North Fork Arts Center COMIX CLASS
+ Pekar, Piskor, Ditko & Hellman
Having spent over 3-years in a windowless studio, we moved down the hall to a bigger room with five large windows facing the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. I have yet to get used to the light. There's so much of it. My creative circadian rhythm doesn't usually kick in til dusk. But I’m grateful for the welcome change. Let’s see what kind of illuminating stories I can craft next!
I was invited to take part in a panel celebrating Harvey Pekar's 85th birthday and legacy next week at San Diego Comic-Con. Unfortunately, I won't be there. It's a very expensive venture and the hotels alone price gouge in a way that is revolting and might actually force the giant pop culture event to move.
Anyway, here's info about the Pekar panel:
American Splendor; Celebrating Harvey Pekar at 85
Saturday July 27, 2024 11:00am - 12:00pm PDT
Room 29AB
Moderator Danny Fingeroth (A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Lee; Jack Ruby: The Many Faces of Oswald's Assassin), Rick Parker (The Pekar Project; Drafted), Jackie Estrada (Will Eisner Awards administrator; Comic Book People: Photographs from the 1990s), Andrew Kunka (The Life and Comics of Howard Cruse: Taking Risks in the Service of Truth; Autobiographical Comics), and Jeff Newelt (The Pekar Project; Harvey Pekar's Cleveland) discuss the work of the man who mined the mundane for magic in the form of autobiographical comics, as well as his splendorous legacy in the indie comics, film, and TV of today.
Jeff Newelt let me know that he was going to honorably mention the life of groundbreaking cartoonist Ed Piskor (RIP), a former Pekar collaborator. I wrote something brief that Jeff will read at the panel on my behalf:
"Thrilled that you guys are honoring both Pekar and Piskor at SDCC this year. I was something of an early mentor to Ed. He reached out to me for comix making advice and grew into a noble cartoonist to admire and learn from. Like with Harvey, I got to do some cool projects and comix events with Ed, including a couple of pin ups for his Hip Hop Family Tree tomes. Ed was a nose-to-the-grind work horse with the passion of a thousand comic book shops. When he wasn't making comix, he was sharing his love for them. Harvey also shared his passion by putting his money where his mouth was. Nobody asked for quotidian comix from a cat from Cleveland -- until they did. American Splendor opened the floodgates to autobiographical comix and taught me how to listen and draw the truth. And even though he liked to portray himself the king of curmudgeons, Harvey had a heart of gold. Always looking out for the little guy. Both Pekar and Piskor never suffered any fools and left planet earth with important comix to love and respect."
Journalist Jay Deitcher interviewed me for his recent article about Steve Ditko for Rolling Stone.
Excerpt:
“It was the first of five visits over the next few years. Each time, Ditko would barely crack the door and step out into the hallway where they'd chat. Visits would last five to twenty minutes. One time Haspiel even brought his mom. “I can't really remember the conversations because you're in a fugue state. You black out when you are around someone who is that accessible yet inaccessible at the same time,” Haspiel says. “I would show him some artwork. He never showed me anything. I always felt like I interrupted him because I'm sure he was 24/7 in his own brain and space.”
You can read the entire article: “The Secret Life of Steve Ditko: Spider-Man Co-Creator’s Family Opens Up”
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I'm one of 74 contributors to JACKED TRACTS, a spirited satire of those notorious Christian comic tracts that thrilled & traumatized us as kids. Edited and produced by Danny Hellman. Sign up now at the pre-campaign page so you won't miss the launch, coming soon at Zoop!
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I’ll be a guest at TERRIFICON from August 16th - 18th at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. I’ll be bunking with my favorite Phoenix, Arizona cartoonist, Russ Kazmierczak!
Get your tickets HERE!
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Charlie McElvy of Xion Press wrote a really nice review about my new comic, THE RED HOOK x DEAN HASPIEL:
CHECK THIS OUT!
Two Day Comix with Dean Haspiel at North Fork Arts Center.
August 7 & 8 • 9 AM - 12 PM Daily • Ages 14+
North Fork Arts Center Proudly Presents a two-day comix class with Emmy Award Winning Comic Book Artist, Dean Haspiel. This course will include self-portrait and character jam warm ups, and teach the art of laying out a comic book script. Students will create and design a character and write and draw a one-page comic.
SIGN UP HERE
The Red Hook X Dean Haspiel and my other “Deep Cut” comix are now available to buy on Etsy! Or, via Venmo or PayPal.
See you in the gutters!
—Dino
Instagram / Twitter / Website/Blog / Nightwork Studio / Etsy
I would have loved to go to one of these classes as a kid.
How do you keep them off their phones, Dean?