Tales from the Clerks

(Graphitti, 2006)

This giant compendium of Clerks comics starts with the obligatory new material, in this case, “Where’s the Beef,” the untold tale of how Dante and Randal got their jobs at Mooby’s and how Dante met his fiancée. Sadly, it’s something of a tease, since readers are not then treated to a full movie adaptation.

Following the new partial-story, readers are presented with classic comics from the View Askewniverse. The Chasing Dogma mini-series is there, as are Bluntman and Chronic and the various Clerks one-shots. There are even some rarities, such as “Walt Flanagan’s Dog” and “On the Perils of Cinema.”

The continuity of the comics is dubious. The Lost Scene has been added as an animated bonus to the latest version of the DVD, but much of Chasing Dogma appears to have been retconned out by the film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
The all-star artist line-up includes Jim Mahfood (who was born to draw Clerks), Mike Allred, Matt Wagner, and Michael Oeming.

In short, this volume is a must-have for the Clerks connoisseur.

—Jack Abramowitz

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