UNDER THE TRENCH COAT

Go behind the scenes of "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back".

Another Kevin Smith movie is in the books with the August release of "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back" - which grossed $11.1 million its opening weekend - and as per usual, Smith has layered the flick with an Avengers Mansion-full of comic book references and cameos. "A lot of how I write comes from reading comics," Smith said. "It's where I'M FROM."

But since there's no rewind on the big screen and the home video and DVD release is a ways off, here's your double-secret crib sheet on who's who and what's what. Now head to the theater and see it again!

1) Statuesque Beauties

Smith actually and physically set a Bowen Designs Black Widow statue in front of Costumer Designer Isis Mussenden and told her to recreate the look for the jewel thieves' leather outfits. "And I tossed Isis some of Joe Quesada's Black Cat drawings as well," Smith said. "The directive was, 'Get as close to this as we can without getting sued.'"

2) Testing Ground

The scene that takes place in the Arena Diner and the chase that follows as Jay & Bob run from Marshall Willenholly (a nod to the "Land of the Lost" characters from '70s TV) is cribbed almost word-for-word from Smith's 1998 Jay & Silent Bob Oni Press mini-series. 'I've already contacted my lawyer about suing me for plagiarism," Smith quipped. "I think I've got a case."

3) Far, Far Away

"Arena Diner" is a "Star Trek" homage, shot on the same location where Captain Kirk fought the Gorn in the "Arena" episode. Smith credits Production Designer Robert "Ratface" Holtzman with this one. 'Ratface selected it after our location guys brought him a picture of the very famous rock formation, also featured in 'Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey,'" Smith said.

4) Cover Up

The Wizard cover seen in the movie was done by Bluntman and Chronic artist Michael Avon Oeming as a specialty prop for the film. No such issue exists, except for a few hundred specially made editions that were handed out at the Hollywood premiere of the film. "I think Mike secretly dug on the fact that it was going to be in a movie," Smith said. "Any sort of high profile plug is a good thing, right?"

5) Man Without Fear

Yep, that's a phony (but soon-to-be-real) "Daredevil" movie being shot, glimpsed briefly as Jay and Bob run from Miramax security. But ol' Hornhead was Smith's second choice. "I Suggested 'Spider-Man,' sort of to tease for that flick before it hits next summer," Smith relayed. "Understandably, Sony said 'f--- off,' more or less. [Marvel Editor In Chief] Joe Quesada then suggested Daredevil, to which I said, 'Duh. Why didn't I think of that?'"

6) Pizza-In-Chief

Joe Quesada makes an appearance as the delivery boy who drops off pizza for jewel thieves Sissy, Chrissy, Missy and Justice. "Joe is there because he's my boy and because he's a sexy dog," Smith said. While most of the scene was cut because of time constraints, "the world will be treated to a lot more Quesada with the DVD release," Smith promised.

7) Tea For Two

Smith's Green Arrow editor, Bob Schreck, is seen pouring tea for Gus Van Sant in the "Good Will Hunting 2" scene. "Schreck was an Oregonian for many years. Gus Van Sant's still an Oregonian," Smith said. "It seemed like a natural fit."

8) Dynamic Doer

Emmy Award-winning "Batman Adventures" writer and producer Paul Dini is the "clapper/loader" for the "Bluntman And Chronic" movie. "Jay and I are sort of wearing Batman-esque outfits, and Paul is best known for the batman cartoon," Smith relayed. "He tells us we looks 'bad-ass,' or 'Bat-ass,' depending on how you listen."

9) Blast From The Past

The entire Bluntcave is modeled after the 1966 "Batman" TV series, and the 'cave is even dressed up with computers from "Lost In Space" and one of only five actual rocket packs from 1991's "The Rocketeer" movie. "Rat dug all that stuff up," Smith said. "That Ratface is a wonder."

-Jim McLauchlin

Kevin Smith fights more battles than the Us military. The director, who caught flak two years ago from various religious organizations because of material they found objectionable in his film "Dogma" and has had public feuds with comic book pros like Alex Ross, recently found himself butting heads with several new foes, including:

GLADD

(Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) GLADD began it's media campaign and boycott of the film in late July, claiming Smith used defamatory slurs against homosexuals. Smith posted a lengthy, passionately written retort on the View Askew Website (www.viewaskew.com). The bottom line, according to Smith? "Neither 'Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back' nor myself are homophobic," wrote Smith, who says his own brother is gay. "F---, if anything, we're overly gay-friendly." For proof, check out Smith's film "Chasing Amy," a decidedly pro-gay film.

Tim Burton

On Aug. 6, the New York Post published a story that said Smith was thinking about suing Fox and Burton over the ending to Burton's "Planet Of The Apes," which the Post story claimed Smith said was a direct rip-off of an ending to a Jay & Silent Bob comic book story. In a response, Burton said, "Anyone that knows me knows I do not read comic books and I especially wouldn't read anything that was created by Kevin Smith." A few days later, Smith clarified that he was only joking when he dropped the lawsuit remark. "It was a joke. I assumed folks would get that. Like I'd really want to sue Fox," said Smith. "I enjoyed Tim's quote in the Post. I'll use that on a trade paperback one day."

The Internet

A new Website cropped up on the 'Net (www.jayandsilentbobstrikeback.com) where fans could go and voice their complaints about Smith and his new flick. The one catch? Smith was behind the entire stunt, using his Webmaster from the View Askew homepage to set up the site. The site hoax stems from a subplot in "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back" which has to do with Internet name-calling.

Ben Affleck

Okay, there's absolutely no arguments, fights, feuds or disagreements between Smith and Affleck, but there's a bit of news about the duo: Affleck will appear in Smith's next film, a low-budget pic based on Smith's experiences as a dad. Smith described the next film as closer in tone to "Chasing Amy," and said he'd like to reunite the cast of the 1997 romantic comedy, including Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams and Jason Lee.

--John B. Lacey

In the "Clash of the Ti-'Toons", a ranking of the top 100 cartoons ever, Clerks comes in at #52 with the accompanying text:

"Lots of cartoons are based on movies, but very few cartoons are based on movies with as many instances of the "F" word as "Clerks." Kevin Smith managed to make the cartoon different from the movie but still hilarious (check out the "Korean animators" sequence). Canceled prematurely, the show's been collected into a jam-packed DVD."

"This'd be an adults-only 'toon full of the same humor that made us love the Kevin Smith film. Oh, and of course, Stan Lee would show up at the end of each episode to lend advice."

October 1, 2001