Seth Kushner News

CulturePOP: James Haspiel

2012-01-28T10:08:00.002-05:00

When author and archivist, James Haspiel, was 16-years old, he received a kiss on the cheek from Marilyn Monroe and, thus, began a friendship that would last until MM’s untimely death. He has kept an incredible collection of personal items that belonged to MM and is considered a respectful yet world renowned authority on Marilyn Monroe. He has advised authors and journalists on the life of MM and the real personality behind the iconic mask, as well as offering first hand information to several televised documentaries.

In, Marilyn – The Ultimate Look at the Legend, James Haspiel deftly recounts his experiences tracking and photographing “Mazzie” everywhere from glamorous movie events to quiet outings with friends and other private moments while reverently observing the real woman behind the headlines. Haspiel’s book is a personal, knowledgeable, and sensitive reminiscence from an illuminating perspective made evident with photographs, clippings, and memorabilia.

In this new edition of CulturePOP, the 29th (!) I utilize my recent photos of James, taken last year at and near his home in the Hamptons, and James's archival photos, along with his own words, to tell the subject's story.

Read the CulturePOP Photocomix profile on James Haspiel at TRIP CITY.

LEAPING TALL BUILDINGS: The Origins of American Comics coming May 2012

2012-01-24T07:10:00.004-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

powerHouse Books is pleased to announce the May 2012 release of

LEAPING TALL BUILDINGS:
The Origins of American Comics

Photographs by Seth Kushner

Text and interviews by Christopher Irving

Design by Eric Skillman

Some are mild mannered geeks, others mad geniuses or street-smart city dwellers driven to action. These are the men and women behind the masks and tights of America's most beloved superheroes. But these aren't the stories of the heroes' hidden alter egos or secret identities...these are the stories of their creators! Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics gives you the truth about the history of the American comic book—straight from the revolutionary artists and writers behind them.

From the founders of the popular comics website Graphic NYC—writer Christopher Irving and photographer Seth Kushner—comes the firsthand accounts of the comic book's story, from its birth in the late 1930s to its current renaissance on movie screens and digital readers everywhere. Kushner's evocative photography captures the subjects that Irving profiles in a hard-hitting narrative style derived from personal interviews with the legends of the art, all of which is accompanied by examples of their work in the form of original art, sketches, and final panels and covers. The creators profiled include Captain America creator Joe Simon, Marvel guru Stan Lee, Mad magazine's fold-out artist Al Jaffee, visionary illustrator Neal Adams (Batman), underground paragon Art Spiegelman (Maus), X-Men writer Chris Claremont, artist/writer/director Frank Miller (Sin City, 300), comic analyst Scott McCloud (Understanding Comics), American Splendor's Harvey Pekar, painter Alex Ross (Kingdom Come), multitalented artist and designer Chris Ware (Acme Novelty Library), artist Jill Thompson (Sandman), and more.

Leaping Tall Buildings, like comics themselves, uses both words and images to tell the true story of the comic's birth and evolution in America. It is a comprehensive look at the medium unlike any other ever compiled covering high and low art, mass market work and niche innovations. It is the story of an art form and an insider's look at the creative process of the artists who bring our heroes to life.

For a preview of the book please visit: http://www.powerHouseBooks.com/leapingtallbuildingspreview.pdf

Christopher Irving is a pop culture historian with a concentration in the American comic book. A veteran of comics history and journalism magazines like Comics Buyers Guide and multiple Eisner Award-winning Comic Book Artist (where he served as Associate Editor), Irving combines new journalism with comics history to create personality essays on comic book creators. Leaping Tall Buildings is Irving's fifth book on comic books. Irving currently edits digital comics magazine The Drawn Word. www.thedrawnword.com

Seth Kushner's portrait photography has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, L'Uomo Vogue, The New Yorker and others. He was chosen by Photo District News magazine as one of their 30 under 30 in 1999 and is a two-time winner of their Photo Annual Competition. Seth's first book, The Brooklynites, (with Anthony LaSala) was published by powerHouse Books in 2007. Currently, Seth is working on CulturePOP Photocomix, and profiling real-life characters on ACT-I-VATE.com and WelcomeToTripCity.com. Seth resides in his hometown of Brooklyn, New York with his wife, son and way too many cameras and comics. www.SethKushner.com

Eric Skillman is a Brooklyn-based graphic designer, art director, and writer best known for his work with The Criterion Collection and his design blog Cozy Lummox. ericskillman.blogspot.com

Comics / Graphic Arts / Non-Fiction
Hardcover, 8 x 10 inches, 240 pages, 50 full-color photographs and 80 comic panels
ISBN: 978-1-57687-591-9, $35.00
Diamond Item # DEC111299 LEAPING TALL BUILDINGS HC

For a preview of the book please visit:
http://www.powerHouseBooks.com/leapingtallbuildingspreview.pdf

High-res scans to your specification are available upon request; scanning from the book or lifting images from the mechanical file are strictly prohibited. Mandatory credit line: From Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics photographs by Seth Kushner, text and interviews by Christopher Irving, published by powerHouse Books.

For more information, please contact Nina Ventura, Publicist
powerHouse Books, 37 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tel: 212-604-9074 x118, Fax: 212-366-5247, email: nina@powerHouseBooks.com

SCHMUCK -- Seth Kushner's semi-autobiographical comix series launches on TRIP CITY.

2012-01-09T09:29:00.002-05:00

Chapter One “Beer, Babes and Bowel Movements,” illustrated by Kevin Colden, (with “Photocomix” by Kushner) debuts on Monday, January 9.

Whenever Seth Kushner did anything foolish growing up, his mother would call him a “Schmuck,” that beloved Yiddish term of not-so-endearment. So, of course, it's the title of his new comix semi-memoir on TRIP CITY, an online multimedia arts salon. Renowned for his The Brooklynites book and CulturePOP Photocomix, photographer and author Seth Kushner now throws his hat into the comics arena. SCHMUCK chronicles the period after his being dumped by a girlfriend, and the ensuing cascade of blind dates, Internet hook-ups, and comically tragic situations he endured with the hopes of finding “true love.”

SCHMUCK to sheds a brutally honest light on 20-something relationships. Adam Kessler, our “hero,” is based on Kushner, ten years ago – a pop-culture-obsessed photographer torn between pleasing Mom by finding a "nice Jewish girl," and figuring out what he really wants. His internal monologue is filled with the standard inane, perverted and self-deprecating thoughts we all have but are ashamed to admit. Meanwhile, his shit-talking, sex-obsessed Brooklyn boys stand by with their own, often wacky, advice.

Chapter One “Beer, Babes and Bowel Movements,” illustrated by Kevin Colden, (with “Photocomix” by Seth) debuts on Monday, January 9. From there, a new chapter will appear on TripCity.net every second Monday for one year. Every fourth Monday will see the release of a prose piece, “THE SCHMUCK DIARIES.” These will act as supplements to the comics. 2012 will see the release of 12 SCHMUCK comix and 12 SCHMUCK DIARIES.

SCHMUCK is an anthology series with different artists illustrating short “schmucky stories,” which can be read individually, or together to tell the complete narrative. Some upcoming SCHMUCK artists include; Sean Pryor (Pekar Project), Bobby Timony (Night Owls), Omar Angulo (Hurricane Wilma), Shamus Beyale (The Grimm Fairy Tales), Ryan Alexander-Tanner (To Teach), Nathan Schreiber (Power-Out), Chris Sinderson (Twisted Savage Dragon Funnies) and more TBA.

What to expect: heartbreak, diarrhea, painful STD removal, rejection, Kung-Fu, Natalie Portman, vomit, boobs, self-loathing, unkempt genital regions, sex with an ex, drunkenness, sexual dysfunction, depression, misogyny, and somehow, hope.

Read SCHMUCK Chapter One: Beer, Babes and Bowel Movements.

http://bit.ly/xd6CRx

Before They Were Rockstars: Seth Kushner

2011-12-19T07:16:00.002-05:00

K2 Creative Management, the agency that represents me for photo assignment work posted a nice feature on me where I talk about how I got into photography, my first job working at a photo lab while in high school, the embarrassing situation surrounding my Eric Bogosian and my first professional shoot for the NY Times Magazine, the people I’d most like to shoot, and more. Also, some of my work is displayed and look for a cringe-worthy old photo of me at the bottom.

Before they were rockstars: Seth Kushner

CITY POINT PROJECT

2011-12-19T07:14:00.005-05:00

This past spring I was fortunate enough to have worked on one of the most creatively rewarding project of my professional career. I was contracted by the progressive and award-winning branding agency, Co-Op to work on the branding campaign for the soon-to-be developed City Point, a high-end mall in downtown Brooklyn. The concept of the campaign was to cast real Brooklynites to represent the future shopper at the mall, and to shoot them in real Brooklyn locations. The project was right up my alley.

I was very involved in the casting and in the location scouting. Having co-authored the book, The Brooklynites, where I photographed over 300 real, live Brookynites, and having worked on several Brooklyn-centric projects over the years, I can confidently refer to myself as an “expert” on the borough where I was born, raised and proudly reside.

I culled potential subjects from my virtual rolodex of fascinating peeps from Brooklyn, and threw them into the mix of potentials collected by the agency and my agents and the dozens were narrowed down to 24, including; singer/songwriter Maya Azucena, poets Caits Meissner and Tishon Woodcock, stylist Belinda Martin, DJ Jason Jinx and many, many great subjects including some old friends and even my god-daughter.

My approach for these photographic portraits were a bit different from my usual. The look was to be very “open and clean” so I went with a near shadow-less lighting approach and a very wide-open lens aperture to achieve a shallow depth of field, allowing the subject to stand out from their Brooklyn surroundings.

The photos were designed with real quotes from the subjects, as seen below. They were used for trade show displays and for the just launched City Point website, CityPointBrooklyn.com.

I Hated Star Trek

2011-11-23T11:51:00.003-05:00

I have a confession to make. One I’ve never revealed to anyone ever. I am not a life-long Star Trek fan. My love goes back only twenty-five of my thirty-eight years. As a child I hated Star Trek.

I hated Star Trek.

The original Star Trek series, the one that ran for 79 episodes between 1966 and 1969, played in syndication throughout my childhood on WPIX Channel 11 here in New York. I remember watching it occasionally on weekend afternoons but as a child raised on Star Wars, fast paced and action packed, the slower Trek seemed boring and slow with antiquated special effects. I guess I had the same problem the network had when it originally aired—it was too “cerebral.”

Continue reading my personal essay (and viewing my TreK con photos) on my history with Star Trek and how it relates to my life-long friendship with my buddy, Martin at TRIP CITY.

Patrick Stewart and My Father

2011-11-12T22:01:00.002-05:00

Part of the reason I co-created TRIP CITY with Dean Haspiel and Chris Miskiewicz was to have a venue to post the type of material I most wanted to work on, no matter how esoteric or personal. This past week, I posted a prose piece which is very personal. In PATRICK STEWART AND MY FATHER I write about the connection that exists [for me] between the great Shakespearian actor who portrayed Star Trek's Captain Picard, and my father.

This past September marked the fourteenth anniversary of my father's passing and it's taken me until now to be able to write about him, albeit in the form of a personal/pop-culture essay. I'm proud of the piece, so please have a look -
PATRICK STEWART AND MY FATHER

TRIP CITY Podcast: Michael Moore

2011-11-12T21:57:00.003-05:00

One of the advantages of working on TRIP CITY out of HANG DAI Studios is the proximity to BookCourt, Brooklyn’s premiere independent bookstore. It’s right downstairs. Aside from being able to take a break from work to peruse the bestseller shelf, the store offers regular readings and signings with top authors. We brokered a deal with Zack Zook, the shop’s second-generation proprietor to occasionally cull subjects for the TRIP CITY Podcast from their visiting guest list. The idea for the first such team-up came when Zack excitedly informed us filmmaker Michael Moore would be appearing to promote his new book, HERE COMES TROUBLE.

We’re all fans of Mr. Moore’s films. I fondly remember seeing his first film, ROGER & ME back when I was in high school and watching his television series TV NATION when I was in college. More recently I’ve enjoyed and was challenged by his thoughtful, sardonic, in-your-face brand of social activism in such films as BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE and FARENHEIT 9/11.

Our concept for the TRIP CITY Podcast interviews is to have each subject interviewed by a different TRIP CITY contributor, in an artist-to-artist situation where the interviewer would be someone with the right pedigree to spark an interesting conversation. In thinking who might be the best choice to interview Michael Moore, the answer came to us in the form of a visiting friend: Comics author Dan Goldman, whose works include SHOOTING WAR, the nonfiction graphic novel 08: A GRAPHIC DIARY OF THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL and his current haunted real-estate series RED LIGHT PROPERTIES.

We were granted fifteen minutes for Dan to conduct the interview and for me to do a quick photoshoot. It all happened in the back of BookCourt. It was a team effort. Dean Haspiel and I recorded the interview as Dan asked the questions, touching on Moore’s new book HERE COMES TROUBLE, unchecked capitalism and the #Occupy movement. All the while, our pal Josh Frankel snapped behind-the-scenes photos with my camera.

Mr. Moore graciously gave us more time than we expected, answering all of Dan’s questions thoughtfully and honestly, and even found time to ask Dan about his chest hair!

Produced by Chris Miskiewicz this this first installment of the TRIP CITY Podcast also features:

A round table discussion with TRIP CITY founders Dean Haspiel, Chris Miskiewicz and Seth Kushner, conducted by Jef UK. We talk about how TRIP CITY came about, our current work appearing on the site, and our plans for future contributions.

Chris’s New York Comic-Con 2011 report, wherein he asks top cartoonists about the cuisine at the con.

Ron Scalzo’s first installment of “Ronnie’s Story,” a regular 60-second bit.

For the outro, Americans UK’s single “You Can’t Kill The Americans UK.”

We have big plans for the podcast, so please come back to hear future installments featuring guests; Henry Rollins, Ben Katchor and more.

Listen to the first TRIP CITY Podcast.

CulturePOP Photocomix: Jonathan Ames

2011-11-12T21:46:00.002-05:00

I first met author Jonathan Ames about 5 or 6 years ago when I took his portrait for my book, The Brooklynites. I've photographed him twice since then, and material all three shoots are utilized in this latest CulturePOP Photocomix profile. The text/quotes are culled from several places and have been edited to tell the story of Jonathan's fascination with Brooklyn's Williamsburg Bank Building and how he believes it to be the most phallic building on earth.

The piece ties in nicely, I believe, with the current season of Jonathan's HBO series, Bored To Death, in which his alter-ego played by Jason Schwartzman now resides in the building and in the premiere hangs from the clock facade Harold Lloyd style.

See my Photocomix profile on Jonathan Ames and all future episodes exclusively on TripCity.net.

CulturePOP now on TRIP City

2011-11-07T13:03:00.000-05:00

WELCOME TO TRIP CITY

2011-11-07T09:09:00.001-05:00

WELCOME TO TRIP CITY

Press Release for November 1st, 2011
Contact: tripcityinfo@gmail.com
Twitter: twitter.com/#!/tripcitynews

TRIP CITY is a Brooklyn-filtered literary arts salon launching November 1st, 2011 at WelcomeToTripCity.com. The multimedia website features free content curated by a host of creative heavyweights. "TRIP CITY reinvents the online arts collective with a virtual playground for a diverse set of accomplished and highly individualistic creators,” says Emmy Award winning cartoonist and TRIP CITY founder, Dean Haspiel, “spanning every borough of artistic endeavor from the visual arts to literature, music, video and beyond."

TRIP CITY is the exclusive home of united individuals exploring new media to achieve a modern salon. Brooklyners Dean Haspiel (Billy Dogma, Bored to Death), Seth Kushner (The Brooklynites, CulturePOP Photocomix), Chris Miskiewicz (Everywhere), and Jeffrey Burandt aka Jef UK (Americans UK), will release exclusive content at TRIP CITY, combining avenues of expression such as podcasts and profiles, including upcoming portraits and exclusive interviews with Jonathan Ames, Marc Maron, Ben Katchor, Michael Moore, Henry Rollins, Dan Goldman, and Moby. Additionally, a fellowship of regular contributors will provide their original voices to TRIP CITY, including, Joe Infurnari (MUSH! Sled Dogs with Issues, Marathon), Nick Bertozzi (The Salon, Lewis & Clark), Jennifer Hayden (Underwire), Nick Abadzis (Laika), Jen Ferguson (Art in Chaos), Ron Scalzo (Bald Freak Music), Amy Finkel (Furever), Kevin Colden [Fishtown], and The Perv Whisperer (The Perv Whisperer).

TRIP CITY is a digital experience with future plans to take some of the content and perform it live on the road. “Working with so many Brooklyn locals, we have this great sense of community right out of the gate,” says Jef UK. “Then, when we take the next step and turn TRIP CITY into a live event—which is in the works—our tribe is already gathered, so to speak.”

The TRIP CITY launch will feature Dean Haspiel's “Bring Me The Heart Of Billy Dogma,” Seth Kushner's CulturePOP Photocomix profile of Bored To Death's Jonathan Ames, Chris Miskiewicz & Kate McElroy's “Adrift,” Jef Uk's “The Better Head,” Joe Infurnari's “Memoirs of the Kid Immortal,” Nick Bertozzi's “Lad Zeppelin,” Jennifer Hayden's “S'Crapbook,” Nick Abadzis' “Subterranean Stories,” Jen Ferguson's “Metrollpolis,” Kevin Colden's “Baby With A Mohawk,” Ron Scalzo's "A Dozen Movies That Scared The Shit Out Of Me, Revisited” featuring PSYCHO with an illustration by Rick Parker, and the inaugural TRIP CITY Podcast highlighting a round table interview with the TRIP CITY founders, Chris Miskiewicz' New York Comicon 2011 report, Ron Scalzo's “Ronnie's Story,” graphic novelist, Dan Goldman's exclusive interview with filmmaker, Michael Moore, and the Americans UK’s single “You Can’t Kill The Americans UK.”

http://welcometotripcity.com/

BRIAN AZZARELLO - LEAPING TALL BUILDINGS

2011-11-07T08:37:00.003-05:00

Continuing to catch up on these last group of subjects. The most recent profiled on the site is writer Brian Azzarello, best know for his work on 100 Bullets, Joker, Batman: Knight of Vengeance and the new Vertogo series, Spacemen.

The portrait was taken during a trip to Chicago last spring and is meant to invoke Brian's noirish writing style.

Read the GRAPHIC NYC Profile on Brian Azzarello-
Brian Azzarello on Crime and Superheroes

DAN DIDIO - LEAPING TALL BUILDINGS

2011-10-11T10:29:00.002-04:00

My shoot with DC Comics Co-Publisher (with Jim Lee) Dan Didio was a classic situation of making something happen in spite of having almost no time. This past spring, Chris Irving and I were finalizing subjects for and it occurred to us we had too many subjects telling the Marvel Comics side of the equation and not enough representing DC Comics. A bunch of calls and emails later and we were granted a short window of 30-minutes with Dan to do the shoot and interview.

When we arrived, we were informed that our time needed to be cut to just 20-minutes, since Dan had an important meeting. There seemed to be something top secret brewing at DC's offices and we almost saw something on the wall of Dan's office before we were quickly ushered out. I now believe it was all about DC's New 52 publishing plan, which had yet to be announced at that time.

We sat in the reception area, under a life-sized statue of Superman, as Dan answered Chris's questions at light speed. I knew my only options for the shoot would be to do something with the statue and/or the Metropolis mural by the elevator bank.

As the interview was winding down, the publicist asked me if I was getting what I needed. I told him the interview seemed to be going great. No, he meant the photos. Photos? I hadn't taken any yet! He had assumed I would shoot while the interview was being conducted, but I don't work that way--I needed a posed photo. Well, we were out of time, I was told.

Please, just give me three minutes. I can make it happen in three minutes.

I shot 17 frames in those three minutes utilizing the two spots in the reception area. A version of the one with Superman will be used in the book. I like how The Man of Steel becomes a design element to frame Dan and perhaps comment.

It was definitely one of my faster shoots, but thankfully my career shooting celebrity-types has prepared me well for situations such as these.

See the Dan Didio featuring my photos, Chris's interview-based essay and art from his comics work here.

CulturePOP Photocomix preview: Jonathan Ames

2011-09-20T12:18:00.000-04:00

Grant Morrison - Leaping Tall Buildings

2011-09-09T11:04:00.002-04:00

Much of my time this past summer has been spent finishing up my part on the book, LEAPING TALL BUILDINGS: The Origins of American Comics. While Chris Irving has been editing the text and our designer Eric Skillman has been creating layouts, I've been a) making final, hi-res version of all of my photographic portraits and b), with the help of my intern, India, collecting art from all of the subjects to go along with their profile and portrait. It's been a massive amount of work for everyone involved.

We thought we had all the material together for the approximately 60 subjects whose stories and art would tell the narrative of comics history in the book. We were out of space, and in fact, we were way over the 240-page count our publisher powerHouse books had granted us. 60 pages over! But, there was one particular subject who had eluded us and it always bugged me that he wasn't in the book, so I figured I'd try Grant Morrison one more time. He lives between Scotland and LA, so it was mostly proximity which kept him from us, but he was scheduled to be in NYC to promote his new book Supergods, and he graciously found some time to meet with us.

Grant Morrison is a rockstar comics creator, who even in his superhero work manages to challenge the reader with his use of thought-provoking trippy futurism which looks back as it looks forward, and his big IDEAS. His work on Batman these past few years forces the reader to pay attention or get lost forever and his All Star Superman brings 50s era comic tropes to the 21st century in a story of epic beauty. Anyway, yeah, I'm a fan.

The shoot happened over 20 minutes in his midtown hotel room. Grant was gracious and patient and willing to experiment. I showed up with no concept whatsoever except I knew experimentation would be needed. Grant is a striking looking fella' and clearly a great subject and the interesting patterned wallpaper and mirrors in the room provided me with the rest. The photo at the top is the one that will be in the book. I think the viewer can interpret it several ways and I like that. I have my own interpretation, based upon his work and the often meta qualities, but I think it best to leave it vague.

See the Graphic NYC profile of Grant Morrison, featuring my photos, Chris's interview-based essay and art from his comics work here.

Marc Maron

2011-08-05T13:01:00.002-04:00

I first met comedian Marc Maron about 6 or 7 years ago when I was assigned by Heeb Magazine to shoot him for their Heeb 100 issue. At the time, Maron hosted a show on the Air America radio network and I wasn't at all familiar with him.

Last year, I became addicted with Maron's WTF podcast, an interview-based show recoded in his LA garage, where he chats in-depth with comedians. His brutally honest humor and frank discussions have me and many, many others checking back every Monday and Thursday, when new episodes are posted.

Recently, I saw Maron had a live broadacast scheduled at the Bell House, here in Brooklyn, and I thought he'd make a great CulturePOP Photocomix subject, so I emailed him at the old address I had from years ago to my great excitement, he quickly responded and plans were made through his publicist.

Maron had a full schedule planned for his visit to Brooklyn, so I was only given 30 minutes before his show to make it happen. Myself and my friend/studio-mate/CP editor and fellow WTF fan, Dean Haspiel worked up a series of questions which would lead Maron to give us the quotes we'd need for the text and we worked as a tag team (like Iron Sheik and Nicolai Volkoff) to get 15 minutes of solid talk out of him. He gave us the goods, being his usual caustic, honest and self-deprecating self.

For the shoot, I walked Maron through several locations at the Bell House, very quickly in order to be sure to get the variety of visuals need in order to make a proper photocomix profile. He was a great subject for me giving me a range of poses and reactions and also being spontaneous, as seen in the preview photos here.

Maron was a great 'get' for project and I look forward to showing the full piece in a couple of months. For now, I'll post a few of the more straight "portraits" from the session. More soon.

CulturePOP Photocomix Tribute to "Our Man" Harvey Pekar (RIP)

2011-07-12T10:02:00.004-04:00

CulturePOP Photocomix Tribute to "Our Man" Harvey Pekar (RIP)
by Seth Kushner
Edited by Jeff Newelt & Dean Haspiel
Interview by Christopher Irving
See it--http://activatecomix.com/104-25-1.comic

Seth Kushner's CulturePOP: Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters returns (see info below for previous 24 episodes) to ActivateComix.com on Tuesday, July 12 2011 with a special tribute to Harvey Pekar, on the one-year anniversary of his death.

The 25-page piece, the 25th CulturePOP profile, features photos of the autobio comix pioneer, taken by Kushner just a few months prior to his untimely death, fused with quotes by an interview conducted by Christopher Irving the day of the shoot, to make a "fumetti" / photocomix equivalent to an American Splendor comic.

In addition to the words of Pekar himself, the piece includes photos of, quotes from, and illustrations by some of Pekar's collaborators; Josh Neufeld (artist, American Splendor), Dean Haspiel, (artist, The Quitter + American Splendor), Jeff Newelt (editor, Pekar Project & upcoming Harvey Pekar's Cleveland), Ted Hope (American Splendor film producer), Joseph Remnant (artist, Harvey Pekar's CLEVELAND) Shari Springer-Berman & Robert Pulcini (directors, American Splendor film) and Michael Taylor (script supervisor). Plus, Joyce Brabner, Harvey's widow and collaborator talks about her plan to have a monument erected to Harvey in Cleveland.

"I didn't know Harvey very well at all, not personally at least." Kushner says. "I knew him as many did, through his comics, and the great film, American Splendor. I've worked with Dean & Jeff on this tribute for months and I hope it will stand as a fitting one to a man whose seemingly ordinary, but unique voice, influenced and uplifted so many. 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."

See it--http://activatecomix.com/104-25-1.comic

LEAPING TALL BUILDINGS - Chris Claremont

2011-07-07T11:11:00.003-04:00

As Christopher and I and designer Eric Skillman work on finishing LEAPING TALL BUILDINGS to meet our publisher's deadline we'll be occasionally posting profiles from the last batch of sessions, like the recent two-part profile on legendary X-Men scribe Chris Claremont.

When I was 9-years old and I first started collecting monthly comics, Claremont's name, along with Frank Miller's, was among the first I knew in comics. His X-Men was instrumental in the early days of my obsession. I remember issue 181, the post Secret Wars issue in Japan, was the first I bought, followed by a several-year long back-issue hunt to fill the gaps. I eventually collected back as far as issue 125, and earlier sporadic issues. All that said, it was a thrill to sit in the living room of his Brooklyn house and hear all the behind-the-scenes stories of those classic issues. Have a look a the profiles and see for yourself.

Chris Claremont on Evolving the X-Men, Part One

Chris Claremont on Evolving the X-Men, Part Two

ICONS OF FANDOM

2011-06-21T13:12:00.003-04:00

Richard Roundtree is best known for his portrayal of private detective John Shaft in the 1971 film Shaft and in its two sequels, Shaft's Big Score (1972) and Shaft in Africa (1973).

Peter Mayhew is best known for playing the Wookiee Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies. His peak height was 7 feet 3 inches.

Michael Biehn is best known for his roles in James Cameron's science fiction action films The Terminator as Kyle Reese, Aliens as Cpl. Dwayne Hicks, and The Abyss as Lt. Coffey. He has also acted in such films as Tombstone, The Rock, and Planet Terror.

Brian O'Halloran is best known for his roles in Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse films, notably as Dante Hicks in Smith's debut film Clerks and its 2006 sequel, Clerks II.

Adam Baldwin is known for his roles as Animal Mother in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, Ricky Linderman in My Bodyguard, Knowle Rohrer in The X-Files, and Marcus Hamilton in Joss Whedon's Angel. He also established a cult following as Jayne Cobb in the series Firefly and its film sequel Serenity, and for starring as Chad Shelten in Day Break. He currently stars as John Casey on the NBC comedy-spy series Chuck.

The TRANSMETROPOLITAN ART BOOK

2011-05-25T07:00:00.004-04:00

Several months back, I heard from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, asking if I'd like to contribute an original piece of art for a book they were producing for charity based upon the Vertigo Comics series, TRANSMETROPOLITAN, by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson. I quickly jumped at the chance, even though I was ashamed to say I had never read the book. Yes, I was a huge fan of the creators from their other projects, but somehow the long running Vertigo series slipped by me. Hey, I read a ton of comics and I can't read everything, right? Right? True, but sometimes the really good stuff slips by, like TRANSMET.

I saw the list of contributors, (see list of heavy-hitters below) and knew I'd have to do something special to earn my place among them. I'm not a "comics artist" per se, I'm a photographer, so I needed to play to my strengths. I decided I'd do a Photocomic, like what I do with my CulturePOP series. But, what would be the narrative? Step one, was read at least one of the books and get a feel for the characters and story.

I quickly devoured the first collection of 6 issues and found myself hooked. How did I miss this series initially? Reminder: One can't read everything. Right. Within two weeks I read 6 volumes and decided my homage to this brilliant series shouldn't be a recreation but some sort of commentary.

The lead character, Spider Jerusalem is a Hunter S. Thompson-esq journalist in a future world rank with corruption. Ellis's commentary felt as fresh to me now as I'm sure it was when the books were first released. Spider, a champion of the truth, could be a prophet for the disenfranchised. People would want to be like Spider. I would do a piece on a guy becoming Spider.

A quick call to my bald buddy, musician and Bald Freak Music label owner Ron "Q*Ball" Scalzo, and a plan was in motion.

I ordered a pair of Spider's signature glasses from etsy.com and seeing Ron in them, it was amazing how much he resembled Spider. A wig was used for panel 1, since Ron's already bald, and thanks to Kenny at Kings County Tattoo for standing in on panel 4. The background in the final two panels come from some photos I had from last years New York Comic-Con at the Jacob Javits Center.

I should be getting my copy in the mail any day now, so I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's contribution and seeing how mine fits.

From the CBLDF site - It has been nearly ten years since the release of the final issue of TRANSMETROPOLITAN, the Eisner-nominated comics series from writer Warren Ellis and artist Darick Robertson. This art book features all new illustrations from the top talents in Comics, with the original co-creators participating, donating a brand new cover and a foreword for the book!

TRANSMETROPOLITAN combines black humor, political scandal, and moral ambiguity to look into the gonzo mind of an outlaw journalist and The City he inhabits. Aided by his embattled Editor and his two Assistants, the protagonist blazes a path through a futuristic world of skyscrapers and technological wonders, dark alleys and unspeakable depravity.

The TRANSMETROPOLITAN Art Book is a lovingly crafted and designed tribute to a seminal work. Contributors include:

Aaron Alexovich, Stephanie Buscema, Jim Calafiore, Stefano Caselli, Cliff Chiang, Richard C. Clark, Kevin Colden,Katie Cooke, Molly Crabapple, Farel Dalrmple, Camilla d'Errico, Gary Erskine, Richard Friend, Dan Goldman, Cully Hamner, Lea Hernandez, Phil Hester, Rantz Hoseley, Matt Howarth, Seth Kushner, Jonathan Luna, Milo Manara, John McCrea, Moritat, Dean Motter, Eduardo Risso, Darick Robertson, Jimmie Robinson, Stuart Sayger, Tim Seeley, Fiona Staples, Bryan Talbot, and many, many others.

The book is available for order now.

The Head Set

2011-05-18T11:06:00.002-04:00

A couple of months back I spent a Saturday night bouncing around the LES with my old buddy, Ron "Q*Ball" Scalzo, of the aptly named Bald Freak Music, taking shots of his newly signed band, The Head Set.

The concept for the photos was simply to follow the guys on a night out and capture the vibe of the city and avoid a stiff "band shot". I did a lot of blurred motion type night shots, with the one above being the most successful.

The band's energetic new album is out now and you can get it at their online shop.

LEAPING TALL BUILDINGS - Jeffrey Brown

2011-05-10T13:42:00.002-04:00

As can be seen from the photos above, I didn't go very conceptual with Jeffrey, and didn't need to. His work is mainly personal autobio, so it made the most sense to simply photograph him in his life, at work, in his home.

For more about Jeffrey and his work, check out the GRAPHIC NYC profile on him we just posted-
Jeffrey Brown: The Incredible Changing Artist!

I'll post the other Chicago subjects and more soon.

ICONS OF FANDOM

2011-05-05T11:07:00.001-04:00

Concluding my latest additions to this series, here's a varied collection of "Icons."

Gary Busey has appeared in over 120 films, including; Lethal Weapon (1987), Point Break (1991), The Firm (1993) and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in 1978 for his role inThe Buddy Holly Story. He has also made regular television appearances on Gunsmoke, Walker, Texas Ranger, Law & Order, and Entourage.

Michael Gross is an actor whose most notable roles are father Steven Keaton from Family Ties and the Graboid hunter Burt Gummer from the Tremors franchise.

Robert Knepper is an actor best known for starring as Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell in the Fox network's drama series, Prison Break, for which he was nominated for a Satellite Award. He has also appeared in the films Hitman (2007) and Transporter 3 (2008), and joined the cast of Heroes for its fourth season and recently Stargate Universe.

Peter Ostrum is a former child actor whose only film role was Charlie Bucket in the 1971 motion picture Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

Michael Bollner is a German former child actor who played Augustus Gloop in the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Lloyd Kaufman is a film director, producer, screenwriter and occasional actor. With producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their feature films, including The Toxic Avenger and Tromeo and Juliet.

Dean Stockwell is an actor of film and television, active for over 60 years. He played Rear Admiral Albert "Al" Calavicci in the NBC television series Quantum Leap and in the Sci Fi Channel revival of Battlestar Galactica as Brother Cavil. He is also known for To Live and Die in L.A., Blue Velvet and Married to the Mob.

CulturePOP Photocomix

2011-05-04T13:21:00.001-04:00

Seth Kushner's CulturePOP:

"Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters"

on ACT-I-VATE.com, FREE

All 24 episodes available free:

Elyssa Loveless: Performance

Clark Gayton: My Sousaphone

Caits Meissner: Dear Roger

Carlos 'Mare 139' Rodriguez: The Full Circle

Melisa Winitzky: Rooftop Yoga

The Super Sucklord: Culture Jamming

John D'Aponte: The Family 'Stache

Jennie Fiske: Ukulele Dreams

Olga Karmansky: Rightside-Up

Jonny Wilson: Eclectic Imagery

Jen Ferguson: Bridge Work

Douglas Rushkoff: Taking Back The World

Baron Ambrosia: Flavor of the Bronx

Lisa Natoli: The Aerialist

Dean Haspiel: The Angel

Rachel Kramer Bussel: Bound

Matthew O'Brien: Underworld

Reggie Watts: Just Riffin'

Tim Hall: Exile

Dave Franzese: Life In The Dark Igloo

Jihae: Fig Leaf

Akim Funk Buddha: Urban Tea Ceremony

Nancy Schwartzman: Drawing The Line

Cynthia Von Buhler: Royal Blood

"What Seth achieved with that initial 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."

In CulturePOP Season 1, Seth's shined his flash on the lives of subjects including poet Caits Meissner, sousaphonist/producer Clark Gayton, singer/songwriter Elyssa Loveless, designerJohn 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 Douglas Rushkoff, VJ Jonny Wilson of Eclectic Method, burlesque performerJennie Fiske and artist Jen Ferguson.

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

CulturePOP Season 2 launched Tuesday 10/5 with a photocomix profile on Bronx Flavor TV host Baron Ambrosia. Other Season2 scintillating subjects: writer / erotic editor Rachel Kramer Bussel, cartoonist Dean Haspiel, illustrator / designer Dave Franzese of Dark Igloo, aerialist Lisa Natoli, hip hop performer Akim The Funk Buddha, comedian/musician Reggie Watts and more (full list above).

“Working on CulturePOP has been a dream come true,” says Kushner. “It’s the melding of my life-long love of comics and my photography into a new form of profile for me. Working on the first twelve was such a challenging and rewarding experience that I can’t wait for viewers to see some of the new tricks I’ve incorporated into the next twelve.”

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

Seth Kushner's photographic portraits of celebrity-types have appeared in such publications The New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, Businessweek, L'Uomo Vogue, The New Yorker 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 (with Christopher Irving) and working on his next book, Leaping Tall Building: The Origins of American Comic Books. Seth first comics work was Schmuck (with artist Kevin Colden) and can be seen on ACT-I-VATE.

ICONS OF FANDOM

2011-05-04T10:53:00.000-04:00

Following up on my earlier Ernest Borgnine post from Monday, here are a few more Icons I photographed this past weekend.

Butch Patrick is a former American child actor and is widely known for his role on the TV show The Munsters (1964–1966) where he played Eddie Munster,

Dana Ashbrook is an actor best known for playing Bobby Briggs on the cult TV series Twin Peaks (1990–1991) and its 1992 prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.

Hal Linden is a stage and television actor and television director, best known for his starring role in the television comedy series Barney Miller (1975 - 1982).

Robert Romanus is an actor and is best remembered for his role in the 1982 comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High as the ticket scalper Mike Damone, and as Natalie Green's boyfriend Snake on The Facts of Life.

SPIDERS EVERYWHERE!!

2011-05-03T17:51:00.000-04:00

CulturePOP Photocomix may be done for the moment, but I'm still doing Photocomix. I've collaborated with writer Chris Miskiewicz on his EVERYWHERE Anthology. The piece, SPIDERS EVERYWHERE, is an homage to B-movies of yesterday and features a young woman being terrorized by thousands of creepy, crawly SPIDERS!

SPIDERS EVERYWHERE is Written by Chris Miskiewicz, Photocomix by Seth Kushner, edited by Dean Haspiel and starring Cat Cabral, David Blatt and Gerry Perrer.

See it here - http://activatecomix.com/120-5-1.comic

The premise for, EVERYWHERE created by Chris Miskiewicz, is simple: You wake up to find that millions of animals have appeared EVERYWHERE around the world at the same moment. What happened and what does it mean when the natural world has gone horribly wrong? Every month Chris teams up with a different artist to illustrated his latest tale. Past contributors have included; Andrew Wendel, Rick Parker, Bobby Timony and Nathan Schreiber.

Working on SPIDERS was a unique challenge for me. Aside from shooting it in a style similar to that of a dramatized film, I had to create literally thousands of spiders! Chris proved to be an ideal collaborator by writing a well-paced script, casting actors and providing egg and cheese sandwiches on the day of the shoot.

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

Ernest Borgnine - Icons of Fandom

2011-05-02T11:59:00.000-04:00

I spent Saturday at the Chiller Theater out in NJ, continuing my Icons of Fandom series. I'll post more this week, but for now, here's my portraits of Ernest Borgnine, an actor whose career has spanned six decades. He's best know for his role in the 1955 film Marty, for which he won an Oscar, the 1962-66 series McHale's Navy, as well as in The Vikings, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Dirty Dozen, Ice Station Zebra, The Poseidon Adventure , The Black Hole and The Wild Bunch.

Part of the limitations of this series has been the short amount of time I get with each subject and the convention center/hotel environments which have led me to do very close shots with obscure backgrounds. The pulled back shot above gives me some much needed variety, I think and gives the impression of a living room, even though it was actually a hotel ballroom and a line of over 100 people were waiting for autographs just to my left.

ACT-I-VATE on The Webcomic Beacon Podcast

2011-04-28T08:06:00.000-04:00

This past weekend, myself and a few fellow ACT-I-VATErs sat down to record a discussion with The Webcomic Beacon. It was all done over Skype, so at least I assume everyone was sitting.
We each spoke about ACT-I-VATE, it's history and how it works, as well as the evolution of our individual projects and future plans. Included in the discussion were:

Troy Wilson of PANELS FOR PRIMATES, Chris Miskiewicz of EVERYWHERE, Seth Kushner of CulturePOP, Dov Torbin of THE REVOLUTION WILL BE TELEVISED, and James Smith of GANG OF FOOLS.

Here host Fes mangle our names here! http://webcomicbeacon.com/episode-183/

CulturePOP Photocomix - LIVE READING

2011-04-25T10:53:00.000-04:00

CulturePOP Photocomix broke the fourth wall last night with a live reading at the KGB Bar, as part of the Tom Hart's Sequential Artists Workshop's Annual Fundraiser Reading & Benefit.

Designer John D'Aponte read my profile on him, The Family 'Stache (http://activatecomix.com/104-4.comic) and Jennie Fiske (AKA-Plucky Charms) read her profile, Ukulele Dreams (http://activatecomix.com/104-10.comic).

There was a tremendous turnout for a rainy Easter Sunday, so much so both the theater and the bar had to be utilized. The night went long, and organizer Tom Hart dashed around like a mad man coordinating, but folks seemed to be in good spirits.

Lots of great cartoonists will be read their work as well, including: Dean Haspiel and Daniel J Kramer, John Kerschbaum, Lizz Hickey, Josh Bayer, Domitille Collardey, Leela Corman, Sam Henderson, Leslie Stein, Martha Keavney, Stephanie Mannheim.

CulturePOP Photocomix - LIVE READING

2011-04-20T14:57:00.000-04:00

CulturePOP Photocomix is on hiatus at the moment, but there will be a live reading by two CP subjects reading my profiles of them at KGB Bar this Sunday as part of the Sequential Artists Workshop's Annual Fundraiser Reading & Benefit.

Designer John D'Aponte will be reading The Family 'Stache (http://activatecomix.com/104-4.comic) and Jennie Fiske will be reading Ukulele Dreams (http://activatecomix.com/104-10.comic). The images will be projected on a screen behind the readers. Additionally, lots of great cartoonists will be reading their work, including:

Dean Haspiel and Daniel J Kramer
John Kerschbaum
Lizz Hickey
Josh Bayer
Domitille Collardey
Leela Corman
Seth Kushner and readers
Sam Henderson
Leslie Stein
Martha Keavney
Stephanie Mannheim

Easter Sunday, April 24 · 7:00pm - 9:30pm

KGB Bar Upstairs Theater
85 E. 4th Street
New York, NY

More details here - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=144881678910836

Hope to see you!

CulturePOP Photocomix book debuts at MoCCA Arts Fest

2011-04-05T13:59:00.000-04:00

Above are the front and back covers to the CulturePOP Photocomix books I've self-published. They are a limited edition of 400, 36-pages, and are full-color. The dimensions are 5.5" x 8.5" horizontal format. The book collects four remastered versions of my profiles on; Sucklord, Baron Ambrosia, Lisa Natoli and Carlos 'Mare 139' Rodriguez.
I'm going to debut it at the MoCCA Arts Fest this coming weekend on April 9 & 10, at the Lexington Avenue Armory. I'll be at the ACT-I-VATE/Undie Press table I1, on the south side of the Armory (the side with EXIT) sitting with Tim Hall, Chris Miskiewicz and Kevin Kobasic.

Please stop by if you plan to be at the show.

CulturePOP Photocomix: Cynthia Von Buhler

2011-03-31T22:39:00.000-04:00

This week's new installment of CulturePOP Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters is the 24th and the season-2 finale. To mark the occasion, I present my profile on artist Cynthia Von Buhler.

Cynthia and I started work on the piece last fall. We discussed concepts and she soon sent me a first draft of a script, which is nearly identical to the final version. I read through it and learned about her history and the history of her family and was floored by the scope and with how well she broke down the beats of the story by page and text box. It gave me to perfect map for planning out the profile.

But, how the hell was I going to set scenes taking place during Cynthia's childhood and during the 1920s and 1930s? Cast actors and green screen in virtual sets? No, Cynthia had a far more ambitious idea. She would build miniature dollhouse sets and figurines for me to photograph. Wasn't that going to be difficult to do, I asked. No, she said, my last two books were done that way. If you haven't seen her books, But Who Will Bell The Cat <www.butwhowillbellthecats.com> and The Cat Who Wouldn't Come Inside, <www.comeinsidekitty.com> you should check them out.

We did our first shoot in December, which comprised of most of the shots of Cynthia herself. I crossed off panels from the script as we worked. Then Cynthia began constructing the sets and our period characters. It took her some time to put together the prohibition speakeasy, a birth scene and a death scene, and her own childhood bedroom, among others. She also had to collect the various prop items; a bathtub still, gun, skunk, coffin, and many, many more. When I arrived at her Connecticut studio last week I was absolutely astounded by all she had wrought. But, don't take my word for it...

See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-24-1.comic

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

CulturePOP will be back in a few months!

CulturePOP Photocomix preview: Cynthia Von Buhler

2011-03-28T13:37:00.000-04:00

CulturePOP Updates

2011-03-15T11:14:00.000-04:00

Since the CulturePOP Photocomix scheduled to publish today is being delayed (more later) I thought I'd take this time to deliver some quick updates.

I've self-pubished a limited edition of 400 CulturePOP Photocomix books It's a full-color, 36-page, 5.5" x 8.5" horizontal format and it collects four remastered versions of the profiles; Sucklord, Baron Ambrosia, Lisa Natoli and Carlos 'Mare 139' Rodriguez. I'm going to debut it at the MoCCA Arts Fest on April 9 & 10, at the ACT-I-VATE table. Please stop by if you plan to be at the show.

This is somewhat of an experiment for me as I've never self-published anything before, but I figured it was about time I produced a "product." I might do more of these in the future and/or explore the possibility of getting a "proper" book published, but not until after I get some more profiles under my belt.

I plan to release the final profile of season-2 on March 29, two weeks from today. As I said, it's been delayed. The cause of which is a mixture of my recent trip to Chicago (to cover several subjects for my upcoming book, Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics) and because of the ambition going into this final piece. The subject is artist Cynthia Von Buhler and we have been working together on her profile for several months now. The piece will be unique for several reasons, but primarily because it delves into Cynthia's fascinating family history. To visualize the past, Cynthia is building doll house sets and figurines for me to photograph. It's going to be amazing.

Finally, There will be another live CulturePOP reading at Tom Hart's Sequential Artists Workshop Easter Fundraiser at KGB Bar on Easter Sunday, 4/24. I'll announce the details soon.

Thanks for your continued support!

Hip-Hop: A Cultural Odyssey

2011-03-08T15:57:00.000-05:00

My photos of DJ QBert and Kid Capri are featured in the new book Hip Hop: A Cultural Odyssey - a 420-page, 16-pound opus, stuffed with hundreds of rare photos and 70 essays that cover 30 aspects of the culture and profile 40 icons. It is available for $300 here - http://aria-me.com/books/

I'm very happy to have my work featured with the likes of fellow photographers; Christian Witkin, Dana Lixenberg, Estevan Oriol, Frank W. Ockenfels 3, Gordon Parks, Janette Beckman, Jonathan Mannion, Martha Cooper, Ricky Powell, Trevor Traynor and many more.

The above photo of DJ Z-Trip was taken at the book launch for "Hip Hop: A Cultural Odyssey" at The GRAMMY Museum on February 8, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. My photo of DJ Q-Bert can be seen in the book. (Photo by Rebecca Sapp/WireImage)

GRAPHIC NYC: Dwayne McDuffie

2011-03-04T13:05:00.001-05:00

The GNYC Profile: Dwayne McDuffie: A Career of Diversity

Christopher Irving and I had the honor of profiling the late, great Dwayne McDuffie just ten days prior to his death. We were very saddened by the news, but glad to have gotten him for our book.

See the profile here - http://www.nycgraphicnovelists.com/2011/03/dwayne-mcduffie-career-of-diversity.html

The Long and Shortbox Best of the Year 2010

2011-03-03T07:48:00.000-05:00

Jon Gorga at www.LongAndShortBox.com posted his 2010 in a Shortbox Best of the Year and one of my CulturePOP Photocomix profiles made the list!
I'm honored to be in such great company as "41" from "Daytripper" #4 by Moon & Ba, "Electric Ant" #1 and #3 by David Mack & Pascal Alixe, "Batman's Last Case" from "Batman" #702 by Grant Morrison & Tony Daniel, "Angel" in OVERFLOW Magazine #6 and on ACT-I-VATE.com, by Dean Haspiel and many more greats.

See the whole list here - http://www.longandshortbox.com/2011/02/2o1o-in-shortbox-best-of-year.html

BEST SHORTS (under 22 pages)

"Culture POP" #14 "The Aerialist" on ACT-I-VATE.com

reportage and photography by Seth Kushner (@sethkushner)

The way Kushner laid-out photographs here to bring the reader through a narrative while maintaining the beauty of the photographs themselves is nothing short of remarkable.

CulturePOP Photocomix: Nancy Schwartzman

2011-03-03T07:42:00.000-05:00

Today's new installment of CulturePOP Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters looks at filmmaker/activist Nancy Schwartzman.

I met Nancy a decade ago when she was the creative director at Heeb Magazine, where she commissioned me to do such wacky culture jamming imagery as a DJ's hands spinning a piece of Motzah on a turntable, for the cover of the first issue. After a while Nancy left Heeb and began concentrating on her film, The Line. I remember asking her about it and learned it was about her personal experience of being raped and about "rape culture." From the film, Nancy started a campaign, WhereIsYourLine.org, about consent, sex, pleasure, and healthy boundaries, which has led to her speaking to young people at schools and college campuses. This piece is about how someone can turn something negative into a positive.

See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-23-1.comic

Nancy is currently hard at work on her next film, xoxosms, "a documentary about love in the 21st century." Check out the trailer and help support it a Kickstarter-
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/931046546/xoxosms-a-documentary-about-love-in-the-21st-centu

Today's new Photocomix is the penultimate one of season-2. That's right, only one more left and that one will be on artist Cynthia Von Buhler and Cynthia and I have been working on it for months so it should be a doozy. Please check back in two weeks.

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

CulturePOP Season 2 continues Tuesday 3/1

2011-02-28T11:59:00.000-05:00

CulturePOP Photocomix: Akim Funk Buddha

2011-02-15T11:20:00.000-05:00

Today's new installment of CulturePOP Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters looks at Hip-Hop performer Akim Funk Buddha.

I've been speaking with Akim for months. He had a unique concept in mind. For his CP profile, he wanted to photographically illustrate and explain the origins of a hip-hop theater piece he had dreamed up. He excitedly explained to me something about a time traveling boom box and a way to mix modern and ancient cultures and create understanding. At first, I didn't fully grasp his high-concepts, but I knew they were going to challenge me and force me to up my game.

Eventually, Akim drew up storyboards for his Urban Tea Ceremony idea and it all made sense to me and off we went.

See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-22-1.comic

I'm particularly proud of this installment because of the challenges it presented me. In the middle portion of the piece I got to play with sequential visual narrative and tell the story through just images and layout and no text. I also had to develop techniques for having the same performer play multiple roles and make it convincing.

Catch Akim at an urban dance/experimental hip-hop event this sunday - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=181244615250328

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

CulturePOP Season 2 continues Tuesday 2/15

2011-02-14T15:54:00.000-05:00

2011-02-01T13:53:00.000-05:00

Today's new installment of CulturePOP Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters looks at NYC indie recording artist Jihae.

Jihae's song, Fig Leaf is the focus of the piece. We delve in to the her process of songwriting, where the concepts came from and then dissect what the lyrics mean.

This profile gave me the opportunity to experiment a bit with a different approach with combing Jihae's handwritten lyrics with the imagery, further melding words and pictures.

See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-21-1.comic

After reading the profile, please give a listen to the song, Fig Leaf - http://www.facebook.com/Jihaemusic?v=app_19935916616

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

CulturePOP Season 2 continues Tuesday 2/1

2011-01-31T15:42:00.001-05:00

Jihae - CulturePOP preview

2011-01-25T10:29:00.000-05:00

I spent a rainy day in Tribeca last week with lovely and talented singer/songwriter Jihae. Check her out at Jihae.net and look for my Photocomix profile on her next Tuesday.

Going Home Again With Steve Buscemi

2011-01-20T14:36:00.000-05:00

Posting the photo of Steve Buscemi yesterday, I couldn't help but remember the remarkable morning Anthony LaSala and I spent with him when we were profiling him for our book, The Brooklynites.

It wasn't easy getting him, which made the circumstances of the actual session all the more special.

Buscemi was (and is) one of our favorite actors and someone I always wanted to photograph. We attempted to contact him through a variety of different ways, starting with contacting his publicist, who immediately informed us that Steve wouldn’t have time and couldn’t do it. We knew he was obviously very busy, but from everything we’d read about him we also strongly felt he would be into our project if he heard about it directly.

I had an idea. My then 15 year-old cousin went to camp with Steve’s son the year before, and they were still IM buddies. I called my little cousin and she got me Steve’s home address from her friend. Anthony and I debated back and fourth for a while as to whether contacting him this way would be appropriate, and finally I decided to take a shot. I figured, the worst-case scenario would be Steve Buscemi getting a restraining order against us. I wrote him a very polite note and included a bunch of the pictures, so he’d see what the project was all about. We waited, and waited, but we never heard back. It was disappointing, because we really wanted him.

We moved on, and months later, when we worked with Terence Winter, at the time producer on The Soprano’s, (and now creator of HBO's Boardwalk Empire) we asked him if he knew any other interesting Brooklynites to recommend to us. He said, “How about my friend Steve?” We knew immediately who he was referring to. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know, obviously. He gave us Steve’s personal assistant’s number and within a few weeks we found ourselves in East New York with Mr. Pink himself. We always ask potential subjects to chose a location to be photographed that means something to them. Steve picked the neighborhood where he grew up. We loved that he thought about our request and picked a pertinent local and that he made the time to go out of his way to do this for us.

It was there, in East New York, where something special happened. Anthony wrote an essay about the experience for the book, which I'll run below, along with my photos.

Words by Anthony LaSala . Pictures by Seth Kushner

On the 3rd floor of 606 Liberty Avenue we have stepped through a wormhole. It is located in the middle of a small apartment sitting above a deli. Steve Buscemi is with us. It’s the morning of October 20th.

I’m not asleep.

A few minutes earlier Buscemi is standing on a street corner, in front of the home and school in which he spent the first eight years of his life. He’s traveled back to the middle of East New York to see us. We are conducting an interview and a photo shoot. It’s early. Sleep still drifts inside his body. But even through this 9AM haze, you can tell this spot is special to him. He’s looking at these corners and slabs of concrete like mislaid photographs found hidden in the pages of an old book.

And then Chance, a well-known personality on the streets of Brooklyn, leans its head out of a top-floor window.

From the apartment above us, the very apartment Buscemi grew up in, a man looks in on our actions.

“I’m Steve, I used to live here as a kid,” says the actor to the face staring down at us. “Do you mind if we come up?”

Soon after, I’m climbing a crooked white staircase dressed in slanted sunlight so dramatic it’s sucker-punching my early morning eyes, making them tear. As I push down on the backbones of the napping, cranky steps, they let out measured bellows. If I was dreaming, this might be my mind imagining some bizarre ascent into heaven side by side with Steve Buscemi.

But I’m not asleep.

I’m following a man named Michael Rosario as he leads us towards a four-room dwelling on top of a deli. He turns to Buscemi as we go up.

“This is strange. I was just watching one of your movies,” he says. “The one where you are flying.”
“I’m not sure which one that is,” says Buscemi.
“You know, the one with the plane,” says Rosario. “It was just on the T.V.”
“Con Air?” asks Buscemi as we near the top.
“Yeaaaah! Con Air! That was a great film!”

Rosario and his family now live in the residence. It’s a typical Brooklyn home, lived in and comfortable. Photographs on walls. Coffee tables and carpets. But as we stand inside the place, after a mere three minutes, we are undoubtedly in Buscemi’s old apartment. It’s the early 1960’s.

“It was actually in this kitchen where I first started performing,” he says. “This is where I got my start. I entertained my parents and my brothers and my relatives right in here.”

The eyes of Steve Buscemi are a gift. On enormous silver screens they are twin focal points - chameleon pools of anything, everything. Two coals stoking the souls of imaginary characters, giving them life, grit, compassion, reality. Today they are a million times more powerful. Today they are revealing genuine tales. Moments stored and stowed for years and clamoring into the air like heat rising through an old Brooklyn radiator.

He criss-crosses slowly through rooms and the stories continue as we followed him through doorways and decades.

The times his father climbed through the top of a hallway closet, below a skylight, to unlatch the front entrance when keys were forgotten.

The day his mother’s apron caught fire in the kitchen. “Mom, you’re on fire,” he calmly told her. Disaster was averted.

The time he was hit by a bus across the street from his home – his padded winter clothes saving him like modern armor. The city’s settlement money later providing him with a way to go to acting school.

How he slept in the same room as his brothers, the same house as his cousins. How his uncle had a chicken coop in the backyard. His family was all here - until they slipped off to other places.

“One by one they all moved to Long Island. We were the holdouts until we left. My grandmother actually lived here for a long time after we were gone. I used to visit her here.”

We were on our way down the crooked stairs soon after that. Back down the white passageway. Back into the streets of East New York and a 2005 morning. As we left Steve Buscemi on the corner of Liberty Avenue he lit up a cigarette. He was still looking up at the buildings above him, still casting those eyes – those compelling eyes – through the air like butterfly nets, searching for his cobwebbed, vanished memories. Smoke filling his lungs. The early 1960’s still drifting inside his body.

Steve Buscemi & Terence Winter Brooklynites portraits

2011-01-19T22:40:00.000-05:00

HBO's Boardwalk Empire was a big winner at this past Sunday's Golden Globes. I thought the awards for the compelling and well wrought show was a good excuse for me to show my portraits of series star Steve Buscemi and series creator Terence Winter. Both were shot several years back for my book, The Brooklynites. Buscemi was shot East New York in front of the church he attended as a child, and Winter in Bensonhurst at L&B Spumoni Gardens.

2011-01-19T07:22:00.001-05:00

Today's new installment of CulturePOP Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters looks at Dave Franzese, who along with Mark Miller is one half of the dynamic graphic design duo called Dark Igloo.

While the focus of this piece is on Dave, his business partner and friend, Mark takes on a strong supporting role, as does their home, which as you can see is a sort of headquarters/club house where the partners do their striking and often ironic work. Spending the day with the two at the Dark Igloo HQ inspired me to showcase how their lifestyle and surroundings feed the work, and vice versa.

See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-20-1.comic

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

CulturePOP Season 2 continues Tuesday 1/18

2011-01-16T21:33:00.001-05:00

Leaping Tall Building coming from powerHouse book in '12

2011-01-10T14:29:00.001-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Christopher Irving and Seth Kushner ink a deal with powerHouse Books to publish Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comic Books.

Brooklyn, NY (January 10, 2011) - Due out in Spring of 2012, Leaping Tall Buildings takes the comic book journalism essays and portraiture found on Graphic NYC and remasters them into a whole new and unique experience. Leaping will give readers a cohesive tapestry of the history of comic books through Graphic NYC’s distinctive brand of creator profiles, through Kushner’s iconic portraits of comics legends to Irving’s essays that fuse comics history with aspects of New Journalism.

The book’s synergistic photo and profile approach will document the pioneers and masters of the print comic, all the way through to the burgeoning digital age.

"One thing we've found in talking to everyone—from Joe Simon, who created Captain America, to Jules Feiffer, to Art Speigelman and postmodernists like Paul Pope, and all the way up through Marvel CCO Joe Quesada or even newer talent like Kevin Colden—is that you can actually trace the development of the comic book through their personal experiences, be it on newsprint or an iPad," Irving notes. "Beyond that, though, is that meeting all of these folks has been a helluva’ ride, especially since a few of them are personal heroes of ours."

“There have been so many memorable experiences. Hanging out on a Hell’s Kitchen rooftop with Frank Miller, in a Gotham alley with Denny O'Neil and in front of NYC’s Flatiron Building (The home of The Daily Bugle in the Spider-Man films) with Brian Michael Bendis has been a blast,” says photographer Kushner.

The deal with powerHouse comes as Graphic NYC wraps its second year online, and also caps an interesting year for the GNYC duo of Seth Kushner and Christopher Irving. 2010 saw the publication of Seth's online photo-based webcomix series, CulturePOP: Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters on Act-I-Vate.com, as well as the print birth of Christopher’s Graphic NYC Presents Dean Haspiel: The Early Years from IDW.

"On a personal note," Irving adds, "it was the toughest year of my life: my father, Elliott Irving, passed away in late July as I was wrapping production on the Dean book. Neither Graphic NYC nor Leaping could have happened without his support. As far as I'm concerned, honoring him means making Leaping Tall Buildings worthy of sitting on my bookshelf next to the copy of Jules Feiffer's The Great Comic Book Heroes that he gave me when I was twelve."

"The signing of this contract is the accumulation of three years of work, (so far!)" says Kushner. "It's been a long road since that cold January day in 2008 when cartoonist Dean Haspiel and I had a conversation about a potential 'photo book on comics creators' at the now-defunct Rocketship Comics in Brooklyn. From there, Dean began hooking me up with other cartoonists to photograph, and then, a few months later, he connected me with Chris and that team-up begets our upcoming book.”

“From the first book pitch through the development of the site,” Irving elaborates, “Seth and I have let Graphic NYC organically grow into an accessible and unique view of comics history that can be dug by both comic book readers and those new to the world of comics and graphic novels.”

“We knew powerHouse was the right publisher to bring our dream to fruition when we saw they were as excited by the project as we were," Kushner says, "and we’re confident that with pH publishing and with Random House’s distribution, the book will be a success."

Christopher Irving and Seth Kushner are both represented by Barry Goldblatt Literary.

Contact:

Christopher Irving

christopherlirving@gmail.com

804.852.7757

Seth Kushner

seth@sethkushner.com

718.490.5928

Christopher Irving started as an Associate Editor of the Eisner award-winning Comic Book Artist Magazine, and has since written about comics for New York Magazine, Comics Buyer’s Guide, and Alter Ego. Irving wrote and edited Graphic NYC Presents Dean Haspiel: The Early Years this year, as well as Hermes Press’ upcoming release The First Movie Superheroes, which documents the history of the superheroes of the 1940s movie serial. Leaping Tall Buildings will be Irving’s fifth book on comics.

Seth Kushner’s photographic portraits have appeared in such publications The New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker, L'Uomo Vogue and others. Seth's first book, The Brooklynites, was published by powerHouse Books in 2007. Currently, he is working on CulturePOP, his photocomix series on ACT-I-VATE.com. Seth resides in Brooklyn with his wife and son, and way too many comics. www.SethKushner.com

Jonathan Ames

2011-01-05T11:04:00.000-05:00

I had the opportunity to photograph author Jonathan Ames again recently. I had initially met and photographed Jonathan several years back for my Brooklynites book. That first shoot took place on a snow covered school yard on Wykoff St. in Brooklyn. The next time I shot Jonathan was in his home for Edible Brooklyn Magazine, when the mag was interviewing him about the items in his refrigerator, which turned out to be very few!

Since then, Jonathan has become a true documentor of today's Brooklyn with his HBO series Board To Death, so I was happy to be able to photograph him in front of the borough's famed Williamsburg Bank Tower.

The photos were for an upcoming feature in Heeb Magazine.

CulturePOP Photocomix: Tim Hall

2011-01-05T11:03:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year to all!

Today marks the first new installment of CulturePOP Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters of 2011. This week, I profile writer/author Tim Hall.

Tim is the author of the novels, Half Empty and Full of It, two short story collections, Triumph of the Womb and One Damn Thing After Another, and non-fiction essay collection, How America Died. Additionally, Uplift The Positivicals, a freeform column of stories rendered as text images can be seen on ACT-I-VATE.com. Recently, Tim launched UndiePress.com, "a collaborative and curated site where writers can build their own audiences."

With this series, I very much appreciate when the subject wants to be involved to the point where they’re a collaborator. As per my usual process, I met with Tim before our shoot and recorded an interview, then later transcribed and sent it to him to edit. Tim’s a great writer, so what I received back was a whole new piece which was heads and tails better than the original, with perfect beats and a narrative thread which had the whole piece working in a way I never expected. I was thrilled.

In the Photocomix 'Exile,' Tim reminisces on growing up in NYC, running the bar newspaper The Hangover in the 90's, family alcoholism, leaving NYC and his desire to return.

See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-19-1.comic

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

CulturePOP Season 2 continues Tuesday 1/4

2011-01-02T14:02:00.000-05:00

Heeb Storytelling: The Live Comics Edition at Joe's Pub

2010-12-23T10:06:00.000-05:00

Over the past week, CulturePOP was brought out of the virtual world and into the real one with two live readings. First, last week my piece on writer Rachel Kramer Bussel was read by Rachel, with the images projected behind her, at the last of her In The Flesh reading series events at Happy Ending in NYC- http://www.edenfantasys.com/sexis/sex-and-society/rachel-kramer-bussel-in-the-flesh-ends-1222102/

This past Tuesday, Rachel again read the piece at the Heeb Storytelling: The Live Comics Edition at Joe's Pub. This time she was helped out by Katelan Foisy, who read the story within the story. It was an honor to have shared the bill with legendary MAD artist Al Jaffee, Paul Pope, Molly Crabapple, Dean Haspiel, Sarah Glidden, Josh Neufeld, Cynthia Von Buhler, Jeff Newelt & Miss Lasko Gross. A full roundup will be coming soon (with my photos) to Heebmagazine.com.

Talking CulturePOP Photocomix with Tim

2010-12-23T08:12:00.000-05:00

A very in-depth interview with me on making Photocomix went up live yesterday at Tim O'Shea's Talking With Tim-
http://talkingwithtim.com/wordpress/2010/12/22/seth-kushner-on-culturepop/

I ramble on (maybe too much!) about how the series came about, how subjects are chosen, and I give some behind-the-scenes info on individual installments.

http://talkingwithtim.com/wordpress/2010/12/22/seth-kushner-on-culturepop/

Live CulturePOP Reading at Heeb Storytelling: Live Comics Edition

2010-12-15T22:45:00.001-05:00

I'm very excited to be a part of a very cool event this Tuesday where my CulturePOP subject, Rachel Kramer Bussel will read my Photocomix profile on here. Also, I'm honored to share the bill with the likes of Al Jaffee, Paul Pope, Dean Haspiel, etc.
Details below-

Heeb Storytelling: Live Comics Edition a night of irreverent entertainment—graphic novel-style—curated by Heeb’s comics editor Jeff Newelt.
get tix: http://bit.ly/HeebJoesComix

Eight extraordinary comics creators project their smart, funny and sexy comics on a big screen, accompanied by a soundtrack and shenanigans. Featuring legendary MAD artist Al Jaffee + Paul Pope, Molly Crabapple, Dean Haspiel, Sarah Glidden, Josh Neufeld, Cynthia Von Buhler, Jeff Newelt, Rachel Kramer Bussel, and Seth Kushner.

Early bird prize! First 10 people in the door get free copies of the rare Heeb "Love" issue with cover by Robert & Aline Crumb!

**FREE** raffle tickets! 5 winners get *supersets* of graphic novels (each set includes Sarah Glidden's How To Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less; Bill Ayers "To Teach"; Josh Neufeld's A.D. New Orleans After The Deluge; Royal Flush Magazine 7; AL JAFFEE's MAD LIFE, and TRIBES: The Dog Years (http://tribesthecomic.com/) **

“Comics aren’t just for schmendricks anymore,” said Jeff Newelt

Tuesday, December 21, 7p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (Doors 6pm)
Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, NYC
$15 (reservations required for table seating)
Call theater: (212) 539-8778 or buy tickets at http://bit.ly/HeebJoesComix (Telecharge: 212-239-6200)
http://www.heebmagazine.com/events-2/?event_id=7

Storytellers include:
MOLLY CRABAPPLE www.mollycrabapple.com international artstress / impressaria (Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School, Puppet Makers)

AL JAFFEE www.facebook.com/AlJaffee - legendary creator of the MAD Magazine “Fold-in” and “Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions;”

PAUL POPE comics destroyer, designer for DKNY, Diesel screenprints www.pulphope.blogspot.com (Batman Year100, THB)

DEAN HASPIEL www.deanhaspiel.com (artist, American Splendor; Emmy Award-winning cartoonist on HBO’s BORED TO DEATH)

SARAH GLIDDEN www.smallnoises.com (How To Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less)

CYNTHIA VON BUHLER www.cynthiavonbuhler.com award-winning artist / children's book illustrator (EVELYN EVELYN),

JOSH NEUFELD www.joshcomix.com (artist, American Splendor; creator of “Best American Comics”-winning graphic novel documentary A.D.: New Orleans After The Deluge (www.smithmag.net/afterthedeluge)

JEFF NEWELT AKA JAHFURRY www.twitter.com/jahfurry (The Pekar Project www.smithmag.net/pekarproject);

RACHEL KRAMER BUSSEL www.rachelkramerbussel.com erotic book editor/cupcake connoisseur

SETH KUSHNER www.sethkushner.com creator of CulturePOP photocomix www.activatecomix.com/104-16-1.comic

MISS LASKO-GROSS www.misslaskogross.com/ creator off the graphic novels ESCAPE FROM SPECIAL and A MESS OF EVERYTHING

CulturePOP Photocomix: Reggie Watts

2010-12-15T12:11:00.000-05:00

CulturePOP" Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters is back today with an all new installment on comedian/musician Reggie Watts.

I recently spent an interesting day with Reggie Watts trolling around Williamsburg, Brooklyn and seeing first-hand how he comes up with his patented improvisational material. Seeing how Reggie operates off-stage gave me even more appreciation for Reggie the performer, and hopefully this piece will help to give viewers some insight into the mind of this unique talent.

See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-18-1.comic

This particular piece was somewhat experimental for me, in that I needed to come up with a way to merge Reggie's words and my photos in a way which would somehow portray his abilities, which is something clearly evident in video and much more difficult in still imagery. Dean Haspiel edited the piece with me, as always, and chimed in with some good suggestions. To finalize it though, I turned to Jeff Newelt, whose familiarity with Reggie made him the perfect person to push me to really "activate the energy" (his words!) of the piece and move in a very psychedelic direction. Jeff and Dean provided the one/two editing punch I needed to make this one fire on all cylinders!

Reggie was recently named by GQ Magazine as one of their Men of the Year, and in the accompanying tribute written by Conan O'Brien, Conan writes, "You couldn't invent a Reggie Watts if you wanted to." You know Conan means it because when he embarked on his comedy tour last spring, it was Reggie who he picked as his opening act.

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

Live CulturePOP Reading at In The Flesh Reading Series

2010-12-15T12:04:00.000-05:00

After 5+ years, over 200 readers, countless cupcakes and sexy moments, In The Flesh Reading Series is ending. Join us for a free, festive, sexy, cupcake-filled last hurrah, with erotica, memoir, burlesque and 500 free cupcakes to celebrate! Featuring erotic writer Laura Antoniou (The Marketplace series), memoirists Nancy Balbirer (Take Your Shirt Off and Cry), and Michele Carlo (Fish Out of Agua), burlesque performers GiGi La Femme (Revealed, Wassabasco) and Stormy Leather (Webster Hall, The Box), photographer and photocomic CulutrePOP creator Seth Kushner, memoirist Stephen Markley (Publish This Book), In The Flesh alum and famed letter writer Samara O'Shea (Note to Self, For the Love of Letters), Lambda Literary Award winner Rakesh Satyal (Blue Boy) and romance novelist Kama Spice (Sehra's Honor). Hosted and curated by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Best Bondage Erotica 2011, Passion, Orgasmic, Fast Girls). Giveaways include copies of SexIs Magazine and 500 cupcakes by Baked by Melissa.
FREE, 21+
Happy Ending Lounge, 302 Broome Street, NYC (F/V 2nd Avenue, look for pink awning)

My Appearance on Comic Book Club

2010-12-12T09:53:00.000-05:00

Jeff Newelt, Seth Kushner and Mike Geszel apear at Comic Book Club, A Live Pop Culture Talk Show
w/Pete LePage, Justin Tyler, and Alex Zalben

***FOURTH ANNIVERSARY SPECTACULAR***
With Prizes, Free Food, and Drinks!

NOTE: This is out LAST SHOW EVER at the current PIT location! After that, we’ll be taking a short break while the theater moves, and then will come back with ALL NEW shows in 2011!

Tuesday, December 14th @ 8:00pm
@ The Peoples Improv Theater
154 West 29th Street, 2nd Fl.
[Between 6th and 7th Aves.]

Special Guests:

- Jeff Newelt aka JahFurry (comics editor SMITH, Heeb, Royal Flush; editor Pekar Project – Mike Geszel (SoulCraft Comics) writer, TRIBES: The Dog Years

- Seth Kushner, creator of CulturePOP photocomix, photographer, and editor

Also?

You could win a $25 Gift card to Midtown Comics!

PLUS

FREE COMICS!

Tickets: $5
Online: ThePIT-NYC.com
Phone: 1-800-838-3006
Questions? 212-563-7488

AND AS ALWAYS…
The show is sponsored in part by Midtown Comics

CulturePOP Season 2 continues Tuesday 12/14

2010-12-11T23:00:00.001-05:00

Graphic NYC site update - Frank Miller

2010-12-01T17:43:00.001-05:00

Frank Miller Part 1: Dames, Dark Knights, Devils, and Heroes

It was about two months ago when our Graphic NYC project finally took Christopher and I to Hell's Kitchen to meet Frank Miller. Back when I was nine, and first developing my weekly comics habit, Miller and Stan Lee were the first names I knew in comics.

I had met and photographed Frank before, on the same day I got dumped by a girlfriend, back in 2002. It was a memorable day.
Arranging this recent session took some doing. Over the past two years, Frank's been busy directing movies (The Spirit) and commercials (Gucci Guilt) and who knows what else, so he's been difficult to nail down. But, we're making a book on the history of American comics, so giving up on Frank was never an option.

Our day at Frank Miller's place was a great one for the project. Christopher had an epic interview with the creator in his studio, while I was serenaded by Frank's girlfriend, Kim while she played the piano in the living room.

There were two parts to my shoot. The first was in Frank's studio, and the second were on his balcony, overlooking Hell's Kitchen. The same Hell's Kitchen Frank had his Daredevil bounding over water towers and through alleys during his legendary run one the character. It was perfect.

Frank Miller Part 2: On Pastiche, Directing and the Future

Frank was a great subject, as he was for me back in '02. I like to think my photos of him are revealing. He gave me a mixture of patented Miller mugging, and some real vulnerability.

A note about my photos used in the profile: In attempting to keep Graphic NYC fresh, I decided, starting with this profile, to create an "opening piece," utilizing my portrait, Chris's title and a piece of the creator's art. I want it to feel more like a magazine profile and less like a blog. I've also began running pull quotes over the additional photos. It's an experiment which I think works, and will continue in the future.

See part 1 of the profile here - http://www.nycgraphicnovelists.com/2010/12/frank-miller-
part-1-dames-dark-knights.html

See part 2 of the profile here - http://www.nycgraphicnovelists.com/2010/12/frank-miller-part-2-on-pastiche.html

CulturePOP Photocomix: Matthew O'Brien

2010-11-30T10:09:00.000-05:00

I first met Matthew O'Brien a few years back when he had written a book called Beneath The Neon, and I was sent to Las Vegas to cover him for an airline magazine. He gave my wife and I a tour of the drainage tunnels under Las Vegas and needless to say that experience was one of my more memorable assignments.

The mag ran one photo out of the many I shot, so I recently had the notion of turning the shoot into Photocomix. I got back in touch with Matt, he was game and we did an interview to create the text.

See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-17-1.comic

Learn more about Beneath The Neon and Matt's new creative nonfiction collection about the seedy side of Vegas, My Week At The Blue Angel at www.beneaththeneon.com.

CulturePOP Season 2 continues Tuesday 11/30

2010-11-28T11:44:00.000-05:00

Matthew O'Brien - CulturePOP Preview

2010-11-26T11:37:00.000-05:00

I met author Matthew O'Brien a few years back when he gave my wife and I a tour of the drainage tunnels under Las Vegas. He had written a book about his experiences, Beneath The Neon, and I was covering him for an airline magazine. The mag ran one photo out of the many I shot, so I recently had the notion of turning the shoot into Photocomix. I got back in touch with Matt, he was game and we did an interview.

Look for Matthew O'Brien: Underworld soon at ACT-I-VATE.com.

Graphic NYC site update.

2010-11-23T15:55:00.000-05:00

Art Spiegelman: Still Movin' with Comix

Art Spiegelman, creator of Maus, Breakdowns and more finally gets the GRAPHIC NYC treatment. Yes, I did photograph him over two years ago, but Christopher recently sat down to interview him, so the two elements of our project have finally merged.

Terry Moore: 4 Color Portrait

My portrait and short bio for Terry Moore, creator of Strangers In Paradise and Echo.

CUBA: My Revolution exhibition and artist's talk

I report on Inverna Lockpez and Dean Haspiel's artist talk and exhibition for Cuba: My Revolution.

James Sturm: Modern Storytelling in a Period Setting

James Sturm of The Golumn's Mighty Swing and the recent Market Day in the GNYC Profile.

BIG announcement for this long-running project soon!

Neil Gaiman Sandman author photo

2010-11-22T19:38:00.000-05:00

It was a year ago when I received a request from DC/Vertigo comics Executive Editor Karen Berger to use my portrait of author Neil Gaiman for the new tradepaperback editions of all 12 volumes of the acclaimed Sandman series. I was very excited by the request.

Sandman was a series I began reading when I was in college, and when I look back on my own work from that time, the influence it had on me is unmistakable. Also, while I never fell away from reading comics, it helped to make me excited about them again. I think the book had that effect on a lot of people.

The portrait of Neil was taken back in April '08, during an intermission of his reading for the CBLDF at NY Comic-Con. I only had five minutes. I'd long wanted to meet Neil, but given the time constrictions, I focused on getting the shot, hoping I'd get another chance to chat with him some time in the future.

The shoot took place "backstage" in the bowels of the Javits Center. The photo seen here was originally shot in front of a gray concrete wall - the only available option. It wasn't until over a year later when I found a background which felt right to me, and once layered and merged, I was finally able to deem it "finished."

I was told by Karen, "Neil loves the photo, but doesn't remember what it was taken for." That was no surprise to me, given the "environment" was changed.

In any case, I'm very proud to have my work associated with the great Neil Gaiman and his creation, The Sandman.

The New Yorker

2010-11-22T11:12:00.000-05:00

I'm very pleased to announce a photo of mine appears in the Nov. 22 issue of The New Yorker Magazine. The portrait of fellow photographer Yana Toyber was initially shot back in 2005 for The Brooklynites and was one of my favorites from the book. The photo (page 117) is used to illustrate a fiction piece called Assimilation, by author E.L. Doctorow.

CulturePOP Photocomix: Rachel Kramer Bussel

2010-11-16T15:45:00.000-05:00

Culture POP: Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters is all-new today. I've been working on this week's epic installment since last August. My subject is Rachel Kramer Bussel, writer of many things, including erotica. Click and you'll find a Photocomix profile on Rachel, but within the core of it, is my adaptation Vegas Treat, of a short story of Rachel's found in the just released Bondage Erotica 2011, a book edited by Rachel as well.

I was excited to work on Rachel's short story because I've been wanting to try my hand on a fictional work, rather than a "real-life profile." Since Rachel's writing feels so visual to me, this was the perfect opportunity for me to experiment.

See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-16-1.comic

I thank Rachel for trusting me to adapt her writing to comix script and then to photocomix. She trusted me to do it justice and gave me no interference or criticism.

In creating this big, experimental piece, I received help from a number of sources, so many thanks to -

Walshmetalworks.com for use of the bondage bed.
EdenFatasys.com for supplying the props.
Elena & Welland Scripps for posing.

Best Bondage Erotica 2011 is available now from Cleis Press - www.BestBondageErotica.com

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

CulturePOP Season 2 continues Tuesday 11/16

2010-11-14T22:50:00.000-05:00

Tim Hall - CulturePOP preview

2010-11-12T07:44:00.000-05:00

I took this shot of soon-to-be CulturePOP subject, writer Tim Hall a while back as his author photo. Tim is the author of such books as Full of it: The Birth, Death, and Life of an Underground Newspaper, Half Empty, One Damn Thing After Another and Triumph of the Won't. Tim's work can also be seen in the text-based comic, Uplift The Positivicals, a collaboration with artist Jen Ferguson (also a CulturePOP subject) at ACT-I-VATE.com.

Recently, Tim launched Undie Press, a literary website, which features free audio books, podcast interviews and essays.

My upcoming profile on Tim will focus on a trip down memory lane as he laments on his time in NYC and on his desired return from Chicago, where he's been living for the past few years. Look for it soon.

BORED TO DEATH @ THE BROOKLYN LYCEUM

2010-11-07T22:06:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, November 6th, at King Con at the Brooklyn Lyceum, comics promoter / editor Jeff Newelt (Pekar Project, Heeb, Royal Flush) interviewed author Jonathan Ames, creator of the HBO series BORED TO DEATH & and comics creator Dean Haspiel, who drew the show's Emmy-winning title-credits and whom Zach Galifianakis's character "Ray Hueston is loosely based on. I shot pre-panel portraits as well as some shots during the proceedings.

These three pics are a preview of the full multimedia recap that will appear next week on HEEB Magazine, including full panel audio, video highlights, more photos, Dean's art from the show, and text excerpts from the panel.

GRAPHIC NYC Presents Dean Haspiel: The Early Years

2010-11-06T21:13:00.000-04:00

Graphic NYC Presents Dean Haspiel: The Early Years by Christopher Irving and from IDW publishing is out now. While I'm not an author on it, I did design the front and back covers and provide the photos for the interior, including a centerfold (really!) and a four-page photocomix tribute to Dean. It's also the first book from the Graphic NYC brand which I helped to establish.

The book traces Dean's development as an artist through essay's by Chris and a ton of Dean's early comix work. It's a great read.

Icons of Fandom

2010-11-02T21:11:00.000-04:00

Tom Savini is an award-winning make-up artist, known for his work on the Living Dead films as well as Creepshow, Friday The 13th, and Maniac. He has acted in films such as Dawn Of The Dead (and its remake), From Dusk Till Dawn, Grindhouse, and the recent Machete.

Jim Kelly is a martial artist best known from his performance as Williams in the Bruce Lee film Enter the Dragon.

Ernie Hudson is best known for his roles as Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters films, Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's Oz, and Sergeant Albrecht in The Crow.

Ralph Macchio is known for his roles are as Daniel LaRusso in the Karate Kid series and as Johnny Cade in The Outsiders.

CulturePOP Photocomix on Dean Haspiel

2010-11-02T11:09:00.000-04:00

CulturePOP: Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters returns today with a profile on Cartoonist, Emmy winner and ACT-I-VATE founder Dean Haspiel.

A version of today's photocomic, The Angel was originally created for the book, Graphic NYC Presents Dean Haspiel: The Early Years by Christopher Irving, which is available in shops this week or at Amazon.

An interesting note about my profile on Dean is that it's actually written by Dean himself. The text for The Angel was originally written for a two-page strip Dean created for Overflow Magazine. He provided me with his very personal words from the strip to use in creating this Photocomix profile. Because of this, I consider it to be a collaboration.

See it HERE.

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

CulturePOP Season 2 continues Tuesday 11/2

2010-10-31T13:29:00.000-04:00

Molly Crabapple Collaboration

2010-10-27T06:46:00.000-04:00

Illustrator extraordinaire Molly Crabapple recently took one of the many photos I've shot of her and contributed her own drawing to create this collaborative piece. The concept is one we discussed a year or two ago, so I was thrilled to see it come to fruition.

Dave Franzese - CulturePOP preview

2010-10-26T11:48:00.000-04:00

I recently worked on a profile of Dave Franzese of the design team, Dark Igloo. It shaped up to be a fun piece on living and working in a house aesthetic of creativity and will run as a new CulturePOP Photocomix installment some time this December.

CulturePOP Photocomix Profile: Lisa Natoli

2010-10-18T21:20:00.000-04:00

CulturePOP: Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters Season 2 continues today with a Photocomix profile on Aerialist Lisa Natoli.
I met Lisa a couple of years back through her boyfriend, cartoonist Mike Cavallaro and she's been on my mind since beginning this project. My concept for this piece was to play with the whole 'secret identity' angle. There's the Lisa who waitresses at a restaurant and the Lisa who can fly through the air, but which one is the "real" Lisa? Or, are both simply aspects of a greater whole?

See it here - http://activatecomix.com/104-14-1.comic

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

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

Sophie Auster L'Uomo Vogue

2010-10-18T21:19:00.000-04:00

Check out the new issue of L'Uomo Vogue (Italian Men's Vogue) for my portrait of singer/actress Sophie Auster.
Also, see earlier posted outtakes from the shoot here.

CulturePOP Season 2 continues Tuesday 10/19

2010-10-16T12:59:00.000-04:00

Reggie Watts - CulturePOP preview

2010-10-12T12:23:00.000-04:00

I recently spent a fun afternoon in Williamsburg with comedian/musician Reggie Watts to work on an upcoming CulturePOP photocomic profiling him. The narrative will be about the genesis of his mostly improvised, consciousness stand-up and how it comes out of his day-to-day activities.

I'm just starting to construct the piece, so please check back in a few weeks for the finished product, meanwhile, see preview image above.

Icons of Fandom

2010-10-11T13:06:00.000-04:00

I continued my long-running series this past weekend at New York Comic-Con. There were many more subjects present who were of interest to me, but huge crowds and difficult publicists made it tough.

Seth Green, best know as Oz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Scott Evil in the Austin Powers films and is the co-creator of Robot Chicken.

Richard Hatch portrayed Apollo on the original Battlestar Galactica and Tom Zarek in the recent BSG remake.

Jerry "The King" Lawler, pro wrestler and foil to the late Andy Kaufman.

James Marsters, best know as Spike on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Brainiac on Smallville and from the Battlestar Galactica prequel, Caprica.

Icons of Fandom

2010-10-06T13:28:00.000-04:00

It's been a long while since I've added to this series. Click the tag at the bottom to see earlier images. There are several event this month which will allow me to further this project, the first of which was last weekend's Wizard World Big Apple Comic Con.

Barry Williams, best know as Greg Brady on The Brady Bunch.

Mike Lookinland, best know as Bobby Brady on TV's The Brady Bunch

Burt Ward portrayed Robin in the 1960 Batman TV show and movie spin-off.

Jake Lloyd played young Anakin Skywalker in 1999's Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Ahmed Best, best know as Jar Jar Binks in the three Star Wars prequels.

Kevin Nash, professional wrestler and actor.

Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, pro wrestler.

CulturePOP Season 2 premieres today

2010-10-04T23:04:00.000-04:00

Meet Baron Ambrosia HERE.

CulturePOP Season 2 launches tomorrow at ACT-I-Vate.com

2010-10-04T12:17:00.000-04:00

CUBA: My Revolution

2010-10-04T08:05:00.000-04:00

CUBA: My Revolution by Inverna Lockpez (above) & Dean Haspiel (below) is a new graphic novel from DC/Vertigo Comics. It's the true story of Lockpez's experiences as a medical student and artist in Cuba during the early 1960s when Castro came into power.

I went to an exhibition and artist's talk this past weekend and reported on it at GRAPHIC NYC.

The work will be on display at the Kentler International Drawing Space until December 12.

Inspired by the book, I really wanted to shoot a portrait of Inverna, one which might reveal some of what she went through in her life. Happily, the gallery made several very large-scale prints of Dean's work from the book, which made a perfect, graphic and bold background for my shot.

The photo of Dean, with his work, is a fine addition, I think, to what is now a large collection of portrait collaborations we've done together.

Seth Kushner's CulturePOP Season 2 starts 10/4 on ACT-I-VATE.com

2010-09-29T12:18:00.000-04:00

Seth Kushner's CulturePOP:
"Photocomix Profiles of Real-Life Characters"
Season 2 starts 10/4 on ACT-I-VATE.com, FREE
All 12 episodes of Season 1 available free:
http://www.act-i-vate.com/104-1-1.comic

Seth Kushner loves comics and loves taking photos of interesting people. Over the past year, Seth began 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 experiment was played for laughs, but Seth's doing something different: fusing photojournalism, personality profile, and comix. His first photocomix profile was of the late, great Harvey Pekar, for GRAPHIC NYC, the comics journalism site he co-edits. CulturePOP is his new ongoing series of photocomix profiles on ACT-I-VATE.com.

"What Seth achieved with that initial 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."

In CulturePOP Season 1, Seth's shined 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 Douglas Rushkoff, VJ Jonny Wilson of Eclectic Method, burlesque performer Jennie Fiske and artist Jen Ferguson.

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

CulturePOP Season 2 launches Tuesday 10/5 with a photocomix profile on Bronx Flavor TV host Baron Ambrosia. Episodes run every other Tuesday and will include such scintillating subjects as writer / erotic editor Rachel Kramer Bussel, cartoonist Dean Haspiel, illustrator / designer Dave Franzese of Dark Igloo, aerialist Lisa Natoli, hip hop performer Akim The Funk Buddha, comedian/musician Reggie Watts and more TBA.

“Working on CulturePOP has been a dream come true,” says Kushner. “It’s the melding of my life-long love of comics and my photography into a new form of profile for me. Working on the first twelve was such a challenging and rewarding experience that I can’t wait for viewers to see some of the new tricks I’ve incorporated into the next twelve.”

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

Join CulturePOP's Facebook fan page - http://www.facebook.com/CulturePOPphotocomix

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

ACT-I-VATE Live Comix Reading

2010-09-27T13:46:00.001-04:00

I was very happy to be a part of a cool even this past Sunday - The ACT-I-VATE Live Comix reading at the DUMBO Arts Fest Digital Summit.

Simon Fraser started things off with a reading from Lily MacKenzie, and donned a purple wig to channel his avatar, Cosmo.

Joe Infurnari did a dramatic reading of his strip Vs. from SMITH MAG's Next-Door Neighbor series.

Graffiti artist/sculptor Carlos 'Mare 139' Rodriguez read from my own CulturePOP Photocomic profile on him.

Jeff Newelt, ACT-I-VATE Minister of Hype used his famous Havey Pekar impression to read from the late writer's Next-Door Neighbor piece, illustrated by Rick Veitch.

Jeff also read another Harvey piece, from SMITH Mag's The Pekar Project, edited by Jeff and drawn by Sean Pryor.

Dean Haspiel read from his autobio work, Street Code, with an assist from Chris Miskiewicz.

The event closed with a reading of Dean's Billy Dogma story from The ACT-I-VATE Primer. Assisting Dean were Jeff Newelt and Natalie Kim.

Thanks to Noah Norman for his help in making this a successful event.

Dumbo Arts Fest Digital Summit

2010-09-24T07:03:00.000-04:00

I'll be a part of a very cool event this Sunday. Following a talk with Doug Rushkoff (a past subject of mine) there will be a live ACT-I-VATE comix reading with my CulturePOP photocomix profile on Carlos 'MARE 139' Rodriguez will be read by the subject himself, while the images are projected.

Dumbo Arts Fest Digital Summit: RUSHKOFF Talk and ACT-I-VATE Comix Reading

Sunday, September 26TH
4:00pm - 8:00pm
St. Ann’s Warehouse
38 Water Street, Brooklyn, NY

4pm - Media theorist / author Douglas Rushkoff's
Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Era

5pm - Live Comix Reading with members of ACT-I-VATE.com webcomix collective, Dean Haspiel, Joe Infurnari, Simon Fraser, Jeff Newelt AKA JahFurry, Seth Kushner and special guest Carlos 'MARE139' Rodriguez

6-8pm -- After Party / Wine Tasting: Brooklyn Oenology's “FRIEND” Riesling, label art by Jen Ferguson.
Blanc & Rouge, 81 Washington Street

--

4pm
Media theorist / author DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF presents:
Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Era
new book available at http://rushkoff.com/

Do we direct technology, or do we let ourselves be directed by it and those who have mastered it? “Choose the former,” says Douglas Rushkoff, “and you gain access to the control panel of civilization. Choose the latter, and it could be the last real choice you get to make.”

We continue to accept new technologies into our lives with little or no understanding of how these devices work on us. We do not know how to program our computers, nor do we care. We spend much more time and energy trying to figure out how to use them to program one another, instead. And this is a potentially grave mistake.

Just as the invention of text utterly transformed human society, disconnecting us from much of what we held sacred, our migration to the digital realm will also require a new template for maintaining our humanity. In this talk, Rushkoff shares the biases of digital media, and what that means for how we should use them.

5pm
Big-Screen Live Comix Reading with members of ACT-I-VATE.com webcomix collective, Dean Haspiel, Joe Infurnari, Simon Fraser, Jeff Newelt AKA JahFurry, Seth Kushner and special guest Carlos 'MARE139" Rodriguez.

This crew will be reading comix not only from ACT-I-VATE but from SMITH Magazine's Next-Door Neighbor anthology as well at The Pekar Project.

Dean Haspiel is co-founder of ACT-I-VATE.com; creator of Billy Dogma and Street Code; creator/editor of Next-Door Neighbor; co-creator of The Quitter w/Harvey Pekar; the brand-new CUBA: My Revolution w/ Inverna Lockpez, and The Alcoholic w/ Jonathan Ames. Dean recently won an Emmy for his illustrations in the main title sequence for HBO's Bored to Death, the show based on Jonathan Ames life starring Jason Schwartzman as Ames and Zach Galifianakis loosely based on Dean.
http://deanhaspiel.com/

Jeff Newelt AKA JahFurry is ACT-I-VATE's Minister of Hype, as well as comics editor of SMITH, Heeb, & Royal Flush Magazines. He is editor of The Pekar Project, Harvey Pekar's (American Splendor) webcomics series on SMITH. Jeff will be reading two Pekar stories in his patented Pekar voice.
http://twitter.com/jahfurry

Photographer Seth Kushner, in addition to his renowned portrait series of on GraphicNYC, is the creator of CULTUREPOP: Photocomix Profiles of Real Life Characters. one of those real life characters, Carlos "MARE 139" Rodriguez will read his own profile. Carlos is a legendary graffiti artist and sculptor
CulturePOP - http://act-i-vate.com/104.comic
http://sethkushner.com/
http://mare139.com/

Joe Infurnari is an Eisner-nominated cartoonist with two books forthcoming from First Second and is the creator of the ongoing ULTRA-LAD strip http://act-i-vate.com/56.comic
http://joeinfurnari.com/

Simon Fraser is a Scotland-born cartoonist, is currently creating 'Lilly Mackenzie and the Mines of Charybdis' http://act-i-vate.com/9.comic and 'Nikolai Dante' the Eagle Award winning character that has graced the pages of Great Britain's 2000AD since 1997, co-Created by Robbie Morrison.
http://simonfraser.net/

AFTER PARTY 6pm - 8pm
Blanc & Rouge 81 Washington Street
Brooklyn Oenology winemaker Alie Shaper will be tasting the newly released “FRIEND” Riesling, which features the art of Jen Ferguson. A portion of the proceeds from this wine will go to support animal welfare. Jen Ferguson's art will also be on display in the store.
http://jenferguson.wordpress.com/2010/09/20/dumbo-art-festival-2010-bklyn-oenology-wine-tasting/
http://www.artinchaos.com

Graphic NYC site update.

2010-09-16T12:12:00.000-04:00

While the Graphic NYC site updates has definitely slowed, we have two recent posts of some substance.

Where Superman Was Born: A Visit to Jerry Siegel's House

I was recently in Cleveland for a shoot and made time to visit the former home of Jerry Siegel. It was an amazing experience. See my thougths and photos.

Michael Kupperman and Tales Designed to Thrizzle's Lessons in Absurdity

Rachel Kramer Bussel - CulturePOP preview

2010-08-30T14:22:00.000-04:00

My photocomix profile series CulturePOP returns on October 3rd, with a profile on Dean Haspiel, followed by a new installment every other Monday. Yesterday I photographed future CulturePOP subject, Rachel Kramer Bussel. Rachel is a writer of erotica, pop culture and cupcakes, and also runs the In The Flesh Reading Series.

My profile on Rachel won't run until December, but for now check out these portraits from our session. I think the actual piece will raise some eyes.

Sophie Auster for L'Uomo Vogue

2010-08-23T23:23:00.000-04:00

I recently did a shoot with musician/actress Sophie Auster for the October of L'Uomo Vogue. I originally met Sophie, daughter of authors Paul Auster and Siri Hustvedt, when I photographed her for my book, The Brooklynites, a few years back. I though she was a great subject, so I was happy to be able to photograph her again.

The photos seen here are outtakes. I'll show the selected image after publication of the magazine.

Dean Hapiel's Emmy win!

2010-08-22T11:44:00.000-04:00

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

2010-08-20T10:47:00.000-04:00

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

2010-08-11T13:38:00.000-04:00

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

2010-08-09T08:40:00.000-04:00

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

2010-08-03T14:10:00.000-04:00

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.

2010-07-15T09:32:00.000-04:00

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

2010-07-14T14:30:00.001-04:00

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

2010-07-12T13:22:00.000-04:00

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.comi c

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

2010-07-09T13:42:00.000-04:00

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