Four Horseman Of The Afterlife
A byzantine of blasphemy blended into a bouquet of bombastic blossoms.
There are just six more performances of my new play THE WAR OF WOO at the Gene Frankel Theater in NYC.
Here’s a couple of excerpts from what the critics are saying:
"It’s like the absurdist animated feature version of a Miltonian biblical epic, and never has cartoonist Haspiel so perfectly translated the philosophy-slam dialogue, without-a-net wordplay, outsize emotions and manic slapstick of his comics to three dimensions (though he’s succeeded at other times in invoking a novel theatre noire or a kind of supernatural Eugene O’Neill)."
—Adam McGovern at HiLobrow
Read the entire review HERE.
"Playwright Dean Haspiel is a comic book artist, and his artistic proclivities really suit the style of his play. There are many provocative, important themes behind the larger-than-life characters and fantastical settings. Comic books have always been prophetic in their ability to explore serious themes about modern society long before the masses are ready to confront those issues and ideas head-on."
—Jed Ryan, Lavender After Dark
Read the entire review HERE.
Buy tickets to THE WAR OF WOO!
ME AND MY MICROPHONE was another project postponed by the pandemic but the new song and comic book finally debuted at New York Comicon 2022.
The song features legendary hip hop gods: DMC, Chuck D, Ice-T, DJ Jazzy Jeff, produced by Bumpy Knuckles. The comic book was conceived by me and co-written with DMC, illustrated by N. Steven Harris, colored by Walt Barna, and lettered by Andworld Design with a cover by Dave Proch.
It was an honor and a pleasure to work with all these talented cats. I even got to meet and talk to Chuck D of PUBLIC ENEMY -- both he and DMC are personal heroes of mine. When DMC passed me the microphone on the panel we did to discuss the Darryl Makes Comics universe, I rapped, "Two years ago, a hero of mine asked me to draw his MC rhyme" and the room howled.
DMC, Dave Proch and I promoted ME AND MY MICROPHONE in Artists Alley at NYCC and Ken Pierce of Piercing Metal caught some of it on YouTube:
The sixth issue of the 12-issue IMAGE! 30th Anniversary anthology came out a week ago, featuring the sixth installment of my 12-page Billy Dogma comic, “I will Break You But I Won’t Kill You Because I Need You.”
I illustrated Leah Hennessey's story "Batman Ring" in the anthology, LOST OBJECTS, curated & edited by Joshua Glenn & Rob Walker, published by Hat & Beard Press. Until 12/25, you can use the code LOSTOBJECTS for 20% off!
BATTLE OF THE BEASTS: BIGFOOT VS. YETI. My talking mug was recorded for this new Tubi show launching October 12th: From Fox Alternative Entertainment comes an epic fight-to-the-death between Bigfoot and Yeti. In a tale-of-the-tape unlike any before, these mega monsters of myth are analyzed for their strengths, weaknesses, fighting styles and ferocity. Bigfoot and Yeti go toe-to-toe in the ultimate showdown. Who will come out on top? Two beasts enter, only one will survive!
A Popeye comic I did for King Features a few years ago is being collected and crowdfunded in the POPEYE VARIATIONS Kickstarter. "Popeye Variations reimagines and remixes Popeye and friends through the lens of a number of different contemporary artists. No fewer than 75 cartoonists, filmmakers and comic book creators have been tapped to lend their own spin on Popeye's world."
This weekend, Oct 15 & 16 from 12pm - 6pm, me and Whitney Matheson of Nightwork Studio, and artist/mate Jason Goungor are taking part in Gowanus Open Studios.
Whitney will have a small batch of her brand new second collection of Diary Comix, and I may offer weird Batman sketches on cardboard for cheap $$.
You can find us HERE at TI Art Studios in Red Hook, BK/NY.
I watched the WEREWOLF BY NIGHT special on Disney+ and it was a very fun mash-up of Universal monsters and Hammer horror. In 2008, I was asked to write and draw the Marvel character for a Halloween special and I wrote a Werewolf By Night versus Frankenstein Monster story called "Another Bad Night." I think you can read it on the Marvel Comics App. I hope Marvel continues to mirror and mash-up other cool sensibilities like Noir, Spaghetti Westerns, Giallo, Kung Fu, and the Grand Guignol in their cinematic expansion.
Big Ups to Todd, Autumn Marie, and Benjamin for helping my mother, Barbara, save her Florida home from Hurricane Ian.
Listen to my Fall 2022 music mix HERE.
xo ~ Dean
SCENE BY SCENE WITH JOSH & DEAN is a podcast I did with Josh Neufeld that breaks down the film American Splendor, Harvey Pekar's legacy and growing up making comix in NYC.