Dean Hapiel's Emmy win!

I am proud to announce that my friend and the subject of GRAPHIC NYC's upcoming book, Dean Haspiel: The Early Years, Dean Haspiel, has won an Emmy award for his contribution to the opening title sequence of the Jonathan Ames HBO series Bored To Death.

Congrats, Dino!

The photo above, was taken by me just last week for the CulturePOP photocomic I did on Dean, which will be the debut of Season-2 on October 4th.

View the Emmy Award winning opening below.

Jonathan Groff

I took these photos of actor Jonathan Groff a while ago, but realized I never showed them here.
Jonathan is best know for his roles in the Broadway musical Spring Awakening and in the TV show Glee.

These photos were originally taken for Time Out NY magazine to promote his appearance in the show Hair.

CuturePOP Season-2 preview

CulturePOP, my photocomix webseries of profiles is returning soon with a new season of characters. The first one shot was Baron Ambrosia, the host of the TV show, Bronx Flavor.
The Baron was a fascinating subject and helped to inspire me to experiment further with page/panel design and narrative solutions.
I just finished laying out his profile, even though I'm excited to share it, I'll keep, it under wraps until this fall. Meanwhile, see a preview above.

Graphic NYC site updates

Paul Guinan & Anina Bennett: 4 Color Portrait



Jim Shooter's Secret Origin, in his Own Words - Part One



Jim Shooter's Secret Origin, In His Own Words - Part Two

Cappie Pondexter for Sports Illustrated

A couple of months back I did my first shoot for Sports Illustrated. The subject, WNBA NY Liberty Player Cappie Pondexter had just arrived in NYC, so the concept was to show her at different spots around town. It was the first blisteringly hot day, in what turned out to be a summer of blisteringly hot days, but Cappie gave her all for the shoot.

A sampling of images, some published in the mag, and some not-

Miss Rosen features my ICONS OF FANDOM project.

Miss Rosen recently interviewed me about my Icons of Fandom project. Check it out- SETH KUSHNER: Icons of Fandom

A Few Words and Pictures About Harvey Pekar

There are many people paying tribute to Harvey Pekar today; some whom knew him far better than I, and others who are much better with words. But, as someone who has been affected by Harvey's work, I felt the need to pay tribute.

I didn't know Harvey very well at all, not personally at least. I knew him as many did, through his work, and the great film, American Splendor. I first met Harvey in February 2009 when he was speaking at YIVO here in New York. When I first heard about the event, I immediately got on the phone with Jeff Newelt, Harvey's editor on SMITH Mag's Pekar Project to ask for access so I could take his portrait. I'm always looking to make an iconic portrait of my heros and Harvey was certainly among them. Meeting Harvey, I was almost expecting him to look like a R. Crumb drawing, or maybe like Paul Giamatti, and I was surprised by how much he looked like, well, Harvey Pekar. I only spent five minutes with him, but I got what I needed and was happy to have made the photo above, among others.

The second time I met Harvey was at the King Con in Brooklyn last fall. Christopher Irving and I were granted a session to profile him for GRAPHIC NYC. I got to know him a little better that time. My plan was to merge Christopher's interview based essay, with fumetti (photo comics) to make a sort of photographic American Splendor. Because I did the shoot previous to the interview, I didn't know what he was going to say, so I knew I had to get a variety of expressions out of him in order to make the piece work later. I explained to Harvey and he immediately understood, and playfully displayed a range of emotions, as I called them out. "OK, now angry," I said and he put on an exaggerated sour puss. Most amusing was when I asked for his happy face, and a smile crossed his lips, his eyes lit up, and suddenly I realized I never saw Harvey Pekar smile before. Perhaps, in his role as America's favorite curmudgeon, he was just expected to be that all the time. But, his smile was genuine. He was a happy guy.

Feel free to view the whole fumetti profile, but for now, below are the last three pages, where Harvey discusses the then-current stated of his career.

Harvey Pekar, a seemingly ordinary guy from Cleveland, a former file clerk, made an indelible mark on comics, influenced several generations of comics creators, and died too soon. His volumes of published work (and more to soon be published) will live on to inspire future generations. He will be greatly missed but he will not be forgotten.

Seth Kushner's CulturePOP Season-1 Finale

Thanks for continuing to follow my experimental webomic, CulturePOP: "Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters." This installment actually ends what I'm referring to as "Season-1." Thanks to all who have been following these photocomix. They've been a blast to work on, and I'll be doing more for a September relaunch.

This week's edition, Douglas Rushkoff: Taking Back the World, is the story of an author and media theorist and his thoughts and ideas on currency and corporatism, how our society has come to be defined by corporate culture, and how we can as people can take back the world.
See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-12-1.comic

If you'd like to go back and read from the first chapter - http://www.activatecomix.com/104-1.comic

I'm particularly proud of this last piece and not just because of the huge undertaking involved in it technically. The work of Doug Rushkoff has been of particular interest to me lately, so I'm glad to be able to help spread his ideas.

Thanks to Jeff Newelt for his help with making this piece happen and for his help with the editing and for hyping it. Thanks to Dean Haspiel for all the time spent working on editing this with me, and for his comix advice. A special thank you to Doug Rushkoff himself for committing so much of his time to collaborate with me and for believing in this experimental approach to profile and storytelling.

Comments welcome and appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoy it!

Graphic Novelists - Day 62

Nick Abadzis is GRAPHIC NYC's latest subject. Check out his GNYC profile and his wonderful book Laika.

Dash Shaw for L'Uomo Vogue

Check out the latest issue of L'Uomo Vogue, which is the "Next Generation All Stars" issue, to see my portrait of Dash Shaw. Or, you can just look below.









Fashion Editor: Rushka Bergman
Groomer: Sarah Sibia

CulturePOP Season-1 Finale

The final installment of Season-1 of CulturePOP: "Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters" is coming Monday 7/12. It will be a giant-sized 12th episode on author/media theorist Douglas Rushkoff, titled "Taking Back The World."

In the meantime, please check out any of the previous eleven photocomix profiles you may have missed:

Elyssa Loveless: Performance

Carlos 'Mare 139' Rodriguez: The Full Circle

Caits Meissner: Dear Roger

John D'Aponte: The Family 'Stache

Clark Gayton: My Sousaphone

Melisa Winitzky: Rooftop Yoga

The Super Sucklord: Culture Jamming

Jonny Wilson: Eclectic Imagery

Olga Karmansky: Rightside-Up

Jennie Fiske: Ukulele Dreams

Jen Ferguson: Bridge Work

CulturePOP: "Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters."
New profiles every Monday, on ACT-I-VATE.com

Seth Kushner loves comics and loves taking photos of interesting people. Over the past year, Seth began experimenting with combining the two passions, in the form of photocomix, AKA fumetti, first popularized in the U.S. with Harvey Kurtzman's Help and later in Robert Crumb's Weirdo. In those cases the photocomix were played for laughs, but Seth's doing something different: a fusion of photojournalism, personality profile, and comix. His first photocomix profile was of Harvey Pekar, for GRAPHIC NYC, the comics journalism site he co-edits, and the reception was so positive it set Seth to concocting an ongoing photocomix project.

"What Seth achieved with that Pekar interview-cum-comic was a triumph," said Jeff Newelt, Harvey's editor on The Pekar Project. "He took key moments of an interview, matched the words with photos he took, and sequentially arranged the results so as to read as smoothly as an American Splendor comic. I work with four artists who masterfully illustrate Pekar's words, and I was dumfounded by how much Seth's experiment succeeded."

"Seth Kushner's omniscient lens distills NYC's brave and bold into graphic time capsules," says Dean Haspiel, creator of Billy Dogma, & The Alcoholic.

With Culture POP, Seth's shines his flash on the lives of subjects including poet Caits Meissner, sousaphonist/producer Clark Gayton, singer/songwriter Elyssa Loveless, designer John D'Aponte, graffiti artist/sculptor Carlos "Mare 139" Rodriguez, yoga instructor Melisa Winitzsky, former US champion rhythmic gymnast Olga Karmansky, toy designer Super Sucklord, author Douglass Rushkoff, VJ Jonny Wilson of Eclectic Method, artist Jen Ferguson and more.

CulturePOP is co-curated by Jeff Newelt, and edited by Dean Haspiel.


Seth Kushner — shoots portraits of celebrity-types for such publications The New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, Businessweek, L'Uomo Vogue and others. Seth's first book, The Brooklynites, (with Anthony LaSala) was published by powerHouse Books in 2007 and was) considered ”a terrific coffee table photo/interview book” by The New York Times. Currently, he's co-editing the comics journalism site Graphic NYC (www.NYCGraphicNovelists.com) with Christopher Irving and working on his next book on comic book creators. Seth first comics work was Schmuck, with artist Kevin Colden and can be seen on ACT-I-VATE.com

Preview of GNYC's Dean Haspiel book

I'm very excited to announce that Graphic NYC, the brand I helped create, is releasing it's first book - Graphic NYC Presents: Dean Haspiel the Early Years.
It will be an interesting package, merging Christopher Irving's essays with Dean's early comics work, along with family photos, tributes from other artists, photos from Ryan Roman, and some interesting photographic contributions from me, like to one above.

Graphic NYC Presents: Dean Haspiel the Early Years gives the low-down on the revolutionary indy artist, from his salad days working for Howard Chaykin on American Flagg! to his digital days spearheading the ACT-I-VATE web-collective. The creators of GNYC bring you Dino's early Billy Dogma and semi-autobio comics presented against the framework of Chris Irving's new comics journalism and Seth Kushner and Ryan Roman's photography.

This trade features a never-before seen Billy Dogma story, artwork, and home pictures. Enjoy 240 pages of Dino's unique "two-fisted aggro-moxie" in this eye-opening experience with an 8-page color section that makes its October premiere at New York Comicon from Desperado/IDW.

Please pre-order the book at your local comix shop: Diamond code JUL10 0363

An 8-page preview of the book can be seen over at ACT-I-VATE.

CulturePOP - Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters on ACT-I-VATE.com

This week's edition, Jen Ferguson: Bridge Work, tells the story of a woman and her artistic relationship to the Brooklyn Bridge.
See it HERE.
This latest edition, (the 11th) is actually the second to the last in what I'm referring to as "season-1." Please check back next week for the season finale, a giant-sized edition on author, lecturer, media theorist, documentarian Douglas Rushkoff.

Comments welcome and appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoy it!

Graphic NYC - Site Update

On GRAPHIC NYC, I recently posted two more of my 4-Color Portraits-



Jim Lee: 4 Color Portrait




Matt Wagner: 4 Color Portrait

I also contributed a new review of Josheph Remnant's Blindspot #1.

CulturePOP - Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters on ACT-I-VATE.com

This week's edition, Jennie Fiske: Ukulele Dreams, tells the story of a woman who dreamed of being a musician and recently made that dream a reality playing a most esoteric instrument, and wearing green flippers.
See it HERE.
Thanks to Joe Infurnari and Dean Haspiel for recommending Jennie Fiske as a subject.
One of the greatest things about doing what I do, is how each experience and subject is a learning experience. Interesting, only two weeks after meeting Jennie, I had the opportunity to discuss the ukulele on a different photoshoot, and I came off as a near authority! Can't make these things up.

Please come back next week for the penultimate edition of what I'm referring to as "season-1" of CP, when you'll learn of a woman's relationship with a bridge.

CulturePOP - Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters on ACT-I-VATE.com

Thanks for continuing to follow my experimental webomic, CulturePOP: "Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters."

This week's edition, Olga Karmansky: Right-Side Up, is the story of a young woman, a former US Champion in Rhythmic Gymnastics and though retired, her amazing skills still play into her life.
See it HERE.

Comments welcome and appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoy it!

CulturePOP in Italy's Il Venerdi Di Republica

CulturePOP - Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters on ACT-I-VATE.com

This week's edition, Jonny Wilson: Eclectic Imagery, is the story of a man obsessed with imagery, and how as part of the video-DJ group Eclectic Method, he mixes imagery to makes statements and comment on our society.
See it HERE.

CulturePOP - press

My webcomic, CulturePOP got some love this week from two excellent, which I happen to read often

Toysrevil-



Comics Alliance-

CulturePOP - Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters on ACT-I-VATE.com

Thanks for continuing to follow my experimental webomic, CulturePOP: "Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters."
This week's edition, Super Sucklord: Culture Jamming, tells the tale of a man who has figured how to mix his love of Star Wars and hip-hop culture to make a statement.
See it HERE.

Comments welcome and appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoy it!

Graphic NYC - Site Update

Mike Mignola: 4 Color Portrait - a new series of of artist portraits which marry the creators with their work. First up, Mike Mignola.

Also, please have a look at two text pieces I wrote - a Q&A with the publisher/editor of Royal Flush Magazine, and a review of Dan Clowes' new book, Wilson-

For the Love of Comics #12: Josh Bernstein's Royal Flush

Graphically Speaking: Wilson

CulturePOP - Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters on ACT-I-VATE.com

Thank you all for continuing to follow my experimental webomic, CulturePOP: "Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters."
This week's edition, Melisa Winitzky: Rooftop Yoga, tells the tale of a young woman who finds inner-peace high above the streets of Manhattan.
See it HERE.

Comments welcome and appreciated, as always. Hope you enjoy it!

The Hypothetical Library

Designer extraordinaire Charlie Orr's Hypothetical Library has been a project of interest to me since it's inception earlier this year.

"The idea behind the blog was to create an opportunity for a part-time book cover designer to collaborate, with a wide range of amazing, contemporary writers on a project outside of their normal body of work," Orr says in his blog's intro. "The catch is that these books will never really exist." He elaborates - "I ask each writer to provide flap copy for a book that they haven’t, won’t, but in theory could, write, and then I design a cover for it."

This week's installment show readers the hypothetical cover for author Neil Gaiman's If You Read This Book The World Will End. When I heard this concept I was excited to work with Charlie on this project.

This week's entry has taken several months of planning, as Orr's concept required the involvement of: a sculptor/metal artist, digital print house, a locksmith, an audio engineer, a voice artist, and an html 5 programmer, (for an audio book, and an e-book cover which will be posted later in the week) a photographer, (me) and Gaiman himself.

Other authors who's recently received the hypothetical treatment from Orr include; Colum McCann, David Lehman, Lydia Millet and Kierán Suckling, Thomas Kelly, Brian Evenson,and cartoonists Gabrielle Bell and Nick Abadzis.

Check out the Hypothetical Library every week for more creative book covers to book which will never exist. Though, I hear Mr. Gaiman mentioned that he may want to actually write If You Read This Book The World Will End someday.

Laura Lee Gulledge

Laura Lee Gulledge is a newcomer to the comics scene, but she's already working on a YA graphic novel for Abrams called, Page By Paige, scheduled for release in Spring 2011.

CulturePOP - Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters on ACT-I-VATE.com

The latest installment of my webcomic, CulturePOP - "Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters" features Clark Gayton in "My Sousaphone."
See it HERE.
Comments welcome and appreciated, as always.

Graphic Novelists - Day 61

Last month at the MoCCA Fest here in NYC, I had the honor of photographing Jaime Hernandez. Jaime, along with his brother Gilbert, form Los Bros. Hernandez, creators of the super influential Love and Rockets series.
Learn more about Jaime Hernandez by reading the GRAPHIC NYC Profile on him.

CulturePOP - Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters on ACT-I-VATE.com

This week's edition, John D'Aponte: The Family 'Stache, tells the tale of a man attempting to connect with his family history through his moustache.
See it HERE.
Comments welcome and appreciated. Hope you enjoy it!

CulturePOP - Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters on ACT-I-VATE.com

In this week's edition, Caits Meissner: Dear Roger, I slightly break format and collaborate with subject Caits Meissner by visually illustrating one of her poems, rather than taking the text from a recorded interview. I think the result is just as revealing.
See it HERE.