Dean Edmund Haspiel (born May 31, 1967,[1] in New York City) is an American comic bookartist, writer, and playwright. He is known for creating Billy Dogma, The Red Hook, and for his collaborations with writer Harvey Pekar on his American Splendor series as well as the graphic novel The Quitter, and for his collaborations with Jonathan Ames on The Alcoholic and HBO's Bored to Death. He has been nominated for numerous Eisner Awards, and won a 2010 Emmy Award for TV design work.
In 1987, while still an undergraduate, Haspiel inaugurated his professional comics career when he co-created The Verdict with Martin Powell.[4] Haspiel went on to co-create the two-man comics anthology Keyhole with cartoonist Josh Neufeld (a fellow graduate of LaGuardia High School).[2]
Haspiel's "last romantic anti-hero" Billy Dogma made his comic book debut in Keyhole,[5] and has appeared in a number of comics and graphic novels since then, published by Top Shelf Productions and Alternative Comics. Recent works starring Billy Dogma include Brawl, a "creature romance double feature" mini-series with Michel Fiffe for Image Comics; and "Sex Planet," a Billy Dogma interlude for Popgun volume 2 (also published by Image).
Haspiel was a long-time collaborator with Harvey Pekar on American Splendor. The culmination of their work together was the 104-page nonfiction graphic novel The Quitter, published by Vertigo in 2005.[6]
In 2006 Haspiel spearheaded the foundation of ACT-I-VATE, a webcomics collective which featured the works of founding members Haspiel, Dan Goldman, Nick Bertozzi, Michel Fiffe, Leland Purvis, Nikki Cook, Tim Hamilton, and Josh Neufeld. (In 2009, IDW Publishing published the ACT-I-VATE Primer, which featured an original Haspiel story as well as work by other members of the collective.)[7]
In fall 2008, Vertigo released the original graphic novelThe Alcoholic, written by Jonathan Ames and drawn by Haspiel. Also in 2008, Françoise Mouly's Toon Books published Mo and Jo: Fighting Together Forever, written by Jay Lynch and drawn by Haspiel. In 2008, Haspiel serialized Street Code, a webcomic for Zuda Comics, after editing the webcomics anthology Next-Door Neighbor for SMITH Magazine.[8][9]
In 2011, Haspiel helped spearhead the creation of Trip City, "a Brooklyn-filtered, multimedia, literary arts salon featuring free regular exclusive content created by a fellowship of 21st Century auteurs."[15] For a period, it was the online home of new Haspiel comics and postings.[16]
Since 2016, Haspiel has been writing and drawing the serialized webcomic The Red Hook, about a master thief living in the "New Brooklyn Universe," for Webtoon.[17]
In 2019, Haspiel and long-time collaborator Josh Neufeld launched a weekly podcast, Scene by Scene with Josh & Dean, that focused on Harvey Pekar and the American Splendormovie.[18]
Bibliographyedit
Comicsedit
Creator series/graphic novelsedit
The Verdict, 4-issue miniseries co-created with writer Martin Powell (Eternity Comics, 1987)
SPX '99 anthology, 2-page story titled "Buster Browns" (CBLDF, 1999)
Day of Judgment: Secret Files, "Dr. Fate" pin-up (DC Comics, 1999)
American Splendor: Terminal anthology, 1-page story titled "Violation" with writer Harvey Pekar (Dark Horse Comics, 1999)
American Splendor: Bedtime Stories anthology, 1-page story titled "The Good Times Are Gone" with writer Harvey Pekar (Dark Horse Comics, 2000)
American Splendor: Portrait of the Author In His Declining Years anthology, 5-page story titled "Payback" with writer Harvey Pekar (Dark Horse Comics, 2001)
Expo 2001 anthology, 4-page story titled "The Big To Do" (CBLDF, 2001)
Bizarro Comics anthology, 7-page story titled "Captain Marvel and the Sham Shazam" with writer Sam Henderson (DC Comics, 2001)
^Miller, John Jackson (June 10, 2005). "Comics Industry Birthdays". Comics Buyer's Guide. Archived from the original on February 18, 2011. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
^ abcde"An Exclusive Interview with Dean 'Dino' Hapiel, Rock Star in Cartoonist's Clothing" Archived October 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Walrus Comix (2008).
^Nolen-Weathington, Eric (2006). Modern Masters, Volume 8: Walter Simonson. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 34. ISBN 1-893905-64-0. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
^Smith, Zack. "The Life and Times of Illustrator DEAN HASPIEL," Newsarama (July 27, 2010).
^Itzkoff, Dave. "Street Fighting Man: 'The Quitter,' by Harvey Pekar," New York Times (Dec. 25, 2005).
^Manning, Shaun. "Dean Haspiel on the ACT-I-VATE Primer," Comic Book Resources (Aug. 12th, 2009).
^Boucher, Geoff. "‘Next-Door Neighbor,’ nonfiction comics that peek past the curtains," Los Angeles Times website (June 10, 2009).
^Arrant, Chris. "Dean Haspiel on the Next Door Neighbor Anthology," Newsarama (June 6, 2008).
^Keyes, Alison. "Graphic Novel Tells Grim Story Of Cuban Revolution," NPR website (Nov. 24, 2010).
^Deliso, Meredith. "Haspiel takes on Castro in Lockpez's bittersweet revolution memoir," Archived 2010-11-26 at the Wayback Machine New York Post (Sept. 29, 2010).
^Hogan, John. "Inverna Lockpez's Cuba: Remembering a Revolution," Archived 2013-01-15 at the Wayback MachineGraphic Novel Reporter. Accessed June 13, 2013.
^2010 CREATIVE ARTS EMMY(R) WINNERS The Futon Critic; August 21, 2010
^Hauman, Glenn. "Dean Haspiel wins Emmy for 'Bored To Death' titles"[permanent dead link] ComicMix; August 23, 2010
^"Curators," Archived 2013-07-08 at the Wayback MachineTrip City. Accessed June 13, 2013.
^Means-Shannon, Hannah. "TRIP CITY at One Year: Around the Digital Campfire with Dean Haspiel," Comics Beat (Nov. 14, 2012).
^Jusino, Teresa. "Interview: Dean Haspiel Talks The Red Hook and WEBTOON’s New Brooklyn Universe," The Mary Sue (Apr. 20, 2016).
^Maveal, Chloe. "Podcast Spotlight: Scene By Scene with Josh and Dean: The minute-by-minute comics history breakdown you didn't know you needed," The Beat (Aug. 8, 2019).
^Staff (September 12, 2017). "Fall Season Announced at The Brick!". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
^Staff (April 15, 2018). "The Last Bar at the End of the World at Urban Stages". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
^MacDonald, Heidi. "Roundtable: Stoya, Seth Gilliam, Phillip Cruise and Dean Haspiel talk The Last Bar at the End of The World," The Beat (04/09/2018).