Kevin Smith's View Askew Comics Come to ComIXology

Digital comics readers who visit the ComiXology website directly rather than buy through the app market may notice that among this week's new releases, sales and other featured items is a shot of Kevin Smith's stoned-out Batman & Robin parody, Bluntman and Chronic.

That's because Smith's View Askew graphic novels, the last of which was printed in 2006, have come to ComiXology and are available for digital download.

Available through Graphitti Designs, the graphic novels went first to the direct market and then, for quite a while have been principally or exclusively available through Smith's own store, Jay & Silent Bob's Secret Stash (where they shoot Comic Book Men). Last year, the Stash put them on clearance through the website and then they were gone. While the books (like everything else) can still be found on sites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but at a premium and not (as were the Stash versions at less than half the price) signed by Smith and company. A low-cost alternative may be the ComiXology versions.

Available for download are the Clerks comics, a Bluntman & Chronic graphic novel, the "inbetweenquel" Chasing Dogma and Tales From the Clerks, which reprint all of that content plus some bonus material. Artists involved include Walter Flanagan, Mike Allred, Jim Mahfood and Duncan Fegredo.