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<\/a><\/p>\nThere was an astounding variety of exhibits on display \u2014 from comics to prints, zines to memorabilia \u2014 with something to attract the attention of any attendee. Some tables were run by young creators and students eager to step onto the scene, while others featured veterans of the industry seeking to carve a path of their own after long careers working for major publishers, including the Star-Revue\u2019s own Dean Haspiel. \u201cWhen you\u2019re a kid you want to be a cartoonist and you become one and it\u2019s the dream, but then it slowly becomes a job,\u201d Haspiel said. \u201cSo I changed course in 2023 to become my own publisher so I could reinvent what comics meant to me and access the joy of making them again.\u201d<\/p>\n
The event also pushes creators to develop new work. Comic artist Tony Wolf, for example, brought together more than 40 contributors \u2014 including\u00a0Peter Kuper \u2014 to produce a protest art book opposing the Trump administration in just five weeks, with proceeds benefiting the American Civil Liberties Union. \u201cThis is a volatile time, but the nature of art is to push back in times of fascism, authoritarianism, and government overreach,\u201d Wolf said.<\/p>\n
The work of comic artists and writers can often be a solitary business, but conventions like BICS provide an opportunity for friends and colleagues whose lives and careers have intersected over decades to reconnect. \u201cIt can be a very lonesome sort of endeavor,\u201d Josh Neufeld, an award-winning comics journalist and educator, told the Star-Revue. \u201cBut an event like this is great as someone who\u2019s been in the industry for a long time. I know a lot of people from different stages of my career, and it\u2019s always so fun to see them and compare notes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neufeld shared one such reunion with Haspiel, the two of whom have been friends and collaborators since they met as classmates at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of the Arts. As a longtime educator teaching young artists the craft of making comics, Neufeld was also in the unique position to watch his current and former students grow and carve paths of their own.<\/p>\n
They are still comics
\u201cIt\u2019s really amazing just to see the continuity of the profession continuing despite all the changes in technology, despite all the changes in how we make comics, and despite all the changes in the types of comics people want to read,\u201d Neufeld said. \u201cWhen I was younger, older and more established cartoonists would always help me out, and now I have the opportunity to do the same thing. I think that\u2019s one of the really beautiful things about this industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Jack Whitman has been a reporter for The Daily Catch in the other Red Hook. Born in Middletown, Jack grew up in the Hudson Valley. He graduated from Marist College in Poughkeepsie in June 2024 with a degree in political science and a minor in cinema studies.<\/p>\n
Jack values local journalism and seeks to build a sense of community through his work. Outside of reporting, Jack is an avid reader who enjoys free time with friends and his cat Marceline.<\/p>\n
He is concentrating on writing about politics for the Red Hook Star-Revue. He now lives in Bushwick.<\/p>\n