On Friday at New York Comic Con, Kevin Smith took the above picture with a little girl dressed like Daredevil and promptly posted it on his Instagram. Cute, right? But then, when he saw one of the reactions on Facebook, it hit him “like a ton of bricks†— a “drive-by†comment that was just a string of insults: “You’re fat, probably smelly, you haven’t done anything worthwhile in years, you’ve been cruising on past endeavors, and I bet your wife is going to leave you soon,†he said. (Note: The comment isn’t there anymore.) That last one actually prompted him to call his wife, Jennifer, to ask, “Are you thinking of leaving me? Somebody on Facebook says that you’re going to leave me!†Her reply? “Grow up, Kevin.â€
During his New York Super Week/New York Comic Con fan event Saturday at Hammerstein Ballroom, Smith admitted that when strangers throw invective at him “for no fucking reason†it “kind of sucks†and makes him wonder, “Who the fuck am I?†“It was so fucking hostile and, like, flat-out evil!†Smith said. “Somebody’s going out about their day, they saw that picture, and they were like, ‘I’m going to shit in that fat guy’s mouth! Fat guy, bet I can still make him cry.’†The kicker, he said, was that the comment came from a female observer. “Usually invective comes from a dude.â€