Comic Book Men finally gets a woman behind the counter on the season premiere “Heir Apparent.” Harley Quinn Smith stopped by the comic book store to get some experience for her upcoming lead role in Yoga Hosers, Kevin Smith’s latest film documenting the glamorous life of clerks. Smith’s daughter was chaperoned by Jason Mewes, his friend and co-star in Clerks.
Harley’s first transaction behind the counter was a purchase of Baby Rots-A-Lot, custom-made zombie baby and toddler dolls. The seller and creator explained that she came up with the idea from dressing up for Halloween as a zombie mother breastfeeding a zombie baby.
Deciding whether to or not to buy something is much more challenging than a sale said Stash manager Walt Flanagan. Harley decided that it would be a good fit for the store and the clerks huddled up to determine an offer offer that was readily accepted.
“It was a rush. It felt great,” Harley told her father, who joked she was sounding like an addict.
The young apprentice then learned how to make a sale. A customer inquired about buying Green Hornet and Kato statues but he was short on money. Harley agreed to cut him a deal on account on his love for the show and the hope that he would be a returning customer. The much older man thanked her with what looked a handshake but quickly turned into a kiss on the hand of the 15-year-old girl. The look on their faces was priceless, particularly clerk Mike Zapcic, whose jaw nearly hit the floor. He chastised Mewes for failing as her bodyguard.
Clearly, clerking is in Harley’s blood. Stash manager Walt Flanagan even offered her a job in case the whole movie thing doesn’t work out.
“Honestly that should terrify any parent but that made me happy,” said the proud papa. “It was nice to see you bonding with people who made me who I am. And hopefully just the way they shaped me throughout my life, maybe they shaped you just a little bit. Just a little. Not too much.
“There it is folks,” Smith closed out the podcast. “Teach your children well. And if you can’t, let your friends do it.”
Harley may have been the star but Ming Chen stole the show. The junior employee is usually the store’s whipping boy but he showed an unusual amount of confidence while discussing Green Hornet and Kato.
“A lot of people think of the Green Hornet as the main character,” Ming explained. “No, I always thought of Kato as the main character. He looked kind of like me. He was played by Bruce Lee.”
Mewes interrupted “He fights like you.”
“Let’s not go too far,” Ming said. “He was the guy I wanted to be.”
Unlike Batman and Robin, Kato didn’t even get second billing. No one ever mentioned Kato when talking about the show Kevin Smith said during his podcast. Ming responded with his first and surely greatest comeback.
“When the show went to Asia, it was called The Kato Show,” Ming pointed out. “They didn’t even put Green Hornet in there. It was all Kato and I always loved that. And when this show goes to China, you know, they might just call it The Ming Show.”
The entire cast broke out into laughter but none more so than Smith, who looked like giant baby laughing his head off.
“Or at the very least Ming and Friends,” Ming not-so graciously suggested.
Comic Book Men airs Sunday midnight on AMC.
