According to the Mallrats commentary, Smith cites Flanagan as being the influence for the Brodie character, down to the Dixie Cup full of soda that the character carries with him everywhere as well as his October birth date. Flanagan also originated the character of Olaf, seen in Clerks as Silent Bob's cousin from Russia.
In Smith's 1994 debut movie, Clerks, Flanagan was credited with four different roles (which made Kevin Smith, on the Clerks commentary, refer to Flanagan as "The Lon Chaney, Sr. of the 1990s"). Among these were the egg-obsessed guidance counselor, the cigarette protester who buys a pack of cigarettes immediately after the anti-cigarette protest, the customer offended by the lewd "jizz mopper" discussion, and the customer to whom Randal said the resident cat's name was "Annoying Customer." In the extended cut, he also appears as an RST Video customer. He also designed the clown animation that made up the View Askew logo, and appeared in the Soul Asylum video for "Can't Even Tell", directed by Kevin Smith.
In Smith's 1995Mallrats, Flanagan played the recurring role of Walt "Fanboy" Grover, who is accompanied by his friend Steve-Dave (Bryan Johnson), with whom Walt offers constant assent with his trademark phrase, "Tell 'em, Steve-Dave!" He also appears in an uncredited role as one of Mr. Svenning's (Michael Rooker) assistants who places a podium in the wrong place on a stage, is seen at a table under which Jay and Bob hide from the mall security guard LaFours, and greets Brodie at the swap meet. Flanagan was also given a credit for being a set production assistant on the film. Flanagan is also referenced when Jay states that LaFours is "faster than Walt Flanagan's dog...".
Flanagan and Johnson reappear as Walt Grover the Fanboy and Steve-Dave in a deleted scene in Smith's 1997 romantic drama Chasing Amy. His dog is yet again mentioned in one of the Bluntman and Chronic pages during the opening. In another deleted scene, Banky (Jason Lee), and Holden (Ben Affleck) toss a trash can through the window of Steve-Dave's comic store, in retaliation for the harsh criticism Steve-Dave and Walt gave Bluntman and Chronic.
Walt reappears as Walt Grover among the anti-abortion protestors outside the abortion clinic in the beginning of the film Dogma, among the people leaving the theater at the end of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and in three episodes of Clerks: The Animated Series, though none of them aired during the series' broadcast run.
Flanagan later appeared as a caddy in Bryan Johnson's 2000 film Vulgar, and as a customer in Clerks II.
Comic books
Flanagan, second from right, with the cast of Comic Book Men
Flanagan was also referenced by name in Green Arrow #3 (June 2001), which Kevin Smith wrote.[3]
Flanagan himself has provided the art for two comic books published written by Smith and Bryan Johnson. In 2005 he and Johnson published through IDW PublishingKarney, a four-issue horror miniseries which explores the sideshow freaks in a traveling circus in the 1800s. The series was adapted from a screenplay that Johnson had originally written to be produced as a film.[4]
In 2010 Smith subsequently wrote a six-issue Batman mini-series called The Widening Gyre for DC Comics.[8][9] After issue six was published, Smith and Flanagan's work on their reality show, Comic Book Men, extended this planned break further than expected. It was decided in the interim to release the remaining issues as a separate series to be called Batman: Bellicosity, due in 2014.[10][11][needs update]
As featured at the end of season 2 of Comic Book Men, Walt Flanagan does the artwork for the original comic series, Cryptozoic Man. Fellow co-host Bryan Johnson is the author, with Ming Chen and Mike Zapcic helping with character creation. Flanagan provided cover pencils for the first five issues of the Blue Juice Comics series The Accelerators.[12]
Songwriting
Flanagan wrote the lyrics for a song titled “I Sell Comics.” A contest was held in which listeners of the podcast, “Tell ‘Em Steve-Dave!” submitted entries for music to the song. Courage My Love’s version was chosen as the winner.
Flanagan is married to Debra Flanagan and has two daughters.
Notes
↑ Muir, John Kenneth. An Askew View 2: The Films of Kevin Smith, Hal Leonard Corporation, 2012. ISBN1557837945. Accessed February 6, 2013. "Walt Flanagan is one of those friends. A dark-haired, shy type with an open and friendly face,this future 'Fanboy' of the View Askewniverse was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, a town north of Highlands and south of Metuchen. Two years older than Smith, Flanagan attended high school with Smith at Henry Hudson for a time."
↑ Staff. "Q&A – Walt Flanagan (Comic Book Men)", AMC. Accessed November 2, 2016. "I knew of him in high school but I didn’t speak to him. It was only after he graduated. We both worked at a recreation center in our town, Highlands."
Kevin Patrick Smith is an American director, producer, writer, and actor. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film Clerks (1994), which he wrote, directed, co-produced, and acted in as the character Silent Bob of stoner duo Jay and Silent Bob, characters who also appeared in Smith's later films Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997), Dogma (1999), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), Clerks II (2006), Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019), and Clerks III (2022) which are set primarily in his home state of New Jersey. While not strictly sequential, the films have crossover plot elements, character references, and a shared canon known as the "View Askewniverse", named after Smith's production company View Askew Productions, which he co-founded with Scott Mosier.
Jay and Silent Bob are fictional characters portrayed by American actors Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, respectively. They appear in the View Askewniverse, a fictional universe used in most of the films, comics, and television programs written and produced by Smith.
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is a 2001 American satirical stoner buddy comedy film written, co-edited, and directed by Kevin Smith and produced and co-edited by Scott Mosier. The film is the fifth set in the View Askewniverse, a growing collection of characters and settings that developed out of Smith's cult-favorite Clerks. It stars Jason Mewes and Smith respectively as the two eponymous characters. The film also stars Shannon Elizabeth, Jason Lee, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Will Ferrell, Eliza Dushku, Ali Larter, and Chris Rock, among many others, most of which in cameo appearances. The title and logo for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back are direct references to The Empire Strikes Back.
Clerks is a 1994 American black-and-white comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith in his feature directorial debut.
Mallrats is a 1995 American buddy comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Jason Lee, Jeremy London, Shannen Doherty, Claire Forlani, Ben Affleck, Jason Mewes, Joey Lauren Adams, Michael Rooker, and Smith as Silent Bob. It is the second film in the View Askewniverse and a prequel to 1994's Clerks.
Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash is a comic book store owned by filmmaker Kevin Smith, and named after the fictional duo portrayed by Smith and Jason Mewes in Smith's View Askewniverse films. Merchandise includes comic books, comic-related merchandise, and View Askew film-related items. The store is located at 65 Broad Street in Red Bank, New Jersey.
The View Askewniverse is a fictional universe created by writer/director Kevin Smith, featured in several films, comics and a television series; it is named for Smith's production company, View Askew Productions. The characters Jay and Silent Bob appear in almost all the View Askewniverse media, and characters from one story often reappear or are referred to in others. Smith often casts the same actors for multiple characters in the universe, sometimes even in the same film; Smith himself portrays the character of Silent Bob.
Clerks is an American adult animated sitcom created by Kevin Smith for ABC. Based on Smith's 1994 comedy film of the same name, it was developed for television by Smith, Smith's producing partner Scott Mosier and former Seinfeld writer David Mandel with character designs by Stephen Silver, known for character designs in Disney Channel's Kim Possible and Nickelodeon's Danny Phantom. It is the first television show to be set in Smith's View Askewniverse. It is Disney’s second adult animated television series after The PJs.
Bryan Lee Johnson is an American podcaster, actor, television personality, screenwriter and comic book writer associated with filmmaker Kevin Smith and the View Askewniverse. He is best known by his local fame in New Jersey and appearances in Smith's New Jersey films as comic book store owner Steve-Dave Pulasti. He was also the basis for the Clerks character Randal Graves.
Bluntman and Chronic are characters appearing in a fictional eponymous comic book series seen in the movies Chasing Amy,Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot. Actual Bluntman and Chronic comic books based on the fictional movie comic book series were published after the release of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Both the movies and the comic books were created by writer and actor Kevin Smith. Comics creator Mike Allred designed the costumes for the characters.
In the comic Oni Double Feature #1, a story titled "Walt Flanagan's Dog" appears and tells the adventure of Jay and Silent Bob having an encounter with Walt Flanagan's dog, Krypto.
SModcast Podcast Network is a podcast network owned by Kevin Smith. The network was started in January 2010 to host the podcast SModcast alongside the popular Tell 'Em Steve-Dave! and Highlands: A Peephole History.
Tell 'Em Steve-Dave!, or simply TESD, is an American comedy podcast, featured previously on the SModcast Podcast Network. It is hosted by View Askew Productions regulars and close friends of Kevin Smith: Bryan Johnson and Walt Flanagan of AMC's Comic Book Men, as well as Brian Quinn of Impractical Jokers. The show is edited by Declan Quinn of Creaky Studios. Previously, Tell 'Em Steve-Dave! was recorded at Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash in Red Bank, New Jersey, the location seen in the television show Comic Book Men, and the A Shared Universe PodcaStudio, run by Ming Chen and Mike Zapcic. Currently the podcast records from the TESD Town Studios in Hazlet, NJ.
Comic Book Men is an American reality television series which aired on the AMC network from 2012 to 2018. It is set at Kevin Smith's comic book shop, Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, in Red Bank, New Jersey.
Jay & Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie! is a 2013 American adult animated comedy film written by Kevin Smith, directed by Steve Stark, and produced by Jason Mewes and Jordan Monsanto. The film's script was adapted from the Bluntman And Chronic comic book story originally written by Smith as a companion piece to his 2001 film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and it is the seventh film in the View Askewniverse.
Cliff Ming-Si Chen, better known as Ming Chen, is an actor, podcaster, reality television personality, and webmaster associated with Kevin Smith. He co-hosts the I Sell Comics! and Ming & Mike Show podcasts with Mike Zapcic and also starred in the AMC reality series Comic Book Men.
Shooting Clerks is an upcoming British-American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Christopher Downie and starring Brian O'Halloran, Mark Frost, Jason Mewes, Scott Schiaffo, Matthew Postlethwaite and Kevin Smith. It was produced by Auld Reekie Media. It had a preview screening in Orlando, Florida on October 22, 2016. The film had a special screening in Kevin Smith's home town of Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey on November 11, 2016.
Michael Zapcic, often referred to as Mike Zapcic or Chief, is a podcaster and cast member of the AMC reality TV show Comic Book Men with Kevin Smith.
Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is a 2019 American satirical buddy stoner comedy film written, directed, edited by, and starring Kevin Smith. A sequel to Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, it is the eighth film in the View Askewniverse. The film also stars Jason Mewes, and features cameos from Brian O'Halloran, Jason Lee, Justin Long, Shannon Elizabeth, Rosario Dawson, Val Kilmer, Melissa Benoist, Craig Robinson, Tommy Chong, Chris Hemsworth, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck.
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