By Joe Maniscalco

Brooklyn comic book creator Dean Haspiel is sort of like a construction worker — both really enjoy the inherent tangibility of the work — whether it’s pointing to a building on the corner they helped put up, or grabbing a graphic novel off the shelf they helped produce.

And like many other working class folks attempting to bang out a living in an increasingly oppressive economy, Haspiel is having to become even more creative and resourceful in his work.

His 25-plus-year career in comics includes stints at Marvel, DC, Archie, Image and host of other big-name publishing houses. He’s worked with industry luminaries including Jonathan Ames and the late Harvey Pekar. Last fall, he drew a Superman story. He’s got an Emmy.  

But the job market is a brutal beast and can make anyone start feeling marginalized and uncertain. Or Haspiel says, “I might be the wrong demographic, you know? Who wants to hear from a straight, white, 56-year-old man these days?”

Shoving those thoughts aside, the native New Yorker has gone ahead and embarked on a Kickstarter campaign to crowd fund his latest effort — a 48-page oversized comic book featuring the “psycho-sexual” adventures of “Billy Dogma” and “Jane Legit” — a pair of “love titans” Haspiel initially created back in 1995.

“There are a lot of stories I want to write and draw,” Haspiel says. “That’s why I'm in Kickstarter and crowdfunding because it is hard for me to get a job. I'm in this lull, this area of trying to figure out how I can compete with 21-year-olds who can literally draw a comic on their phone faster than I can do on pen and paper. Where do I belong? I don't know if I belong anywhere.”

During the lockdown when most everyone was feeling unmoored, Haspiel cranked out “Covid Cop” to “take the piss out of the pandemic.”

“What kind of hero would emerge if we never found a cure, or some kind of way to battle the virus, and ninety-percent of humanity is wiped out 10 years from now? I did something that's like a cross between “Toxic Avenger” and “Judge Dredd,” Haspiel says. “He finds a way.”

Confronting Covid in inimitable Dean Haspiel fashion was still a tough assignment to give yourself.

“If you read the comic, you’ll understand the fun I had with that,” he says, “trying to find the levity in horror. It is horrific what happened, the amount of people [who died], and I understand that. People cringe when they see the cover or the title “Covid Cop” because those are two words that a lot of people hate — Covid and Cop, right?”

We’re all still dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic and grappling to understand what exactly happened. For Haspiel, it had a lot more to do with money than control.

“I was like, listen, whoever is supposedly trying to control us only wants one thing: our money,” he says. “They just want you to spend money toward a thing, right? And so the last thing they want to try to do is kill you. Or maybe, they'll scare you…killing some of you…and saying, ‘Hey, we got this cool thing over here.’”

Like the more than 170,000 unionized writers and actors striking across the country against the menace of AI — artificial intelligence — Haspiel also finds himself having to grapple with the same kind of existential threat to his own work.

“I totally support the writers and actors. I’ve been really impressed by seeing some of the top-tier actors defending not only their own careers and rights, but the rights of the people who make the movies happen,” he says. “Ultimately, guess what's going to happen? [AI] is going to replace you, or copy you, or mimic you — someone’s going to weaponize all that. It’s already being done.”

During his “schizophrenic” career hopscotching between mainstream and indy comics, Haspiel has penned plays, webtoons [The Red Hook], and various other projects, while continuing to grow and evolve as a unique artist.

When it was pointed out to him he had inadvertently “dead named” a trans character he’d written, and that younger readers considered it a violent act — Haspiel embraced the information.

“I was like, ‘Wait, what?’ I didn't know that,” he says. “To me, violence is when you punch someone in the nose. I don't necessarily agree with that — but I have to respect it. That's what younger people consider violence and so, I removed that from this story. First of all, it wasn't as important to have it in there, but also, I was learning from workshopping, you know?”

Throughout all the changes taking place, Haspiel says he still retains an “analog heart.”

“I want to hold that [comic book] in my hands and turn the pages at my own pace and have something that can be put on a shelf or lay on a table for someone to randomly pick up,” he says.

That's harder to do with your iPhone or Android device. 

“Or,” says Haspiel, “this big black Monolith that we're all kind of ultimately going to be sitting in front of like in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Well, what's in that black Monolith? It's everything. It’s the world, right? It's the Internet. But, you know, I like to go to someone's house and look at a shelf and be like, ‘What books did you buy and keep?’ And what does it say about us?”

Everyone taking part in Haspiel’s latest Kickstarter campaign will receive the “essential Billy Dogma primer” directly to their doorstep to have and to hold for as long as anyone can hold onto anything in this world.

“I'm in a place right now, where it's very difficult for a guy like me, who draws and thinks the way I do, is not necessarily what publishers are looking for,” Haspiel says. “For now, it's one Kickstarter at a time. And I'm learning from each one. I'd like to get a lot more people into it. And we'll see what happens. It's all a learning experience.

Dean Haspiel’s “Billy Dogma & Jane Legit” Kickstarter campaign wraps up on August 11.