In 1994, Kevin Smith created the movie Clerks. It was filmed in black and white, with a modest budget of $27, 575. Clerks. launched Kevin Smith’s career, and also became the first of many films set in the View Askewniverse.
Clerks revolves around Dante and Randal, who work at the QuickStop and RST Video Rental shops in Leonardo, New Jersey. It’s just another day for the two clerks as they tease their customers, have discussions over pop culture, and play hockey on QuickStop’s rooftop. Dante finds out about the engagement of Caitlin, his ex-girlfriend, to another man, and as a result, a wave of bad occurrences happens.
From 1998-1999, Oni Press published a series of comics based on the film.
Title: Clerks. (The Comic Book)
Writer: Kevin Smith
Art: Jim Mahfood
Letters: Sean Konot
Cover: Laura Allred & Gilbert Hernandez
Publisher: Oni Press
Pages: 32
Release Date: February 1998
Price: $2.95
Side Notes: At the local comic book shop, Steve-Dave and Walt are overcharging on popular Star Wars action figures due to the re-release of the films. After Randal was publicly embarrassed by Steve-Dave and Walt, he decides to also sell Star Wars action figures for a better price in order to ruin their profit.
I really enjoyed Clerks. (The Comic Book). The writing was as expected with Kevin Smith’s work, and the artwork was beautiful. I find I enjoy black and white stories more than if it was in color. It takes a lot of effort to make a page look interesting, especially when it’s drawn in black and white.
I screamed in horror as I witnessed the story’s conclusion. I love all the characters, even though they put each other through hell.
Title: Clerks. (Holiday Special)
Writer: Kevin Smith
Art: Jim Mahfood
Letters: Sean Konot
Cover: Arthur Adams & Guy Major
Publisher: Oni Press
Pages: 32
Release Date: December 1998
Price: $2.95
Side Notes: Dante visits his ex-girlfriend, Caitlin, at the Marlboro Home for the Emotionally Troubled. Meanwhile, Randal tries to make a rental order for Nicholas Saint. Randal visits Nicholas’s home address that he received from his card. He finds out a very surprising situation, involving Nicholas and the two local weed dealers, Jay and Silent Bob.
Clerks. (Holiday Special) had the most crude comic story I’ve ever read. Not only that, but I love it the most out of all the Clerks. comic book stories. The artwork was consistent to Clerks. (The Comic Book).
Title: Clerks. (The Lost Scene)
Writer: Kevin Smith
Pencils: Phillip Hester
Inker: Ande J. Parks
Letters: Sean Konot
Cover: Duncan Fegredo & Matt Hollingsworth
Publisher: Oni Press
Pages: 32
Release Date: December 1999
Price: $2.95
Side Notes: This story was a scripted scene from the movie Clerks, where it shows what exactly happened to Dante and Randal when they went to Julie Dwyer’s wake.
Clerks. (The Lost Scene) was hilarious. I never knew what happened during Julie’s wake until after I read the comic. The artwork took a while to get used to, but I loved the loose line work and expressions of all the characters.
I loved that in Clerks. (The Lost Scene), Randal made things very difficult for Dante, and characters made Mallrats references .
Clerks. (The Lost Scene) was animated in the same style as Clerks: The Animated Series for the anniversary edition of the Clerks DVD. I highly recommend watching it if you’re a fan of the animated series. Be forewarned, as with many Kevin Smith movies, it has a lot of vulgar language.
You can get autographed single issues of the Clerks. comics at Jay & Silent Bob Secret Stash. The Clerks. comics are reprinted in trade paperback, limited edition hardcover ( version 1 and version 2), and Tales from the Clerks: The Complete Collection of Comic Book Stories. Tales from the Clerks featured Chasing Dogma, Bluntman & Chronic, a new reprint of the story Walt Flanagan’s Dog, and a new story called Where’s the Beef ? Where’s the Beef? that bridged the gaps between the time of Clerks and its sequel, Clerks II.
I am a fan of Kevin Smith’s work. He always has a knack for humor and commentating on people’s actions. Although I have yet to find a favorite movie from Kevin Smith, I love all his films equally the same.
If you’re a fan of the movie Clerks, then you’ll love all that the comics have to offer.
“I’m not even supposed be here today!”
Princess Powerful
princesspowerful@comicattack.net
I’ve enjoyed most of his films. I don’t think I ever saw Mallrats though, and I hated Chasing Amy. But I’ve seen and enjoyed all the others. Oh, except Jersey Girl, which I like to believe doesn’t exist.
I actually stayed away from the comics because I liked the movie so much I figured the books would just not live up to my expectations…though I may change my mind with this review here! I didn’t like the animated series as much but it did make me chuckle a bit.
And I feel the opposite about Chasing Amy Kris I think it’s ONE of the best films Smith did, It just felt more real and honest and I guess that comes from him writing it from experience. Mallrats is good for a few laughs and hey Stan Lee makes a cameo so you can’t go wrong with that!
Inever saw this film but KS’ skills can’t be denied.
Yea, but having Kevin Smith write them makes it better to read. I like Chasing Amy, I just don’t like Holden. He’s a flipping idiot.
Surprisingly, I love Jersey Girl. It’s nothing like his other work, but it just has that heartiness I like. Granted, I might be the only KS fan who willingly pop in the movie every now again.
I had no clue Jim Mahfood worked on the first two Clerks.’ series. That’s awesome!