Kevin Smith

I've been a Kevin Smith fan for a long time: his movies, his comics, his amazing Q&A's, and most recently, his armada of podcasts - especially "Fatman on Batman" in which he interviews pivotal figures in Batman's history, usually people from the brilliant Animated Series (i.e. Mark  Hamill, Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, etc.). He got Kevin Conroy (the voice of Bruce Wayne/Batman from the Animated Series & the guy who has been voicing the character for the past 20+ years) on the latest episode, and what an episode it is. It goes deep, an it gets heavy. It's an amazing listen for any fan of the Batman cartoon. Conroy actually attended Juliard the same time that Robin Williams and Christopher Reeve did (among other great stories and factoids).

At the very end of the podcast, Kevin Smith asks Conroy to give him life affirmations in his Batman voice, like: "Kevin [Smith], you were right to do what you did with Red State at Sundance" and "Kevin, you lost your father, and I lost my parents, but know they still love us." Some really personal and moving stuff that ended up inspiring the drawing I made.

When Smith announced he was doing a signing for his new book at Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Red Bank, NJ (which would also be filmed for the new season of AMC's Comic Book Men), I knew I had to attend and give Kevin a piece of original art. Almost immediately, I thought of the "Fatman on Batman" podcast...

It was a brutal day (my brother and I waited on line for 6+ hours), but meeting Jay Mewes, Ming Chen, Mike Zapzic, and of course Kevin Smith himself made it all worth it. For all I know, he threw out the drawing as soon as I left, but he seemed genuinely appreciative (and just genuine in general), especially considering he was supposed to sign from 2 to 5pm, and ended up signing from 2 to 10pm - signing stuff people brought, posing for pictures, and talking with EVERYONE who waited.

Hats off to you, Mr. Smith. You're a class act and I hope you enjoy the illustration.

Thumbnails.

The final piece (finished while waiting on line).

Random sketch I did while trying to maintain sanity on line.

Me and the inimitable Ming Chen from Comic Book Men. He liked my Walking Dead t-shirt.

Me and Michael Zapzic (doing an excellent Kevin Smith face), also from Comic Book Men.

My brother, myself, and Jason Mewes (who is just as nice, ridiculous, and vulgar as you'd hope he'd be in person). He graciously took a ton of pictures with people waiting on line.

A few minutes before meeting Kevin Smith.

Me and Kevin Smith (who thought to grab the drawing right before we had our picture taken).