Let's get one thing straight -- I hate Jay's extreme "potty mouth," as well as his constant state of horny-ness and lack of respect for women. However, since I suspect that on many days, he has no respect for himself as well, it may be that he deserves a little leeway. Very, very little, but some.

Given that caveat, I also have to confess that I adore Kevin Smith's humor and wisdom. All of his films are, at the very least, extremely funny. They are also often filled with wisdom.

Which brings me to Dogma and this graphic novel, "Chasing Dogma." In order to enjoy it fully, one must also abandon any thought of reverence for religion in general and Christianity specifically. Smith may be a Christian, or he may not be. Certainly, however, Dogma is filled with caustic humor regarding the way in which many religious people deal with the world. These folk take everything regarding their religion quite seriously (think Puritan).

In counterpoint to these people, Smith creates a picture of the supreme being filled with love and good humor. She is an individual who doesn't need to worship of multitudinous people humbly beseeching her for favors or even for good will. Instead, she only wants people to be true to themselves and have a good idea. What a wonderful vision of God to have!

Watching a Kevin Smith film is always an adventure. Dogma goes beyond adventure and into serious concepts presented in such a way that no one fully reallizes they've been taught something until after the film is long over.

Thank you Kevin Smith. May you make many more films that have this type of outlook. ( )

I'm a pretty big Kevin Smith fan. Well, maybe massive is the correct word. Did I mention I'm attending An Evening With Kevin Smith on November 7th in Halifax? No? Well, I just did. Anyway, normally, this lends me to have a ridiculous bias towards anything he creates. Unfortunately, this really didn't live up to my expectations.

The story builds a bridge between the end of Chasing Amy and the beginning of Dogma explaining what happened to Jay & Silent Bob. If you've seen Dogma, Jay describes basically what happened during a scene in a diner. The hapless duo were in search of Shermer, Illinois - the fictional town in John Hughes 1980s teen movies. Along the way, they get mixed up with an escaped monkey.

I guess the story was so well received, or Smith loved it so much, he took the escapades with the escaped monkey and turned it into Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back. The movie is one of my favorites so I can't say why I really wasn't all that into this graphic novel. Maybe it was the artwork? I wasn't crazy about it. The dialogue was fine - your standard Smith stuff.

I did however, enjoy the subtle nods to the View Askewniverse as a whole. That's one thing I love about his movies, they all bleed together without acknowledging themselves as a "saga" of sorts. The odd character reference pops up which I really enjoyed. Smith did manage to show a lot of attention into even the smallest detail like costume changes - explaining how Jay and Bob managed to acquire different clothing from Chasing Amy to Dogma.

Overall, it's not required reading - only if you really need to know how Jay and Bob got from one movie to the next. ( )

A must-read for Kevin Smith fans. An interesting back-story about that wacky pair. ( )