I totally get Kevin Smith‘s deep connection to his work. When you work hard on something and are passionate about said something, it’s hard to let it go. In premiere issue of his black-and-white anthology comic series Quick Stops, Smith revisits the Chasing Amy corner of the View Askewniverse featuring stellar artwork by John Sprengelmeyer.
Holden McNeil and Banky Edwards are best known for creating the smoking-hot superhero comic-book Bluntman and Chronic—a tour de force of the dick and fart joke genre. For Holden, it’s a way to pay the bills, but he longs to create the kind of art he and Banky did at the beginning of their career. Something personal. Something that means something.
Enter Alyssa Jones. The coolest girl in the world, and someone who means something. This is the comic Holden wrote about her. A comic about love. A comic about insecurity. A comic about growth. A comic about Chasing Amy.
Kevin Smith’s passion for his work is obvious. The director, actor, comedian, podcaster, and writer has spent years working hard on films that turned out to be cult classics, most of which make up the View Askewniverse. One standout film is 1997’s Chasing Amy, starring Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Lee, Dwight Ewell, and Jason Mewes. The film has turned out to be one of Smith’s most successful films both critically and financially. Now, Smith takes us on a journey in comic form.
Like the previous Quick Stops issues, Volume 3 offers something a little different. In the first issue, Smith writes a comic from the perspective of Holden McNeil, the fictional creator from Chasing Amy. This meta approach adds to the nearly 30-year-old film, giving us longtime fans something fresh about the story. Quick Stops Vol. 3 #1 is both a fun and nostalgic read, making the return to the Chasing Amy world feel a bit familiar while also being refreshingly new.
In Quick Stops Vol. 3 #1, Kevin Smith is joined by artist John Sprengelmeyer, who perfectly brings to life the fictional comic from the film and into our hands. The black-and-white style returns, just like in the previous two volumes, a deliberate nod to Smith’s first feature film, Clerks, which was released in black-and-white back in 1994. The artwork works really well with Smith storytelling which makes for a great time.
Quick Stops Vol. 3 #1 is a must-read for fans of Smith’s View Askewniverse, especially those who love Chasing Amy. Smith and Sprengelmeyer teleport us into the feature film by bringing to life the comic that Holden McNeil created about loving and losing Alyssa Jones. This premiere issue had me laughing and feeling nostalgic. It’s exactly the kind of funny, smart, and heartfelt storytelling you’d expect from Kevin Smith.
Quick Stops Vol. 3 #1 hits local comic shops on August 13, 2025 from Dark Horse.
Quick Stops Vol. 3 #1 Preview
