Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash from "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" and "Comic Book Men"
LOCATION
Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, a comic book shop owned by filmmaker Kevin Smith, which has appeared in his films and the reality show "Comic Book Men".
ADDRESS
Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash
35 Broad Street
Red Bank, NJ
jayandsilentbob.com
STORY & PHOTOS
Kevin Smith is a famous comic book enthusiast. Back in the day he used to shop at a store called Comicology in his home town of Red Bank. In the late 90s he bought the store from its former owner, and later moved it to a bigger and better location. His production designer helped create a fun design for the store and it's filled with great props and pieces from Kevin Smith films. Secret Stash is managed by Walt Flanagan, the inspiration for Jason Lee's character Brodie from "Mallrats", and is currently the backdrop for the reality show "Comic Book Men".
In "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back", the shop stood in for Brodie's Secret Stash, the comic shop owned by Brodie. Jay and Silent Bob stop in and find out that there's a movie being made based on the comic book for which they are the inspiration. Brodie informs them that they are probably due some money, and this sets off the chain of events in the movie.
I visited Secret Stash in 2008 with my friend Alex, and Walt Flanagan was working. We basically peed our pants and told him how much we love Gil Hicks (which he was understandably confused about) and told him about this guy Alex worked with named Steve who I always called Steve-Dave (at which point he wrote us a note to give to Steve-Dave). It was, overall, an excellent experience.
STORY & PHOTO CREDITS
Written by Christina LeBlanc
Location photos by Christina LeBlanc and Alex Poulin