long Beach, Chicago and I’m debating San Diego this year

KEVIN: I skipped Diego last year. Heard it was crazy huge.

JoeyDaQ It was unmanageable

KEVIN: I’m doing WonderCon, WizardWorld LA, WizWorld Philly, ComiCon, WizWorld Chicago, and WizWorld Boston.

JoeyDaQ Oh yeah, I may do Boston

KEVIN: Gotta always give the new con a shot.

KEVIN: And Beantown? I’m there.

JoeyDaQ Well, brutha, this has been real, but while this is prime porn cruising time for you, it’s past midnight here

KEVIN: (That’ll REALLY get your Cuban up)

KEVIN: How goes "Father"? You almost as late as I usually am now, or what?

JoeyDaQ Actually, a considerable amount is done and I’m working and working

JoeyDaQ We’ve decided not to ship until its all done, sound familiar

KEVIN: How many issues?

JoeyDaQ five total

KEVIN: And people are buzzing about NYX online, sir.

JoeyDaQ Yeah, that’s actually done, but the artist injured his hand or his wrist, so I heard

KEVIN: Who’ll finish first: you with "Father" or me with "Evil That Men Do"?

JoeyDaQ Betcha 10 bucks I do

KEVIN: I read that there’s a mention of X-something (some formula or experiment) that’s from NYX in some recent book.

KEVIN: And that the book’s gone up because of it.

JoeyDaQ Oh, in NYX I introduce X-23, the female version of Wolvie. She’s red hot!

JoeyDaQ Fans are digging her

JoeyDaQ It’s actually kind of bizarre and creepy if you dig too deep

KEVIN: And X-23 appears somewhere else now, in some other book?

JoeyDaQ Yeah, her own mini series and Uncanny

KEVIN: How many issues is Buffy doing?

KEVIN: On Astonishing?

KEVIN: He brought back Shadowcat’s little dragon.

KEVIN: I dug that.

JoeyDaQ Why do you call him Buffy?

KEVIN: Because I always forget his name.

JoeyDaQ Joss

JoeyDaQ He’s doing twelve issues

KEVIN: Joss Whedon - yes.

KEVIN: Twelve, and then out?

JoeyDaQ that’s the word on the street

JoeyDaQ Yeah, his run has been great

KEVIN: Who’ll follow him?

JoeyDaQ No idea who or if anyone will follow

JoeyDaQ We may just end the title there

KEVIN: And that artist... so good.

JoeyDaQ Cassaday is the man

KEVIN: God, he’s good.

KEVIN: So you’ll just let the title die?

JoeyDaQ I’m crazy like that

KEVIN: I’ll take it.

KEVIN: I can deliver an issue a decade.

JoeyDaQ If you start now...

KEVIN: I’ll have two issues done by the time Carly’s ready to date.

JoeyDaQ look at you, all sad sack and s$#@ before and now you’re like, Yeah, I’m da man, give me that Astonishing s$#@!

JoeyDaQ You are a riddle my friend

KEVIN: Only an insanely bad and crazy EIC would ever hand me another monthly title.

JoeyDaQ Hey, check out the posts that will follow this statement, I"M YOU"RE MAN!

KEVIN: Is Gaiman doing something else for you guys now?

KEVIN: I loved 1602.

JoeyDaQ Yeah, Gaiman has a huge project under his hat

JoeyDaQ He came over for breakfast last weekend and we discussed story

KEVIN: Came over - yeah, right.

KEVIN: He woke you up, you mean.

KEVIN: Made you eggs.

JoeyDaQ Stop

JoeyDaQ Love Niel, he’s just a great guy and of course one heck of a writer

KEVIN: Oh, he’s the original, sir.

KEVIN: Him and Moore and Morrison are gods.

KEVIN: Euro-gods.

JoeyDaQ Yes they are

KEVIN: Who are the domestic gods of that era, ya’ think?

KEVIN: I’d vote Wagner as one.

KEVIN: "Mage" was astounding.

JoeyDaQ Miller

KEVIN: Miller, natch.

KEVIN: Miller’s the American god of all comic gods.

KEVIN: You see that "Sin City" trailer? Genius.

JoeyDaQ Looks fantastic

JoeyDaQ You would have to throw Claremont in there too

KEVIN: "God Loves, Man Kills."

JoeyDaQ Chris has done some amazing work in his time

JoeyDaQ He’s one of those guys that you won’t appreicate until he hangs it up and then you look back at the body of stuff and just go, Holy shit!

KEVIN: I know a lot of cats bitch about him, but Byrne’s "Man of Steel" pretty much redefined Supes.

KEVIN: Before that, Luthor was just a super villain.

KEVIN: He turned him into the Luthor we all know and love.

JoeyDaQ There was also Archie Goodwin

JoeyDaQ Steve Gerber

KEVIN: And an un-sung dude who’s stuff I’ve always loved: Andy Helfler.

KEVIN: His "Shadow" mini was genius.

JoeyDaQ Helfer and Baker

KEVIN: Helfer and Baker’s run on the "Shadow" series was so tremendous.

JoeyDaQ And Chaykin, how could I forget Chaykin

JoeyDaQ He was Miller before Miller

KEVIN: Chaykin, yeah.

KEVIN: Black Kiss.

KEVIN: Blackhawk.

JoeyDaQ I was just thinking that

JoeyDaQ Man, Black Kiss was ground breaking

KEVIN: Remember the Blackhawk blow#@$ scene.

KEVIN: In a DC book.

JoeyDaQ Dude, back then DC was kicking #$% and taking names

KEVIN: I loved that book.

KEVIN: No doubt. I’d pretty much stopped reading Marvel back then.

JoeyDaQ I was reading no Marvels except for Miller on DD and simonson on X-Factor

JoeyDaQ That’s when I got back into comics

KEVIN: That was circa Starlin, too: The Cult, Infinity Gauntlet.

JoeyDaQ Yes, Starlin

JoeyDaQ But I remember Starlin as a kid too

KEVIN: The Cult issue one came out the week I got back into comics.

JoeyDaQ That was with Wrightson

JoeyDaQ Just great stuff

KEVIN: That was my first exposure to the new format: the bookshelf format.

KEVIN: Prestige format.

KEVIN: Suddenly, comics had grown up.

KEVIN: I immediately started up a fifty buck a week habit.

KEVIN: Oooo! You know what book I loved back then?

KEVIN: GrimJack.

KEVIN: %#$@ing Ostrander, man.

JoeyDaQ Yup, all good stuff

KEVIN: I’ve loved almost every book he’s written: GrimJack, Martian Manhunter, Hawkworld.

JoeyDaQ It was a time when DC had a lot of young editors and a lot of Marvel defectors, Jim Shooter defectors. They captured the Marvel energy.

JoeyDaQ Carlin and Goodwin were the best editors in comics back then

KEVIN: Remember Suicide Squad. Ostrander and Kim Yale, bless her soul.

KEVIN: There were giants in those days, sir.

KEVIN: They’ll talk about the current Marvel like that in short time.

JoeyDaQ We all have our times, ours too will pass

JoeyDaQ Not soon enough for some ;-)

KEVIN: We’re living in an age of rebirth.

JoeyDaQ I think we’re too close to know what we’re living in, but it sure is fun

JoeyDaQ And by the way, we talk about those creators as though they’re dead, which most are not

JoeyDaQ It’s just that the fans want the new shiny penny

KEVIN: They do. But will new fans ever know the sheer joy - the amazement - of opening up that first issue of "Dark Knight Returns"? Or "Killing Joke"?

KEVIN: Old readers will speak reverently of Bendis, Millar, Johns, Loeb, Stryzyski (spelling, I know).

JoeyDaQ Vaughan, Whedon

JoeyDaQ Some guy named Smith

KEVIN: S#@$, even "Camelot 3000."

KEVIN: Remember that book?

JoeyDaQ Yeah, I picked it up in trade, I got in too late

KEVIN: There was a looooooong wait between the 11th and 12th ish of that book.

KEVIN: Moore’s Swamp Thing run?

JoeyDaQ Or, how about the greatest series ever written V for Vendetta

KEVIN: Oh, yeah...

KEVIN: V.

KEVIN: God, that was a good book.

KEVIN: Delano’s first few arcs on Hellblazer.

KEVIN: Gaiman’s Sandman.

KEVIN: Alan Moore is a pimp and a half.

JoeyDaQ Miracleman

KEVIN: YES! &#$@ing MiracleMan.

KEVIN: Kimota.

KEVIN: That ish in which they destroyed London?

JoeyDaQ That was the s#$@, bro

KEVIN: And, Jesus... how could we not mention "Watchmen."

JoeyDaQ Yeah, I kind of thought it but figured it was obvious

KEVIN: "Watchmen", though, is kind of like "Citizen Kane" - in as much as it set the bar so high, nobody could hope to ever touch it.

KEVIN: They’ve gotta retire the Watchmen jersey.

JoeyDaQ You think any of this strolling down nostalgia lane is of interest to the readers?

KEVIN: To new readers, maybe.

KEVIN: I don’t give a s#@$; I’M enjoying it.

KEVIN: It’s making me wanna re-read some stuff.

KEVIN: I’m definitely gonna re-read V now.

JoeyDaQ Yeah, the only complaint I’ve ever heard about Watchmen and it is a valid one is that it’s a tough read for the uninitiated

KEVIN: I haven’t peeped it since it was in issue form, back in the day.

JoeyDaQ If you don’t understand the contrivances of comics, it’s tough to get through

JoeyDaQ Unlike say V or Dark Knight

KEVIN: Only a moron would say that.

JoeyDaQ What are you saying?

KEVIN: Let it drift...

JoeyDaQ So how’s the comic shop doing?

KEVIN: Back in those days, I used to buy oversized boards that didn’t fit the size of bags I bought.

KEVIN: Then I’d spend hours cutting the boards to fit just perfectly.

JoeyDaQ Wuss

KEVIN: So that, once the book was slipped in, you could bounce a quarter off it.

KEVIN: I know.

KEVIN: Kinda dorky.

JoeyDaQ Called me a moron?

KEVIN: But I was just so in love with comics then: buying, collecting, reading, storing.

KEVIN: Comics was a religion.

KEVIN: It was an age of discovery.

JoeyDaQ It is a great hobby

KEVIN: It’s not the same when you own a store.

KEVIN: Or two.

JoeyDaQ And the greatest medium in the world if you ask me

KEVIN: Suddenly, the collecting aspect drifts away.

KEVIN: I’m not as ardent about weekly comics as I used to be, but I’ll always love them.

KEVIN: But sometimes, I wish I could go back to those days of waiting all week for new book day.

KEVIN: Of driving, with Walt, to the Hobby Shop in Mattawan.

JoeyDaQ I know what you mean

KEVIN: Gingerly drawing only the most pristine comics from the rack.

KEVIN: I don’t collect anymore, sir.

JoeyDaQ How does your wife feel about your collecting?

KEVIN: I stopped collecting when I opened the first Stash.

KEVIN: Felt kinda silly - because I suddenly had a massive collection.

JoeyDaQ Okay, your reading of comics?

KEVIN: She’s fine with my reading.

KEVIN: She chose to name our kid Harley Quinn after I gave her "Mad Love" to read.

JoeyDaQ I heard this guy talking about telling his fiancée about his being a comic’s reader.

JoeyDaQ He says it’s kind of like the big reveal in a lot of comic collectors lives

KEVIN: Akin to "I love the c#@$."

JoeyDaQ The equivalent of saying, before we get married I just need you to know that I spent time in jail

KEVIN: But there’s more credibility in comics now. With the success of comic-based movies, comes mainstream acceptance.

KEVIN: I mean, Entertainment Weekly does comics reviews now.

JoeyDaQ Oh yeah, no kidding

JoeyDaQ Today’s fans have it easy

KEVIN: Yeah. They’ve got Wizard.

KEVIN: Back in the day, we only had CBG.

JoeyDaQ Yeah and no net

KEVIN: Yeah. No talk-backs.

KEVIN: Only letter columns.

JoeyDaQ How funny is it, when we stared DD a mere 7 years ago, there was barely any net presence

KEVIN: Yup.

JoeyDaQ How far we’ve....uh, progressed?

KEVIN: We started www.viewaskew.com in ’95, and when we did DD in ’98, the ’net was still mostly underground.

JoeyDaQ And as always you were ahead of your time

KEVIN: Now, everybody has free reign to bitch about the comics I write.

JoeyDaQ Yeah, it’s a tough skin, broad back business

JoeyDaQ You better have it or don’t bother

KEVIN: The way you run your shop.

KEVIN: I miss the letters page as the only forum for feedback.

KEVIN: Takes all the fun out of it for me.

KEVIN: And the whole "That many sales can’t be wrong" thing doesn’t

work for me.

JoeyDaQ Yeah, well that’s also your insecurity speaking

KEVIN: Maybe.

KEVIN: It still comes down to what the readers THINK.

KEVIN: And sometimes, what they think really ain’t pretty.

JoeyDaQ Yes, but the net gives a skewed perspective of what they think

KEVIN: To some degree. I mean, I’ve never had anyone tell me in person anything remotely akin to the negativity folks have expressed toward me or my work on the ’net.

KEVIN: Anonymity breeds balls of steel.

JoeyDaQ That is one thing I know for sure. What is loathed is bought in truck loads what is fan faved is usually on the way to being canceled, at least according to the net

JoeyDaQ I’ve said this a million times

KEVIN: True, true.

JoeyDaQ People on these message boards treat Spidey like he’s flesh and blood but the creators who work on him as two dimensional characters

KEVIN: The more things change...

JoeyDaQ They talk to us like we’re super villains in a comic

KEVIN: You mean Spidey’s NOT flesh and blood?

JoeyDaQ And the hero is real, their buddy, imaginary or otherwise

KEVIN: Oh, I know. I’ve seen the beating you take in the Talk-Backs.

JoeyDaQ It’s pretty funny

KEVIN: Which is nothing compared to the beating I’ve taken in Ain’t It Cool talk-backs (particularly after the way I portrayed talk-backers in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back").

JoeyDaQ Which is pretty damn classic

KEVIN: It all takes its toll.

JoeyDaQ I have to admit, it has no effect on me anymore

KEVIN: One day, a brother wakes up and all that bile has eaten through his thick skin.

KEVIN: And he’s like "I shouldn’t write comics anymore."

KEVIN: So huzzah for the pr$#@; they’ve won.

JoeyDaQ Yeah, but have they?

KEVIN: We’ll see, I guess.

JoeyDaQ All right brutha

JoeyDaQ It’s my witching hour

KEVIN: Yeah - seems to be the way to end it, sir.

KEVIN: Thanks. This was fun.

KEVIN: Loved reminiscing about the old books.

KEVIN: But before the year gets too busy, I’m getting you that final Black Cat script.

JoeyDaQ Dude please

JoeyDaQ Terry Dodson is in town tomorrow and we’re having lunch

KEVIN: Get him started.

KEVIN: That script’s coming.

KEVIN: Bet.