Quick Stops Volume 2

by Kevin Smith, Ahmed Raafat (illustrator), Andrew Thomas (Letterer)

Kevin Smith and his Secret Stash Press bring you the seedy, sexy, sensational origin of the Askewniverse's sacred Mooby the Golden Calf!

Learn the udder truth about an American icon when a young podcaster tries to milk Mooby creator Nancy Goldruff for the bovine's beginnings, only to meat a cow tale so shocking, it turns her brain to hamburger.

Collects Quick Stops Volume 2 #1–#4.

Genres: Comics

104 pages, Hardcover

Published September 3, 2024

About the author

Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, director, as well as a comic book writer, author, and actor. He is also the co-founder, with Scott Mosier, of View Askew Productions and owner of Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash comic and novelty store in Red Bank, New Jersey. He also hosts a weekly podcast with Scott Mosier known as SModcast. He is also known for participating in long, humorous Q&A Sessions that are often filmed for DVD release, beginning with An Evening with Kevin Smith.

His films are often set in his home state of New Jersey, and while not strictly sequential, they do frequently feature crossover plot elements, character references, and a shared canon in what is known by fans as the "View Askewniverse", named after his production company View Askew Productions. He has produced numerous films and television projects, including Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Clerks II.

Reviews

[Chris Gooch · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK, so my complaint about volume one was that it was just self-referential in-jokes for an audience of people who have heard all these jokes before. The other issue was that the stories featured in that anthology didn’t properly add to the mythology of the View Askew universe because it was too busy trying to remind people of jokes that had been heard over and over again.

So at least this one attempts to build on the View Askew Universe and mostly isn’t bogged down in “remember Mallrats?! Remember Clerks?!” So that’s why I’ve given this one an extra star within the review.

However, it revolves around one of the least interesting aspect of Kevin Smith’s film series: Mooby. It was a simple, funny little element of his world, it served its purpose in Clerks II, but did I want to know about Mooby’s origins or care for that matter? No. Now that I’ve learned about it, has it changed my mind? No.

I’d said previously that I grew up and Kevin Smith did not. I think that is once again on display because it looks like he wrote this story with one hand. I’m not a prude, far from it, but his attempts at “sexy” and “risqué” are just juvenile.

I don’t normally like to comment negatively on artwork, but the artwork was lacking. To be fair at the end of the book there are some coloured pages of Ahmed Raafat’s work and I think colour is the missing key ingredient. His limited line work and detail with things like clothing and background and the limited facial expressions meant that none of the characters actually imprinted on me. I close my eyes and I can’t identify any key features of the characters. The art work didn’t hold up the way Jim Mahfood, Phil Hester or Duncan Fegredo brought the characters to life in their respective books.

My final thought is that this story, is similar to his horror film Tusk: there’s an interesting idea here, just not interesting enough to sustain a four issue story. Could have easily been a single issue, and made room for other stories… but I digress.

[Peter Derk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my favorite comic by Smith.

I think this gets towards something, it could actually be a pretty good story about relationships and what is and isn't acceptable in the ol' triangular situation. But I think it instead goes into joke-y territory and doesn't end up with a whole lotta impact.

I guess I'm also in the club, the new one I invented, called The, No, I Actually Don't Want the Backstory Club.

All these movies, all these shows, they give us SO MUCH BACKSTORY on things that I don't really need. I mean, sometimes people THINK they want this stuff, but they do not. Guys, you do not.

I don't need backstory on Ivo Shandor or midichlorians or any of that shit.

I end up feeling like these backstory prequels just sort of give me background on stuff that wasn't required to understand and enjoy the first story, so maybe it's not always the best way into a new story.

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

The seriously dark and twisted origin story of Mooby’s creator.

Making Moo-Schiff - Complex Corp being the owner of Mooby and Holden saying in an earlier issue that Bluntman and Chronic were published by Complex means this company owns both entities, which is odd to consider. Way more raunchy than I was expecting. KP is obviously Kevin Patrick.

The Milkmaid’s Mistakes - super dark turn with the physical child abuse allegation!

The Slaughterhouse - wow! The darkness continues!

Sacred Cow - rollercoasters in Jersey in November? I don’t think so. Absolutely crazy turn for the world of View Askew, feels like something more out of Tusk.

[Ben A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kevin Smith returns to Quick Stops for a second volume that tells the story of how Mooby the Golden Cafe came to be. It's a little bit dark and skews toward some of Smith's later day films rather than his earlier, more straight up comedic work. I was enjoying it, but not loving it but the final part really brought it all together for me. I would prefer that if we get a third volume, it goes back to the shorter stories featuring a wider variety of View Askew characters.

Special Thanks to Dark Horse Comics and Edelweiss Plus for the digital ARC. This was given to me for an honest review.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Instead of 4 one-issue stories this go around, we get a complete story about how Mooby was created. Given that it's Kevin Smith, there's lots of sex involved and then it gets crazy. It's really over the top by the end. I prefer the earlier stories from Smith's career over this which gets almost goofy while trying to maintain a seriousness at times.

[Logan Polk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Smith at his absolute worst, reads like Askewniverse slash fic.

[Andrew Kline · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a whiplash reading Volumes 1 & 2 together. While Volume 1 was all Clerks stoner/slacker comedy, Volume 2 goes full Red State with a bloody and sex-fueled origin story for Mooby.

[Paweł jedzący rogalika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last Night in New Jersey. Człowiek przyszedł się pośmiać, a zamiast tego dostał satanistyczny horror o krowie. Jak gdyby, czemu nie? A historii tej maskotki i tak byś nie zrozumiał.

[Mark NP · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sordid and shocking origins of a beloved and iconic mascot! Mooby's story is a four comic collection of sex, murder, devil worship, and outrageous Askewniverse canon.