When you walk into Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash in Red Bank, New Jersey you are besieged with the colorful and endless images of fantasy crime fighters. They are on comic book covers, posters, action figures and dozens of other items for sale throughout the store. Spiderman, Captain America, Daredevil, Punisher and, of course, Superman are all performing their acts of heroism right before your eyes. The comic book shop is owned by Kevin Smith and is the setting for his new TV show, “Comic Book Men.”
But the world of comic books is not the only place where good can triumph over evil. Much like his costumed imaginary heroes, Hollywood director Kevin Smith is on a spiritual and altruistic crusade of his own. The same man who brought you “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” and “Jay and Silent Strike Back” has co-founded a charity, The Wayne Foundation, whose mission is to end human trafficking and child slavery. The foundation’s co-founder and president is Jamie Walton, a past victim of child abuse. Kevin Smith is the acting vice president. In a move honoring his heroes, Smith cleverly named the foundation after Batman (Bruce Wayne) and hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. (I’m not exactly sure how Gretzky figures into the equation but the “Batman fighting crime” idea obviously works.)
Two New Jersey filmmakers, Jim Riffel and Mark Zobian, recently offered Kevin Smith $10,000 to donate to the charity of his choice if he reviews their feature film, “Night of the Day of the Dawn…Part 5.” Smith has expressed serious interest in the proposal and the money would obviously go to The Wayne Foundation. We’ll have to wait and see what the world’s newest superhero decides. In the meantime look, up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, no, it’s Kevin Smith!