Push perceptions to enhance horizons

Terrificon, Baltimore Comic-Con + The Tick, RIP Joyce Brabner & John Cassaday

Sitting where Truman Capote liked to "hold court" from this bishop's chair in the Yaddo mansion.

Just got back home from a four week retreat at Yaddo, the legendary artists/writers residency in Saratoga Springs, NY, where I drew some of my next comix Kickstarter, and developed a new story that I’ll be writing and drawing for an indie-publisher.

I had a great time at Terrificon 2024. Big Ups to show creator/organizer Mitch Hallock for inviting me to his show and illuminating me to the buck wild ways of the Roadhouse. Shout outs to Phoenix, AZ cartoonist Russ Kazmeirczak, and NYC cartoonist Mahdi Khene for keeping me company at the table and in the car. Great to see and hang out with my heroes and peers, including Howard Chaykin, Klaus Janson, Walter Simonson, Erik Larsen, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Ron Garney, Dan Parent, Jerry Ordway, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Terry Kavanagh, and many more. I finally got to meet Tim Seeley, and legendary comix outlaw, Ken Landgraf!

I loved hanging out in the “green room” where I got to meet and chat with a bunch of actors and celebrities, including Michael Rooker and Paige Turco. We talked about our leg and back injuries and shared our pain with laughs. I talked to Andrew Robinson about playing psycho-killer “Scorpio” in Dirty Harry, and SUNY Purchase alum Robert John Burke who just got back together with the Hal Hartley gang to make another movie. I talked to Star Trek’s latest Spock actor, Ethan Peck. I told Erik Estrada that I wanted to see him portray a villain — kinda like Henry Fonda in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West. Erik told me he was playing a rotten evil bastard in an upcoming project and I was elated. He talked about how easy actors have it at comicon’s. They only have to smile, take pictures, answer some questions, and sign merchandise. It seemed unfair for the cartoonists who create the characters and stories and put the “comic” in Comicon to have to sell their books, hand-over-fist, and draw commissions behind their tables. We agreed there is a potential to treat certain cartoonists like actors and have them sit in the celebrity section, sign exclusive prints and take pictures. I joked that I was gonna recruit a friend to take telephoto snapshots of me at a Brooklyn bodega or biking to my Red Hook studio and start selling candid pix of me to the National Enquirer. “Cartoonist circumvents cycle catastrophe in the concrete jungle.” Sometimes you gotta push perceptions to enhance horizons.

I drew an exclusive variant cover for Mad Cave Studios' Revolution 9 #1. You can learn more about it and order a copy HERE.

I drew part of a cool sequence for Chanan Beizer and Vanessa Cardinali’s The Golem of Venice Beach 2 from Clover Press. You can see a snazzy preview HERE and help Kickstart it HERE. Big Ups to editor Chris Stevens for encouraging me to do my thing.

The late/great John Cassaday with Heidi MacDonald and me — years ago.

And now for some sad news. Two important people in my comix life passed away recently:

When John Cassaday first landed in NYC, he asked me to show him around Brooklyn. I took him to a wild art party called Rubulad where we danced half-naked in a Conga line with a bunch of sexy outliers and it blew his humble mind. From Planetary to Astonishing X-men to Captain America to Star Wars (and so much more), John was a super talent that was always super kind to me. I even wrangled him into producing a four page comic called "The Blank" for Project: Superior, co-curated/co-edited and published by Chris Pitzer at AdHouse Books. There's more to say but I'm too heartbroken. The guy was a gentleman and a living legend. A beautiful soul. And, as our mutual comrade Paul Pope put it, "He was an Oak Tree." I will miss John dearly.

It’s no secret that I helped get Harvey Pekar's “American Splendor” movie made and illustrated his origin, “The Quitter.” I also helped get DC Comics/Vertigo to publish the last eight issues of his groundbreaking, 30+ year comix memoir series. After Harvey passed away, his wife Joyce Brabner and I became more friendly. She trusted me and we shared many candid conversations about comix and life. When Joyce got ill, we talked even more. It was an intense time for her and she fought like hell. When Joyce went into remission, she wanted to hatch plans. Tell more stories. Bring back Harvey's library. When she suddenly passed away, I was confused. Heartbroken.

I have many memories of Joyce Brabner but the one I wanna share now is the time I was talking to Harvey on the phone during his time at Vertigo. Sometimes he would dictate scripts for me to draw. Other times it was to catch up and run ideas by me. This one time, I was talking to Harvey and he would giggle or yipe intermittently. I couldn't make heads or tails of it. When I finally asked him, “What so funny?” He admitted to me that Joyce was clipping his toenails and it was making him laugh. Talk about high romance! I couldn't erase that image from my mind if you paid me a million bucks. I loved the idea of Harvey conducting business on the phone while Joyce was grooming him so much that I paid homage to it in one of my collaborations with Harvey. He's on the phone clipping his toenail but I knew it was really Joyce doing the clipping. Joyce Brabner was a captain of truth and justice and a force of nature. I miss her very much.

You can read more about Joyce Brabner via The Comics Journal obituary, compiled and written by Andrew Farago HERE.

I will be a guest at Baltimore Comic-Con, my favorite comix show of the year!
BCC has made it a tradition to feature and celebrate independent comix creators in their annual Yearbook. This year (Sept 20th - 22nd, 2024) , we're celebrating Ben Edlund and his creation, The Tick.

I’ll be at table 2308 with Whitney Matheson, Charles and Suzanne McElvy, Vito Delsante, and Peter Rostovsky. I’ll have a bunch of my “Deep Cut” comix for sale and taking commissions. I’m also doing four panels:

Friday - Sept 20th 2024

2:00 - 2:45 pm — Sealed with a Kiss: Romance Comics — Room 338 Romance comics have made a surprising comeback in recent years, thanks in no small part to the stellar work of top creators, who have found exciting new ways to bring the love to your local comics shop. With panelists Tom King (Batman/Catwoman, Love Everlasting), Thom Zahler (Love and Capes, Cupid’s Arrows), Jeremy Whitley (The Dog Knight, School for Extraterrestrial Girls), Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise, Echo), and Dean Haspiel (Billy Dogma + Jane Legit, The Red Hook). Moderated by Bob Harrison.

4:00-4:45 - Alternative Heroes - Room 337
What makes a modern hero in 2024? And what can independent creators offer that you might not find at some of the bigger publishers? Find out from panelists including Dean Haspiel (The Red Hook, Billy Dogma), Vito Delsante (Stray, Godquest: Milestone), Alex Segura (Dick Tracy, Secret Identity), Sean Von Gorman (The Pedestrian), Charlie McElvy (Spider-Squirrel, Trash Panda), and Chris Miskiewicz (This Is Where We Fall), with moderator Whitney Matheson.

Saturday - Sept 21st 2024

12:00-12:45 - Crowdfunding Comics - Room 343-344
Crowdfunding is one of the fastest-growing ways to create and publish your own comics. Learn about some of the benefits – and pitfalls – of this exciting alternative from experts including Dean Haspiel (The Red Hook, Billy Dogma), Sean Von Gorman (The Pedestrian), Karl Kesel (Section Zero, Impossible Jones), Jimmy Palmiotti (Harley Quinn, Painkiller Jane), and Steve Conley (The Middle Age, Astounding Space Thrills)! Hosted by Whitney Matheson.

Sunday - Sept 22nd 2024

12:00-12:45 - History and Science in Fiction Comics - Room 339-342
How important are events of the past and the science of the real world when creating fiction? How do we use them in storytelling, and how can that use add to the story? What research (or lack of research) goes into adding elements of real history and science to our stories? And are there times when it turns out truth is stranger than fiction? Come hear from comics creators Dean Haspiel (The Red Hook), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), and Afua Richardson (Black Panther: World of Wakanda) with moderator Emily S. Whitten (The Underfoot) as they share their experiences and tips for incorporating these elements into fictional work.

Brooklyn artist, Jen Ferguson considers photography and painting. And please visit her new exhibition with painter Janice McDonnell in Gowanus, Brooklyn, NY.

Happy Birthday, Jen! I love you.

—Dean

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