>> From the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. [ Silence ] >> I want to welcome you all to this program on Independent Comix Art and Mini-Comix. Dean Haspiel on the Small Press Expo. My name is Georgia Higley. I'm head of the newspaper section in Serial and Government Publications Division. And the SPX Collection, or Small Press Expo Collection, comic book collection, is housed in the newspaper section of our division. So we're really pleased to have this chance to not only to hear from a creator of some of that content, but also a collector that has generously donated his Mini-Comix collection to the Library, and it's housed in our division. The -- to my left, we have two tables of material that we have set up, and they include material from the Small Press Expo Collection, which is -- we've now entered, actually, our first anniversary of having an agreement with SPX to be able to acquire material. Generally, these are Mini-Comix and small press runs. And then we also have selections from the Dean Haspiel collection, which is the Mini-Comix that Dean has generously donated to the Library. And then we have a small corner of mainstream Comix that include issues, comic book issues, where Dean did the artwork. So it's rather wide ranging, but please make sure you take a look at it before you leave the program. Sort of the way we're going to do the program today is somewhat freeform, I think. Dean will first walk through a couple of items that he's created, and then there will be a discussion between Dean and Warren Bernard, who is the executive director of the SPX. And then we'll have some time for additional questions, all right? Let me introduce Dean, and then I will turn the program over to you. Dean is a native New Yorker, and he's probably rather well known for a number of things, but among the media he's won an Emmy. He created the Eisner-Award nominated "Billy Dogma," and he also illustrated HBO's "Bored to Death," which lead to the Emmy Award. And he received a residency from the Corporation of Yaddo and teaches comic book storytelling. He has drawn and written many, and I mean many -- if you go into the Grand Comic Book database, and you search his name, it's pages, pages of items associated with him. But he's drawn and written many superhero and semi-autobiographical comics. He's done Spiderman, Batman, X-men, Godzilla, Mars Attacks, and to me, one of the more interesting items is his collaboration with Harvey Pekar, and there's some examples from "American Splendor" over on the table. But he's also collaborated with a number of other artists such as Jonathan Ames, Inverna Lockpez, and Jonathan Lethem. And he also curates and creates multimedia projects for TripCity.net. So we're very pleased that he's able to take time out after all of that activity to be able to speak to us today. Thank you Dean. >> Thank you very much. [ Applause ] I hope I can live up to that now. I wanted to start the evening -- when I talked to Warren -- oh, the evening, geez; it's 12:00 in the day -- the afternoon by -- I never assume anybody knows what I've done, so I would like to be able to share some of the stuff I've done. And what I'm going to show you folks, or read to you -- are two different comics that I've written and drawn that -- okay, let me step back a second. When I was 12 years old, I decided I was going to one day draw "The Fantastic Four" for the rest of my life. That's superhero comics. That's Marvel comics. That did not happen. But one of the reasons why that didn't happen was because I discovered "American Splendor." I discovered alternative and underground comics in the 1980s, black and white comics that weren't colored, that weren't super heroic. And reading "American Splendor" and other comics like that, I realized comics can be about anything and everything, including your life. So that really inspired me, and then most of the comic conventions are Marvel and DC-oriented, and Hollywood nowadays and the blockbuster movies that come from our medium. But I discovered, I want to say, Small Press Expo, in 1997. I think I got a phone call from a guy named Chris Orr, who was the executive director then, and he invited me. And I went to the Small Press Expo, and I discovered these, what I call, diamonds in the rough. You know, people were doing their mini-comix, which started my collection that I then later on donated to the Library of Congress. The reason why I'm bringing all this up is because what I'm about to read to you would never be published by Marvel or DC. I was lucky enough to do certain collaborations with Harvey Pekar, Jonathan Ames, and Inverna Lockpez through Vertigo, which is an imprint of DC Comics, but even they are no longer doing the kind of memoir-type comics. So Small Press Expo, Alternative Press Expo, Mocha, these other kind of shows that happen that were kind of, like, on the fringes. But that, you know, they're Jack Kirby would be a Chris Ware or Dan Clowes, you know, who happen to be here as well. So I just wanted to get you folks acclimated to what I do so you can get a sense of what I do and maybe have some questions about it, and all I ask is that if you see sound effect -- I'm going to be reading the story out. If you see a sound effect, could you, as a group, say the sound effect? You know, it's a little interactive. And if you're not sure when to do it, I'm going to kind of raise my hand, and I'm going to wait for you, okay? All right. So I'm going to read this comic. And I think I can do it by just clicking this keyboard. Bring this over here. Okay, you folks ready? And you can see it well? All right. "No. You brought two too many beef with tomato." [ Audience sound effect ] >> Two more. [ Audience sound effect ] "Huh?" That's you guys. Sorry. You got to play the zombies, too. Okay, quit hamming it up. "A zombie apocalypse was the first thought that occupied my mind when the blackout happened. Chalk it up to reading too many Jack Kirby and Johnny Craig monster comic books and enjoying too many late-night hammer horror movies, but once my brain settled, it was the post-traumatic stress disorder blues that kicked in." [ Audience sound effect ] "And the sobering reality check that normal people could wreak worse havoc than an uprising of the dead. I quickly surmised that during desperate times, one could negotiate friends and family, but a stranger in need would test the very nature and endurance of humanity. Ever since the tragic events of 9-11 and the ensuing war thereafter, everybody was walking on eggshells waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. And I was reminded by mankind's innate behavior that we're trained to practice courtesy and taught good manners, but when push comes to shove, we're all teetering on the edge of slipping backwards into the savage resolve of our Neanderthal ancestors. And when the going gets rough, the rough gets primal, the booster shot of raw adrenaline and anything your fist can make mulch with. Thus were the panicked feelings prompted by the Northeast blackout of 2003, a massive, widespread outage affecting over 55 million people during the late afternoon of a mid-August day. Luckily, noxious fumes bellowing from the window broke my neurotic spell as I heard rants and raves crying a communal foul on the street below." [ Audience sound effect ] "My obnoxious neighbor, a wealthy architect protected by his gated carriage house, insisted on being the only resident to enjoy electricity while the rest of us plugged our collective olfactory from the loud noise and rancid pollution his generator emitted. Thankfully, my fears of a cataclysmic zombie massacre were temporarily stifled with unanswered questions to a sudden blackout had an interim villain to point our fingers at. Despite the relief of an ad hoc bad guy, dusk was starting to settle, and candles and batteries were rapidly becoming scarce, albeit high-cost items. Who knew how long this blackout was going to last. Pots of spaghetti were cooked and consumed by my neighbors as we caught up with each other's lives and listened to my radio for status reports. Alas, it was a summer heat and a mass deluge of cranked-up air conditioning units that compromised the system and left us in the dark." [ Audience sound effect ] "For some reason, landlines were functioning, and an unexpected phone call from my ex-girlfriend interrupted the neighborly parlay, and her tender voice caused me concern. I'll be there as soon as I can. She didn't sound scared, but I knew that if my ex-girlfriend called me, it meant something was awry. The near blind bike ride prompted paranoia of getting attacked by thugs and looter before I could complete my serpentine trek between [Inaudible] Gardens and Park Slope. The city had lost its omniscient hum, and the eerie quiet contrasted with the pitter-patter of vandal feet sparked thoughts of mortality as I pondered my premature demise. A girl's ass. How do you think you're going to die? A question I'd never fully considered until today, and my first and only answer was a girl's ass. One day, I'm going to be riding my bike down Union and a fly girl is going to be walking down the street, and her ass is going to be doing that thing where it moves side to side and up and down, bouncing between heaven and hell. And it's going to have a soundtrack, "Planet Rock" by African Bambaata and the Soul Sonic Force. And then, it'll be over just like that, and I'll be dead, crushed by a car I never saw coming." I told you Marvel Comics wouldn't be publishing this. "When I finally arrived to the far side of Park Slope, my ex-girlfriend was happy and drunk. Her neighbors had safely quarantined their brownstone utopia with mini-campfire sites, and everyone had pulled out their secret stashes of hooch, like a speak-easy inspired block party. I was handed a glass of whiskey and encouraged to sing songs while people roasted marshmallows and shared their favorite New York stories. I thought about my personal history with the boroughs and pondered the perfect New York City day. There's the New York City that tourists visit, and then there's the New York City that natives partake in and keep on the down low. Like a Jackie Gleason "Honeymooners" rerun or an issue of the "Fantastic Four" that comes out every month since before you were born, there are places in the city you can always count on being there. Beef with tomato over white rice with hot and sour soup and steamed dumplings. I've been coming here since I was an embryo in my mother's womb eating the same dishes, comfort food at its most base. Wo Hop is open 24-hours a day. New York City, where cops and robbers can eat next to each other in a hassle free zone before breaking their embargo on the streets the subterranean haven. For dessert, there are classic video games to be conquered across the street at the Chinatown Fair Video Arcade with a photo booth to record the whole affair. And what kept the arcade archaic for so many years was live rooster that played tic-tac-toe via electric shock for 5o cents a game. However, eating in public wasn't always fun and games. When I was a teenage, Times Square presented a mortal challenge at a Chinese food buffet, where a drunken Greek mobster flew off the handle for no good reason. Bus your tray, gomoto [phonetic]. Die gomoto. Scared that he was reaching for a gun to shoot my family, I drove towards the crazed man and pressed hard against his chest. My family rallied and brought the pain with the pride and roar of 1,000 mad lions. And when the proprietress called the police, it was confirmed that the Greek mobster was holding a pistol with intent to kill. That was the day I earned my third eye and learned to expect the unexpected in the Big Apple. On my 16th birthday, my father gifted me a visit to the Russian Turkish bath house, where I learned to steep in hot steam and breath in the soothing oils of eucalyptus. I encountered my first full-body massage when a mute Polish woman scrubbed my very soul with Dead Sea salts, sending my mind to Venus and back. I've been broiling in the healing fires of that East Village inferno ever since. For 20th century nostalgia, there's no better place to visit than Coney Island. Home of the Wonder Wheel, Mermaid parade, freak show, Polar Bear Club, the recently demolished Astroland replaced by Luna Park, and many other attractions, including the Cyclone, which continues to stand the test of time and challenges ones capacity for fear, where, at 55 miles per hour, you can witness the screws unhinging as the rollercoaster rattles its wooden frame with every descending loop and turn, matched only by the devastating body slams of the bumper car ride, where wit and stealth is the key to avoiding whiplash. It was smarter to skip the rides where a man stood by with a bucket and mop for rider vomit, and instead, play skee-ball, where wining tickets scored you a carnival prize. When I was a kid, my father would visit the local steam rooms while the rest of my family sunbathed and swam in the Atlantic Ocean. My brother and I would play pinball on the boardwalk and eat ice cream and French fries for lunch. My family would rendezvous at Nathan's Hot Dog Stand at 5:00 on the dot, where they still served Chow Mien on a bun, and we'd drive to Wo Hop for dinner. Our family avoided death twice on Saturday when my father arrived five minutes late, missing a car that crashed into Nathan's and ripped a woman's leg clean off. Then we decided to leave Wo Hop when the line to get inside proved too long. That evening, a gang war erupted on the premises, and people were murdered. Rise and shine. Milk, no sugar. Just how you like it. Steam rooms, Cyclones, and beef with tomato, my love letter to New York City. Alas, things hadn't worked out for us. She still carried a torch for an old flame. Thanks for checking in on me. Be well. And even though the blackout was still in effect, I felt refreshed, renewed, ready." [ Laughter ] Thank you very much. [ Laughter and applause ] And then the next -- could you help me because it's missing -- So that's more the autobiographical stuff that I do on my own. That was for a series called "Street Code" that you can get online, and I'm hoping to get the rights to print it in print so I can give you all a copy. And now, this is a very different -- is it on -- >> Yeah, sorry. >> This is a very different thing that I do. How do I put this in a nutshell? I -- when I do autobiographical proper, I feel like that's reportage, okay? And you can only be a voyeur to my story, okay? So I created this avatar named Billy Dogma and his girlfriend Jane Legit, and I feel like, by creating an avatar, I can get more to the emotional truths of who I am. So even though this didn't happen to me exactly, as you'll see and read, I feel this represents me even more than my proper, autobiographical comics. So think about that a little bit. And I think this has sound effects as well, so please continue. Thank you. "The last romantic anti-hero. The sad part was that nobody saw it coming. Atoms did not split and incinerate us. Oceans did not rise and swallow our cities whole. The sky did not fall. When the apocalypse happened, we were already living it. It wormed its way into our daily routine and transitioned into an epidemic of global narcissism, where apathy and indifference held sway. What started as techno-social networking soon became a weaponized cyber disease that infected our culture, mass murdered our youth, and annihilated the promise of a better tomorrow. When we should have been back-to-back battling the threat tooth and nail, we wound up face-to-face, catatonic and handing over the keys. We no longer spoke with each other; we spoke at each other. We didn't know how to live together anymore, and we forgot how to care. It was up to those who knew life before we gave the matrix permission to splice us together and expose the anemia of our communal delinquency. But what about me? But what about me? It was up to the chosen few to rally the future of mankind, the pulse that kept us alive and interesting came from the farmers, the builders, and the creative class, and their nearly futile desire to evolve and express. Alas, Trip City was the only place left on this scorched Earth that brandished two titans, where one heart craved the other in order to exist. Their romance betrayed a spark of hope that love could save the world. Had we not been burned for saving Trip City's water tower from a wind-stoked wildfire, we wouldn't have to hunt and ration rare root relief in the blistering sun. The burdens we bear Baby Cakes. Ah, the cool ooze of cosmic aloe. There's only enough for you, Sugar Snap. If you don't take care of yourself, how are you going to take care of me? Oh, Jane. The first time I saw you, it was like a death defying car crash in my body, mind, and soul. Hi. I'd never known the debilitating power of pure, naked attraction." [ Audience sound effect ] That's good. "The blood that courses through our heart and veins makes us prickly with feelings, and I was resurrected. It was during my recovery from setting eyes on you that I figured out what happened. At first, I rejected you for fear of losing my independence. Catatonically smitten, I became obsessed with the idea of you, Jane Legit, but I hadn't let go of my last love." [ Audience sound effect ] "She was a girl with bee-sting lips, magnesium thighs, and a skeleton heart. I miss you. I'm mad at you. I can't believe you abandoned me. I wish we could have made it work. I never want to see you again. Our love was a five-alarm bonfire that exploded white and fizzled black when it needed to be a blue glow that could yield to each other's virtues. I know she loved me, and I loved her; we just couldn't love each other together. Hey, Jane, I busted the human bar code for price gauging trends again and pulled its plug. Now, you can snag that hip sundress at its current market value fair and square. Break a leg at the Lunar Eclipse Dance Hall contest tonight. Aw, gee. Hey, Jane, I'm going to have to take a rain check on that million-dollar meal and billion-dollar movie. Me and the under color cop will be at our Mexican standoff, agreeing to disagree. Aw, man. Hey, Jane, what say we knock sugar and give the loneliest photo booth in the world a reason to steal a kiss. Aw, shucks. And that's when I cleaned my slate to mate with fate and make Jane my dame. You're my blue glow, babe. You spark the napalm in my apocalypse. You know, the moon has a dark side, and we never get to see it because it's permanently turned away from earth. With the hassles I've been through, I'm afraid there might be a dark side to my heart. You think too much. Let me light up your heart and see what we find." [ Laughter ] It's like "Archie" comics, I know. "You send me, Jane. Hey, how did that get in there? I put it there. And until they learn how to make these things waterproof and stop sneaking them into our home and under our pillows, I'm going to continue destroying them one at a time. But what about me? But what about me? But what about me? But what about me? What about us? What in the world? Hell's half acre." [ Audience sound effect ] "A new storm is on the horizon. It's not enough just to make the love anymore. I can feel it in my gut. We have to make the new love, Jane? What's the new love? I'm not sure, but we have to find out, even if it means dying to make it." [ Silence ] "We did it. They're giving birth to a blueprint of a better tomorrow. Hell's half acre! You can't do this Billy and Jane. It's already begun, Mercenary. It's against Mom and God and law. Anyway, think about that, all right? Thank you. [ Applause ] And I guess I'd like to introduce SPX Executive Director Warren Barnard. >> All right, great. Well, with me, we discussed before, I started with comics. I had my tonsils out. The very first comic book I ever got was I was in the hospital. My parents brought me a Superman comic, and that was my first exposure. So where did you start, okay? >> I think I mentioned before, I decided at age 12 that I was going to, hopefully, one day draw the "Fantastic Four," so what it did is it made me unemployable, okay, otherwise, because I just knew. My eye was on the prize. I can't remember the first comic that was given to me, whether it was through an operation. I also, too, had tonsils out. I probably read comic books. I can't remember, like, that epiphany moment, but I do know that at age 12, I decided what I was going to do. So we'll just use that as a marker, you know? And then at that point -- listen, comics just got cool, all right, recently. I went to school when, you know, I had to defend comics, or, you know, girls would point fingers at you and laugh. And then you'd find another guy reading a comic. My best friend, Mike Houston, because it was Houston Haspiel, we got in line. They would kind of -- we would go register at school the same time, and I met him on his birthday. And his mother had bought him "Avengers Number Three," which is a Stanley-Jack Kirby comic, and I was big FF fan, so he standing in line. I see him reading a comic because he's kind of shy, and I guess it was a comfort thing. It's his birthday. His birthday would always land on the first day of school, which sucks, you know? You don't want that to be your birthday. So his mom hooked him up with a really cool, like, you know, thing. And then I'm standing behind him, and I kind of made some comment about how the Fantastic Four were better, you know? Then I discover it's his birthday, you know, all this stuff. And then we had this friendly rival, and he went on to become a criminal lawyer. But -- and I'm doing comics. Yay. Who was the smarter one? But that's the day -- I mean, I remember just feeling like comics kind of made you stronger, you know, because if you really love something -- you know, we were called nerds at times, and I feel like what a nerd really is is someone who really knows what they love very well, you know? It's a passionate kind of flag to wave is to be nerd. You know, meanwhile, nerds in the movies were, like, the geeks and the dorks, you know, with the tape on the glasses and stuff. And I wasn't that, but somehow I was still a nerd because I loved comic books and talked about them and read in public, you know? Now, we actually have day, read comics in public day, you know, kind of stuff. So it's been a very odd transition to see comics being hailed in the "New Yorker" and the "New York Times," you know, these grand institutions. To have my mini comic collection in this institution is surreal, you know? But like I said before with SPX, you know, I've always wanted to do mainstream comics, and some of that is in my work. I don't know if you can recognize that. Obviously, I love superheroes, and I still show that a little bit. But what SPX encouraged was the personal stories and to kind of self-produce these things because, if -- you know, you didn't need the nod of an editor or publisher to say oh, you're good. We'll let you draw and write comics. This was a self-motivated thing. You know, there are people tonight, Friday night -- the show is tomorrow and Sunday -- that are going to be folding and stapling their comics to sell tomorrow, you know, or to hand out and trade with their friends. You know, it's become tradition, in a way. Like, what about you? Like, when did you first discover SPX and -- >> Oh, my God, I -- it was I guess the mid-90s, I went to my first one. >> I think it started in -- I want to say '95. >> '95, yeah, but I was in the corporate world, so I wasn't around for a bunch of them. But starting in '99 or 2000, and then I started volunteering behind one of the registration booths and then I then did the press releases. And now, I'm -- well, I guess they kind of sucked me in like "Godfather III." >> Yeah, they won't let me out. >> Now -- and on your thing, now, we had talked a little bit about this, also. How do you see the mini-comix world having changed over, like, the last decade, or has it changed? >> It has changed a lot. I want to say -- oh, without being too critical at times. All right, so how do I put this? When I first -- the mini-comix of the mid-to-late '90s and early 2000s, I feel like it was more a case of taking an 8.5 by 11 piece of typewriter paper, Xeroxing, you know, whatever, and folding it in half and stapling it, and it was more story oriented. Now, we still have stories, obviously, because the form is a narrative form. But I feel like it's gotten way too sexy. And what I mean by that is we have cooler paper. We have silkscreen prints. I mean, it's really become an art boutique form kind of thing, you know, where I feel like, again, I come from the narrative. I like a story. And sometimes I'll buy something that's like, $10.00, and there's nary a story in it, but it's the most beautiful object I've ever held. So I feel like it's gotten prettier, you know, sometimes forfeiting story for a certain type of look. And I don't know what that's about, you know, but that's what I've confronted, you know, it seems. And I feel like a lot of the mini-comix I donated are more narrative based and a little more simplified in their construction, you know? >> Right, right, right. >> Oh, and then the other side of that is it's not that it's a poaching ground, but I feel like a lot of publishers will come to a small press expo and discover the next great, new talent. And a lot of the comics that I donated are now graphic novel form. Or that was the starting gate, you know, the beta version that then became kind of like this beautiful, award-winning story later on. >> It's almost like Triple-A baseball. >> Yeah, in a way, you know? Totally. >> So now, one of the questions that I've been wanting to ask you is we've seen a vast difference in printing technology. We've seen a vast difference in the ability of people to do layout and design on their own. You know, all of these things that at one time, either A, you had to hand do them and cut them out. >> I would cut out -- you know, I would Xerox, or the original art and then reduce it and cut it out and -- this was before Photoshop, or before I had Photoshop, okay. Now, you have what's in -- I mean, these are all -- you can be desktop publishers, now, you know? I still am confounded by the fact that there are people, like I said, will be stapling and folding. Like, they know when SPX is every year, and they still manage to be tearing their hair out, like, I got to do my -- I can't hang out tonight, guys. I'm like, you knew -- they'll tell you on Sunday when the next SPX is. You will know. You have a whole year to figure this out. But I think it's part of the tradition, you know? >> Yeah. Now, having been to your apartment -- I went to his apartment to pick up the mini-comix, okay, and it's a small, Brooklyn apartment, and most -- all the walls were filled with books with various kinds of comics in it. And then there were boxes, and then there were closets, and then there were, you know, all of these things. So how do you collect -- I mean, so do you have any domains or boundaries, or? >> I used to. >> Oh. >> You know, "Batman" you know, in order. You know, "Eight Ball" or "Eleven Rockets," whatever, in order. Then it got to the point where, like, I'd go to the comic shop, and there's so many cool things. I get my stack, and then they go on to the stack. And then the next week goes on top. And I might read this one one night, you know, and then that goes into another pile because I've lost wall space, and it's gotten insane. And I think that's part of the reason why, in talking to you, I was, like, all right, there's these awesome mini-comix. They can't become kindling. I refuse to burn these things or throw them in the garbage or whatever, you know? So that's when I talked to you about maybe donating, and I think it was your idea to bring it here, I believe. So how did that happen, actually, because this is the first official -- or no, you've been donating -- that's a different collection? >> Well, it started -- actually, the process started in 2010 when I talked with Sara from Princeton Photographs in Georgia from serials about, you know, we've got this supply of every year these people come and display all these things. The other side of that was is when they come, some of these things disappear, literally, at the show. So there was this true ephemeral quality to all of these. I've contacted a bunch of different cartoonists. Lilly Caray [assumed spelling] is coming, okay? And Lily Caray -- >> I was just at Yaddo with her, actually. >> Yeah, yeah, and so she, four or five years ago, I got her mini-comix, and love to get -- you know, I've got them, but I'd love to get them here, and they don't exist. Okay? Never to be reprinted. They're out. Okay. So there was this ephemeral thing going on, and there was a need here. And then I had a supply, all right? And the trick was is how to meld all of that together into an arrangement that one, an institution like the Library of Congress can go ahead and accommodate, and two, something that can be built on and will help all of the parties. Okay. So there's a certain amount of -- one of the things I pitch is that your -- if you donate, you know, if we want you to donate, your books will be immortal, or until the sun goes supernova, depending on which thing happens. So there was this -- and also, there was this lack of real institutional recognition of the indy comic field. Most of the institutions recognize some single-panel cartoons, political cartoons, comic books, and comic strips, okay? But the indy comix world is D, none of the above, all right? So there was this other thing that was screaming out in terms of recognition. And so I worked with Sara and I worked with Georgia, and we came up with a process that actually is unique in the Library in that normally, when the library collects, some collector has got something, and they come along and they go, I want to donate. Okay? But as opposed to being a passive collection, this is an active collection. Like, tomorrow, myself and Ron Plow [assumed spelling] from TCJ.com and Megan and Georgia from the Serials Division, and Sara and Martha from the Prints and Photographs division are going to descend upon the exhibitors at SPX and say, look, you know, we think this is significant and can you please go ahead and consider donating to us because we would like to be sure that this doesn't get lost to history. Another impetus behind this was I was talking to some political cartoonist friends from the independent world, so this is Jen Sorenson and Tom Tomorrow and some of these other people that get published in the alt weeklies, and that's a dying venue for a cartoonist. And I said to them -- and this started about three or four years go. Another impetus behind it was, you know, have you ever considered donating your stuff to the Library of Congress or anywhere, because when they come and do the history of the Bush Administration and the Iraq War, your voice will not be heard. And so there was this other thing that was going on from a different cartooning venue that there was a certain amount of perspective on history that was also being lost. So anyway, it all got worked out. It took, literally, about a year because it was difficult for all of us to kind of formulate exactly how we wanted this whole thing to work. And now we've got it that -- I don't know about you, but I think that we've got something pretty cool, and it is unique within the Library of Congress because, like I said, we're collecting as we go along, all right? Which is really different than after the fact going back, oh, you know what, we really need that. Now, there's one area in which we are doing that. One of the parts of the collection is all of the people who are nominated for Ignatz Awards, all of -- we're going to go back and get all of their material to the best of our ability. So that's the only that we're doing sort of in retrospect. And there's also two components to this. One of them is the mini-comix side. The other part is if the Prints and Photographs division posters and we are getting original art from people. Knowing the Prints and Photographs collection, a lot of that collection really stops in the 1990s, and so this was an opportunity to go ahead and get some of this newer material into the collections. So there were all of these different dynamics that were going on in that. There was the need of the institution to go ahead and be able to do these things. There was a need for recognition on the part of independent comics, and then there was the oh, my God, I can't believe you really want to put this in the Library of Congress aspect. I went up to this one guy last year -- he must been all of 25 -- and he creates these really cute little things about monsters. They're about this big, and he packages them up real nice. It's all hand done, like what Dean was saying, but it was -- >> You can see them over there. >> Oh, they're over they're. Okay. >> Oh, sweet. >> So that they're actually there. So I went over to his table. I go, look, you know, I've got some in my collection. This is great stuff. Can you please -- can I please get a copy of each one for the Library of Congress? And he damn near fell of his chair, okay? His head exploded. He was like really? Okay. >> Warren is a murderer. >> There was this genuine joy. So for all of us, I know that you guys have experienced that also, that you go to these people and say, look we really want this to be preserved for history. And these people just getting their heads wrapped around it is fun. >> Yeah. No, it's fantastic. And part of coming to SPX this year is not only to acknowledge what you started here, okay, or we have started by donating and being in the Library of Congress, but I've been -- luckily been working where I get an advance, and I can draw a comic and I've done a bunch of graphic novels, and I've worked for Marvel and DC actually since and I do a lot of indy stuff, but I haven't really, in years, self-published, which is what I think you're trying to recognize here is the independent scene is the DIY culture. >> Yes. >> Is the self-published person that doesn't necessarily have a publisher, and they're doing this because they have to. >> They are the publisher. >> They are the publisher. With that in mind, I'm going to be donating what I just read here to the Library of Congress, which is something I self-published, you know, putting my money where my mouth is to be able to try to sell this as a print edition. We know we're living in this digital world right now, folks, which is why it's also amazing that we have this institution because I don't know how you're going to navigate that at some point. Do you have a digital archive? I don't know. That's another conversation. >> Yeah, they do. They do, as a matter of fact. >> I'm sure. It's called the Internet. >> Well, no, actually, you raise a good point. One of the things I did forget is we, for the best web comic, for the Ignatz Awards, we go back, and we basically crawled the site and archived the site. >> Oh, interesting. >> And that's so that it doesn't get lost. >> Interesting. >> So yes, we do do that. >> So anyway, I want to donate that and then a copy of Trip City, which does have comics and prose in it as well to the Library along here. >> Oh, thank you very much on behalf of us. >> On behalf of -- exactly. >> Right. Great. >> And you know, I don't know. I feel like the Small Press Expo is a place to go check out what's not necessarily being hyped and sold to us. You really do have to go and look for the diamonds in the rough or meet and greet the artist. I love that aspect of the show, you know? >> Yeah, it's one of those places that -- and then you discover these people. Lily Caray is a great example. Well, I met her five or six years -- let me see, 2006. It was six years ago. And she had these little mini-comix, and they were great. Well, now she's doing work for the "New York Times," and she's got graphic novels coming out from Fantagraphics. Okay? >> And I believe that the -- I'm not 100 percent sure, but the book that's coming out this weekend from her from Fantagraphics might be a collection of those mini-comix that you couldn't find. >> Well, it is. Yeah, it is a collection of the mini-comix, but you lose -- >> Which you get to see the process happen. You know, from one year it turns to three years later is a beautiful bound book for the stuff. And in a way, I think these are limited editions, you know? >> And that's another thing about this. All of these editions of 20, 50, 100, 200. When we went through his collection, Jeff Smith, who does "Bone." You know, he's big. They're over there also. This is great. Well, we discovered -- and we didn't know this. None of the people with us knew this. He did two mini-comix during the Bush Administration in a limited edition of 200 that were his political cartoons about what was going on. Had no idea that he did any of that kind of work, all right? And this is the only institution that's got it. So there's stuff like that that we're looking to go ahead and preserve. So anybody who's out there, we'll take your mini-comix. >> Yeah. Anybody here have mini-comix or make mini-comix or going to Small Press Expo? Oh, yeah? >> Yeah, okay, great. >> All right, I expect to see them. >> How are we doing time-wise? I just want to -- >> Okay, so we're -- we should -- >> Does anybody have any questions? >> Yeah, that's right. >> Did we represent ourselves pretty well here? Okay, you understand everything? Okay, good. >> Or are you asleep? >> We have a question for Hannah. >> Yes. >> [Inaudible]. >> Well, because we now have this group, and I am going after other collections. Okay, so Dean, you know, he's basically the first one through. No, it is not our intention to go ahead and -- I don't want to put the word burden on it, but to go ahead and basically have them commit to such a thing, okay? >> I was encouraged to burn the new mini-comix I had for heat. >> Now, of course, you fast forward five or six years, and they may come back and go, look, Warren, you know, I've got another four boxes of this thing that I've gone ahead and -- I need to -- I don't have room in my apartment anymore. And we're not going to turn them down. But there's no explicit or implicit agreement that says that oh, we get this now, and therefore you're going to continue for us. That's not the way it works, okay? We get that collection. And if they want to give more later, all right. But that's it. The boxes is very well bound. In fact, it was eight boxes of stuff was his, okay? >> Yeah, yeah, that we pretty amazing. And that was -- also, what's really cool is Warren was driving and, I guess, coming to New York City, and he personally came to my house and we brought them downstairs so they could come here. >> And we went out for lunch, had a nice talk. >> Took me out to lunch. >> Yeah, so -- I have the SPX credit card now, so -- >> We talked about SPX so we could get the lunch, you know? >> Yeah, yeah -- well, no, no. You got to understand, You see, I'm at an advantage here being both the executive director and chairman of the board by the powers vested in me by me. >> That's pretty good. That's pretty all right. >> So any other questions? >> I have a question. >> Yes. >> Because you were, in a certain way, celebrating the everyday, how do you select what to celebrate because -- >> In terms of my work? >> Yeah, umm-hmm. >> You know -- when I create and draw you mean? Okay, that's a pretty good question because traditionally in autobiographical, or what I like to say is semi-autobiographical because the minute you include another human being, we both have two versions of the same story, you know? So I think I'm right, but I could be wrong. Anyway, I like to entertain. I think it's important to entertain, and I think it's been a tradition in autobio comix to do a lot of naval gazing and whining and why don't I have girlfriend and that kind of stuff, so I try to avoid that because that already exists. So luckily, being a New Yorker, and the minute I walk out the door, often something bizarre happens. I don't know why. I'm a magnet for it. I have a lot of stories, you know? So I -- my intent is to if I'm going to sit down and draw this and be lonely at my art table for many hours, you know, like a lot of cartoonists are, I at least want to be imparting some kind of fun or entertainment or something about life or something that means something. So I think about that stuff. I also -- I went to college for art, but I transitioned into film because it taught me more -- it gave me more narrative tools to think about how to show and tell a store. So that stuff is important to me. So maybe that's the commercial side or whatever, and I massage both the indy -- - you know, know my feet are in both ponds, you know, of being kind of artsy fartsy and indy, and then, like, please, can I get a blockbuster movie staring Tom Cruise? You know? So I don't know. That kind of is what I think about. >> Anybody else? No. Dean, thanks a lot. >> Thank you very much. Seriously. [ Applause ] >> This has been a presentation of the Library of Congress.