GG Allin kicked my broken leg

KICx, SUNY Purchase, MF Doom & Ray-Anthony Height

Me and Jim Starlin at KICx 2025

Kingston Independent Comics Expo (aka KICx) was a perfect-sized room with the right amount of exhibitors and creators inside a church. Locals and city slickers, including legends Jim Starlin, Walter and Louise Simonson, showed up despite the snow and chilly rain — to check out the scene, zines, art and comix. It was great to catch up with all kinds of friends and peers. Big Ups to Ophira Eisenberg and Nina Bird Lawrence for the coffee and TLC.

I had a fun talk with Nina about the history of sirens and the 1970s TV show, Emergency! And how, when I was a very young boy, I used to play “emergency” with girls my age and older. I often portrayed the bloody crash victim and they would be the paramedics that would have to bandage me up with fake gauze (socks and tights) and nurse me back to health. Sometimes all it took was a kiss on my cheek to heal all the broken bones.

Me flanked by my longtime friends/cartoonists and road buddies, Nick Bertozzi & Josh Neufeld

Like IC3 (Independent Comic Creator Con in Connecticut), KICx reminded me of mid-90's SPX (Small Press Expo in Bethesda, MD) before comix shows became more about the movies, celebrities, and Funko Pop! Figures.

Here's a snapshot of my modest comix haul from KICx 2025, featuring a comic book about GG Allin that prompts a true story I almost wrote and drew for Justin Melkmann:

“GG Allin kicked my broken leg” by Dean Haspiel

SUNY Purchase. 1989

Word is nihilistic, hardcore punk rocker GG Allin and his band The Disappointments are playing a secret show in the basement of the university dining hall.

Legend is that GG Allin is a violent, misanthropic, degenerate who defecates on stage and makes art with his piss, shit, blood, snot, sperm and pubic hair.

I gotta see this guy.

There's extremely loud noise as me and my pal, Drew, descend a spiral staircase. A couple of scared students come running up the steps to escape the literal shit show down below.

I hesitate.

I recently fell off the school library roof and broke both my legs — my right knee, left ankle and heel. Tore the ligaments in my right hand and bent the tail of my spine. I was in a wheelchair for months and now I'm using crutches to get around.

My right knee is still wrapped up in bandages and I decide, “What the hell,” and hobble down the rest of the staircase.

We come upon a practice room. Loud noise, presumably the music, is howling from inside the room and there is an erratic shadow screaming and kicking. Presumably GG Allin, singing and dancing.

We see a couple of students hiding in a corner under the staircase. Drew and I give each other a look. Every instinct in my gut says “Leave. Now.” But I gotta see GG Allin.

As we approach, GG Allin comes to the doorway punching the air and cursing humanity. We make eye contact and he sees that I'm on crutches and immediately kicks me in my broken knee.

I stumble and before GG Allin can attack me again, Drew kicks him hard and he's forced back into the room.

It's crystal clear that GG Allin is insane and he takes his microphone, winds it up like a baseball, and hurls the metal object at the both of us.

We dodge the sonic missile as GG Allin becomes a hulk of hysteria and starts to spasm with rage.

I glance back at the frightened students in the corner, pray for them, and hobble back up the staircase with Drew protecting us from GG Allin's rectal revenge.

I later learned that GG Allin often threatened committing suicide on stage, but he wound up overdosing on drugs four years later.

Here's some raw video from that night:

Here’s a recent drawing of MF Doom rather than GG Allin

On the VITO x DINO podcast, Vito Delsante and I welcome Ray-Anthony Height of Studio Skye-Tiger to the show and we discuss how Manga artists outpace American artists, Ray's mentor and how that informed his teaching new artists. The Meta-mythology of creator-owned comic book superheroes. And creating family in the comic book industry.

It was the first time I had a lengthy parlay with Ray-Anthony and it was effortless. Do yourself a favor and tune in…

Please consider nominating me & my comic THE RED HOOK x DEAN HASPIEL for 'Best Cartoonist' and 'Best Single Issue or Story' at The Ringo Awards. The late/great Mike Wieringo is one of my favorite cartoonists and I'm grateful Baltimore Comic-con created these honors. Vote here: https://ringoawards.com/

Also — I’m a guest at Brooklyn Independent Comics Showcase on April 26 & 27, 2025 (more details coming soon).

See you in the gutters—

—Dino

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