DINO+
Zach Chassler, Ed Piskor, a new podcast & more!
Right out the gate 2025 is getting too hot and personal. Everyone knows someone impacted by the west coast apocalypse. Sending love and strength to everyone who lost everything in the LA fires, including my old pal Zach Chassler and his family.
Zach's the reason I ever attempted to blog. Ever attempted to write about my life and career in public. From Live Journal to Substack -- you can blame Zach. He turned me onto the work of writer Joe R. Lansdale. He changed the way I thought about what stories could be and what they could do. Not be afraid to workshop an idea in public, no matter how ridiculous. He makes a person think. His unique noggin is smart and considered. A wise guy in every sense of the meaning. And he's got a parrot named Paco. Whether you know know Zach or not — he and his family could use your help. Every dollar counts when you've lost everything.
Heads up, hedonistic humans. I'm contributing a new story to TALES FROM EROTECH, a naughty comix anthology published by SHP Comics. Sign up for a free campaign alert!
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Chad Burdette gave THE RED HOOK X DEAN HASPIEL a shout out via Comic Watch’s Best Comics of 2024. Thanks, Chad!
From The Red Hook x Dean Haspiel to Covid Cop to Billy Dogma + Jane Legit to Chest Face — you can buy any of my "Deep Cut" comix directly from me. Gimme a holler!
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I briefly weigh in on the comics industry with a bunch of other creators at The Comics Beat.
I also wrote about cartoonist Ed Piskor on The Comics Beat's In Memoriam Person of the Year 2024:
"Ed Piskor's death was a paradigm shift for comix and social media ethics.
I spoke to Ed for over 42-minutes, a day or so before he died. He told me lots of personal stuff but I did NOT think he was going to take his own life. It wasn't the non-criminal accusations that hurt him bad. It was the betrayal of his friends, peers and fans. It was the perfect storm of losing his art show, his new book contract, and local news filming his family. He went from hometown hero to hometown monster within days and felt like he couldn't go back home. The only red flag that worried me was that he'd driven to a hotel outside of his home state. I was going to ask him if he wanted to drive to NYC and crash my Brooklyn studio but he was already dead when I was making that second phone call.
This is no longer about Ed who, unfortunately, seemed to assign his identity to social media and it killed him. "Don't believe the hype." It's about how people conduct themselves online. It's about context and redemption. Society needs to learn from this. But I doubt it will. Humanity's inhumanity to human beings is tragic and untenable."
You can read other people's thoughts HERE.
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I asked Whitney Matheson, "If you could invent a new character to be added to any big franchise (example: Star Wars, Star Trek, Marvel, DC, Lost, Game Of Thrones, etc.) what would their name be and what would they do in that universe?"
See/read her answer HERE.
DINO+
You may have received an email alert to my first Paid Subscribers Only post featuring an unpublished Fantastic Four script I wrote (and hope to draw someday). I also link to a new podcast I launched with my buddy/writer Vito Delsante called VITO x DINO. It's an impromptu palaver between a Pennsylvanian and a Brooklynite waxing about comix, creativity and culture.
Under my DINO+ initiative, Paid Subscribers will have access to other materials including unpublished scripts, pitches, stories, plays and other exclusive ephemera. Plus, a possible Zoom-type Lab for creative minds to gather. And, of course, early admission to the VITO x DINO podcast.
BIG UPS to my newsletter supporters who already threw me some bucks. It’s mighty appreciated (and needed) as we enter an intriguing year of potential turmoil.
When I die, cremate and serve me as hot tea at Wo Hop (downstairs).
love, Dean
Instagram / Twitter / Website/Blog / Nightwork Studio / Etsy
As always, a great post. For my money, I wish it had been Paul Neary that got The Beat's title of In Memoriam Person of the Year 2024. His death should have been much more widely noted. It wasn't even included in the in memoriam section at the Eisners. There's no me, Alan Davis or Bryan Hitch without Paul giving us those breaks, and that's without his own huge contribution to comics as a writer, artist and inker. Ed's death was as tragic as it was complicated, but I believe it should ultimately hinge on the work. Paul's work and legacy, I would humbly argue, was far greater. This is, I hope it's understood, not a dig at anybody, it's just my personal opinion. Take care!