Check put the panel “American (Jewish) Splendor: Celebrating Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner” from JewCE 2024.
Harvey Pekar (1939-2010) created and wrote American Splendor comics, which inspired a whole branch of memoir comics (not to mention the 2003 American Splendor movie), which Harvey produced with Robert Crumb and other notable artists. With his wife and creative partner, Joyce Brabner, who passed away in August, Pekar created a singular body of work, much of it Jewish-themed. On her own, Joyce wrote significant graphic novels. Harvey would have been 85 years old this past October 8. His and Joyce’s influence on comics remains strong.
Talking about Harvey and Joyce at this panel are two of Harvey’s artistic partners, Dean Haspiel (The Quitter; Billy Dogma) and Josh Neufeld (A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge; The Influencing Machine) as well as Jeff Newelt (editor of The Pekar Project); JewCE award-winning cartoonist Peter Kuper (Stop Forgetting to Remember; Ruins), who knew Harvey in ‘70s Cleveland; historian Arie Kaplan (From Krakow to Krypton; Encyclopedia of Epic Myths and Legends), and writer Danny Fingeroth (author of Jack Ruby: The Many Faces of Oswald’s Assassin), who hosted Harvey at a 2009 event with YIVO.
After self-publishing their work for the last decade, alternative comics creators Gideon Kendall and Doug Latino bring their visionary series to an unsuspecting audience with the hardcover collection of Wait It Gets Worse… If We Only Knew from Cosmic Lion Productions.
Described as ‘Ferris Bueller meets MAD’ – or ‘Timothy Leary meets MAD’ depending on what generation you’re from – Wait It Gets Worse… wears its underground comix influence on its sleeve. Not only have the creators paid homage to some of the industry’s greats, but they’ve received praise from those same luminaries they so admire. That includes a foreword from the legendary Denis Kitchen, alongside quotes from Drew Friedman, Gary Dumm, David Collier, and Ron Turner.
Weighing in at 270 pages and due for release in March 2024 (but on pre-order now), Wait It Gets Worse… If Only We Knew collects the best of the original series in one lush hardcover edition, along with 10 new stories and almost 50 pages of new material. Featuring both color and B&W segments, it continues the rich tradition established by the let-it-all-hang-out, autobiographical misfits of the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s underground movement.
In addition to collecting the best of Kendall and Latino’s work with new material and a foreword by Underground great Denis Kitchen, the book also features thematic chapter art for each section from an array of acclaimed talent – including Knight-Wallace Fellow and Xeric Award winner, Josh Neufeld, who drew the pair in a police line-up for the offence of ‘too much information’.
Baltimore Comic-Con takes place October 22-24, 2021 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Tickets to the show are available for purchase now!
Longtime friends and cartoonists Dean Haspiel and Josh Neufeld will celebrate a quarter century of collaborations with a new issue of Keyhole Comics at Baltimore Comic-Con. From minicomics to graphic novels, anthologies, and podcasts, Dean and Josh have been contrasting their sensibilities since their days drawing comics in the Music & Art High School lunchroom. Joining the disparate duo this year is Pandemix co-editor Whitney Matheson, who is debuting Diary Comix 2021, which excerpts highlights from her daily strip. Josh will also be debuting the 10th-anniversary edition of The Influencing Machine, his comics collaboration with journalist Brooke Gladstone. The New York Times bestseller has been updated for the (post-)Trump era and features a new afterword.
Emmy Award-winning cartoonist Dean Haspiel is best known for creating Billy Dogma and The Red Hook, collaborating with Harvey Pekar, and Jonathan Ames, and illustrating for HBO’s Bored to Death. His published work includes writing and drawing for Marvel, DC, Archie, Image Comics, and Webtoon. In addition, Haspiel is an accomplished playwright and Yaddo fellow. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Josh Neufeld is a cartoonist known for his nonfiction narratives of political and social upheaval, told through the voices of witnesses. He is the writer/artist of the nonfiction graphic novels A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge and A Few Perfect Hours. His other works include The Influencing Machine, The Vagabonds, Keyhole, and numerous nonfiction comics for various news outlets. Neufeld has been a Knight-Wallace Fellow in journalism, an Atlantic Center for the Arts Master Artist, and a Xeric Award winner. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, where he makes — and teaches — comics, including at the School of Visual Arts.
Whitney Matheson is a New York-based writer best known for creating Pop Candy, USA Today’s award-winning pop-culture blog (1999-2014). She is the author of several children’s books, including We Make Comics; and co-editor of the Ringo Award-nominated anthology PANDEMIX. Whitney’s work has appeared in publications including Playboy, Slate, and The Hollywood Reporter, and she has appeared on VH1, BBC America, Turner Classic Movies, and other networks. Subscribe to Whitney’s newsletter and read her diary comics at patreon.com/whitneymatheson.
2021 GUESTS
Confirmed guests for the show include: Chris Bachalo (Non-Stop Spider-Man), Art Baltazar (Big Alien Moon Crush), Marty Baumann (Disney/Pixar), John Beatty (Secret Wars), Brian Michael Bendis (Action Comics), Ziggy Blumenthal (Operation Pajama Pants), Russ Braun (The Boys), Brett Breeding (Superman), Reilly Brown (Deadpool), Jim Calafiore (Welcome to Megalopolis), Chris Campana (The Adventures of Parker Reef), Castillo Studios, Howard Chaykin (Hey Kids! Comics!), Cliff Chiang (Paper Girls), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Becky Cloonan (Dark Agnes), Steve Conley (The Middle Age), Steve Conte (Action Figure Kingdom), Katie Cook (Nothing Special), Kristina Deak-Linsner (Vampirella: Roses for the Dead), Vito Delsante (Stray), Todd Dezago (Perhapanauts), Ryan Dunlavey (M.O.D.O.K. Reign Delay), Garth Ennis (The Boys, Friday and Saturday only), Trish Forstner (My Little Pony), Bob Frantz (Metalshark Bro), Monica Gallagher (Assassin Roommate), Kami Garcia (Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity), Mitch Gerads (Mr. Miracle), Joe Giella (Green Lantern), Mike Gold (Green Arrow), Michael Golden (Micronauts), Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules!), Gene Ha (Mae), Scott Hanna (Icon and Rocket), Dean Haspiel (The Red Hook), Glenn Hauman (They Keep Killing Glenn), Mike Hawthorne (Happiness Will Follow), Marc Hempel (The Sandman), Jamal Igle (Wrong Earth), Klaus Janson (Daredevil, Saturday only), Dave Johnson (The Good Asian), Chris Kemple (Artist Alley Comics), Tom King (Batman), Joseph Michael Linsner (Red Sonja), Howard Mackie (Ghost Rider: Return of Vengeance), Whitney Matheson (Pandemix: Quarantine Comics in the Age of ‘Rona), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), Frank Miller (Dark Knight III: The Master Race, Saturday only), Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise), Mark Morales (The Next Batman: Second Son), Josh Neufeld (A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge), Jamar Nicholas (Leon: Protector of the Playground), Jerry Ordway (The Power of Shazam), James Pascoe (Azrael), Andrew Pepoy (Simone & Ajax), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), Brandon Peterson (Sinestro: Year of the Villain), Andy Price (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), Joe Quesada (Daredevil), Tom Raney (Guardians of the Galaxy), Amy Reeder (Wonder Woman: Black and Gold), Afua Richardson (Omni), Andrew Robinson (Halo), Don Rosa (Uncle Scrooge), Jennifer Rouse (Frankenstein Mobster), Craig Rousseau (The Perhapanauts), Alex Saviuk (Web of Spider-Man), Stuart Sayger (Army of Darkness: 1979), Chris Schweizer (The Six Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton), Doc Shaner (Strange Adventures), Louise Simonson (Power Pack), Walter Simonson (Ragnarok: The Breaking of Helheim), Matt Slay (Equilibrium), John K. Snyder III (Killers), Joe Staton (Dick Tracy), Brian Stelfreeze (Black Panther), Paul D. Storrie (Storm Kids: Stanley’s Ghost), Arthur Suydam (Merc with a Mouth), Martha Thomases (Dakota North), Peter Tomasi (Batman and Robin), Tim Townsend (Non-Stop Spider-Man), Timothy Truman (Grimjack), Billy Tucci (Shi), Fred Van Lente (Action Philosophers), Brian K. Vaughan (Saga, Friday and Saturday only), Robert Venditti (Hawkman), Mark Waid (Dr. Strange), Mark Wheatley (Songs of Giants), Emily S. Whitten (The Underfoot), Matt Wieringo (Stargate Atlantis: Gateways), Keith Williams (Thor the Worthy), Renee Witterstaetter (Guardians of the Galaxy), Javier Cruz Winnik (Puerto Rico Strong), Rich Woodall (Electric Black), Gene Luen Yang (Superman Smashes the Klan), Kelly Yates (Doctor Who), and Thom Zahler (Love and Capes).
It was new comic release day yesterday, did you grab your pull list? I didn’t, but that’s because I couldn’t sneak away from work. The big news that broke yesterday was Julie Taymor being put to the side as far as directing the Spider-Man musical and it’s delayed…. again…. shocker. Anyone want to take me up on the bet it doesn’t get released this year? Below is the rest of the news that made the tubes.
Around the Tubes:
The Comic Chronicles – The difference 50 years makes – Do you know what comic sales were like 50 years ago? The numbers as far as comics sold and revenue gained is quite interesting and makes the argument things might not be so bad.
Destructoid – Prequel for The Darkness 2 coming, will be free – A new Darkness video game is coming out and there’s a comic being released along with it. I have a copy of the first game, but haven’t played it, any good?
The U.S. State Department has named Josh Neufeld, Ambassador of Free Expression. Neufeld is the writer of author of A.D.: New Orleans After The Deluge which chronicled his work with the Red Cross post Katrina. His role will send him on a three week tour of North Africa and the Middle East where he’ll show off “cultural freedoms of American society.”
The State Department invited me “specifically because of the Katrina book, which is blatantly so critical of the government,” Neufeld tells Comic Riffs of his comics reportage. “The program brings in cultural figures who disseminate [this message] — the State Department is proud of that freedom of expression. … They bring me over as a statement of how our civil society welcomes voices of dissent in all forms.”
