Strength To Strength
JewCE, Trina Robbins & Frank Miller
The inaugural Jewish Comics Experience in NYC (aka JewCE) was a good time. I sat next to Jonathan Baylis who was hawking So Buttons #13. I got to mix it up with Brian Azzarello, Alisa Kwitney, Barbara Slate, and a whole bunch of other writers and cartoonists including comedian Danny Lobell who turned me onto his American Splendor-inspired comix memoir series, FAIR ENOUGH. I got to meet legendary cartoonist Trina Robbins, who recently edited WON’T BACK DOWN!, a pro-choice comix anthology featuring my friend, Grace Gordon’s comix debut.
I got to do a panel with one of my favorite cartoonists, Frank Miller. I gave Frank a copy of COVID COP and told him it was the comic book collaboration with Steve Ditko that he never got to do. His eyes widened as he laughed and told me how much he loved it from the cover alone. I also gave Frank my BILLY DOGMA + JANE LEGIT comic book and told him how much his work influenced my own.
You can watch our panel, “From Strength to Strength Jewish Superheroes Through the Ages!” —featuring me, Frank, and E. Lockhart, moderated by Roy Schwartz here:
Here are a few more pictures from JewCE 2023:
I was asked to present the JEWCIE award for “Artist Honoree of the Year.” Here is the brief speech I gave before announcing the winner, Asaf Hanuka.
“When I was a kid, I didn't study the Talmud or the Torah. I studied Spider-man, Superman, Batman, The Fantastic Four and a plethora of other Jewish created comic book heroes and memoirs, including Will Eisner's A Contract With God, Harvey Pekar's American Splendor, and Art Spiegelman's Maus. Years later I would be drawing and writing some of those characters, including illustrating memoirs written by Harvey Pekar, Jonathan Ames, Jonathan Lethem, and Inverna Lockpez, while telling my own semi-autobiographical stories and creating my own heroes.
I don't know exactly what makes a hero, but I do know that a great many superheroes were created by Jews. And Jewish diasporic culture is in the DNA of all superheroes. Comic books were invented by Jews, too, offering a multimedia format that exploits the narrative real-estate of the blank page while amplifying the collaborative virtues of both words and pictures.
I can't tell you how many bar napkin scribbles and grocery store receipt renderings have served as the springboard and archive for my ideas. In the hands of comics creators, each scribble contains the promise of a unique vision and imagination that can make human and cosmic connections drawn from everyday life and struggle.”
My girlfriend/painter Jen Ferguson’s studio in DUMBO will be open Saturday Dec 2, Noon-5 p.m. and Saturday Dec. 9th, Noon-5 p.m. Located at 55 Washington Street, 3rd Floor #317, Brooklyn NY 11201
Saturday Dec. 2 is also DUMBO’S “Shop the Studios” event, with a number of artists participating, plus a big outdoor flea market. Jen will have new paintings, small studies, prints, and holiday cards. Come by for some hot chocolate and see what’s on her easel. Check her Instagram for updates @jenferguson_art
More info HERE.
My studio mate, Whitney Matheson is selling her latest mini-comic, DIARY COMIX 2023. And if you don’t have the 2021 and 2022 editions, they’re available while supplies last! Order ‘em HERE
If you haven’t gotten copies of COVID COP and BILLY DOGMA + JANE LEGIT, now’s your chance before the holiday rush. And they make for great gifts to those friends, family and peers looking for something different, cool and unexpected.
COVID COP w/S&H = $20
BILLY DOGMA w/S&H = $30
Get BOTH for $45!
venmo (@Dean-Haspiel)
paypal (dean.haspiel@verizon.net) — last four digits: 8150
Remember to add Your Name, Mailing Address & TITLE of comic/s you're ordering.
Happy Birthday, Inverna!
—Dino
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