Marvel has announced that director/actor/comics scribe Kevin Smith will be appearing on NBC's 'The Tonight Show' on June 24th to promote the release that week of his upcoming Marvel mini-series, Spider-Man/Black Cat:  The Evil that Men Do.  According to Marvel, this is the first time in the show's run that a panel guest will appear for the express purpose of promoting a comic book.  The appearance will be two days before the first issue's street date, and it will expose the book to approximately 6 million viewers -- 'The Tonight Show's' typical audience. 

 

Smith described how he got the booking.  'I'm as proud of my work in comics as I am of anything I've done on film, so I thought 'Why not call up the folks at The Tonight Show and see if I could talk about Spider-Man/Black Cat on the show as a guest? Thankfully, Jay (Leno) and Co. were really up for it and found me a slot... What better way to call more attention to comics than by waving one around on late night's most-watched talk show?'

 

Marvel EIC Joe Quesada's reaction was understated, 'When Keven called me and said that he wanted to book himself on the show just to promote Spider-Man/Black Cat, my head nearly exploded!'

 

This continues a run of positive PR for Marvel that began with its 9/11 tribute/benefit books and is continuing through the release of the Spider-Man movie.  The Spider-Man/Black Cat miniseries will lead into a new Black Cat series which will also be written by Smith.