Actor, director, and comic book enthusiast Kevin Smith rose to prominence with his overnight cult classic Clerks, which follows the Quick Stops convenience store and its coterie of colorful characters, most notably Jay and Silent Bob. Riding on its success, Smith went on to make a slew of interconnected movies dubbed the View Askewniverse, named after his production company. Recently, Smith has teamed up with Dark Horse Comics to start his own publishing imprint, Secret Stash Press. The Imprint’s second title, Quick Stops, written by Smith with artwork from Jeremy Simser and letters from Andrew Thomas, features anecdotes about Bluntman and Chronic from the perspective of comic book creator Holden McNeil.
Quick Stops #1 opens at the 10th annual Chronic-Con, where people from across the country have come to celebrate the adventures of comic book characters Bluntman and Chronic, created by Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards. Both Alyssa Jones and Holden take the stage to discuss their upcoming Netflix project and answer questions from fans. When someone asks Holden about the origin of his comic book, he reminisces about the time he worked at the Quick Stops convenience store for a month before college and met Jay and Silent Bob.
While Maskerade built a new world from the ground up, Quick Stops #1 is already based on an established universe spanning several movies, so this first issue starts abruptly in the midst of a packed convention center, making it hard for the reader to navigate the halls at first. That feeling passes as the characters take center stage. Holden’s nostalgia propels the story from anecdote to anecdote, keeping things funny and engaging. Smith’s writing shines in the dialogue, and the bulk of the book consists of lengthy, clever conversations. As funny as these scenes can be, the overall plot feels aimless.
Quick Stops #1 contains some great portrait art, as Jeremy Simser captures the likenesses of actors like Ben Affleck, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, and other stars of the View Askewniverse. By rendering the comic in black and white, Simser evokes the aesthetic of the original Clerks, which helps to hammer home the nostalgic tone of this issue. Simser keeps his lines clean and simple with light inks. The dark inking is left for the background to give the panels depth, with a range of grey shades for the clothing and other details that make the settings feel more authentic.
What better way to celebrate Kevin Smith’s universe than to name the series after the place where it all started? Quick Stops #1 strings together references to earlier movies and creates new memories that enrich the world. Out of all the references, The Dark Knight Returns joke is executed to perfection, with pot puns giving a flat tale some much-needed light. But like every Kevin Smith story, there’s sure to be even more surprises and humor on the way.
