. Sitting with Haspiel are (left to right)
Danny Fingeroth,
Miss Lasko-Gross,
Al Jaffee, and Tracy White. In 1987, while still an undergraduate, Haspiel inaugurated his professional comics career when he co-created
The Verdict with Martin Powell. Haspiel went on to co-create the two-man comics anthology
Keyhole with cartoonist
Josh Neufeld (a fellow graduate of LaGuardia High School). and has appeared in a number of comics and graphic novels since then, published by the likes of
Top Shelf Productions,
Alternative Comics,
Z2 Comics, and Hang Dai Editions. 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. 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.) In fall 2008, Vertigo released the original
graphic novel The Alcoholic, written by
Jonathan Ames and drawn by Haspiel; the book was re-issued in 2018. 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. In 2010,
IDW/Graphic NYC Presents published the monograph
Dean Haspiel: The Early Years, by writer Christopher Irving. That same year, Haspiel illustrated
Inverna Lockpez's
Cuba: My Revolution, published by
Vertigo. The book was covered by, among others,
NPR's
Tell Me More, the
New York Post, and
Graphic Novel Reporter. Also in 2010, Haspiel won an
Emmy Award for outstanding main title design for the
HBO show
Bored to Death. 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." For a period, it was the online home of new Haspiel comics and postings. Haspiel's
Fear, My Dear: A Billy Dogma Experience was published by
Z2 Comics in 2014. Beginning in 2016, Haspiel wrote and drew the serialized webcomic
The Red Hook, about a master thief living in the "New Brooklyn Universe," for
Webtoon. The series ran for four seasons before ending in 2021. 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 Splendor movie. ==Bibliography==