Keyhole | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Millennium Publications, Top Shelf Productions |
Schedule | irregular |
Format | Ongoing series |
Genre | Alternative comics |
Publication date | June 1996–December 1998 Fall 2021 |
No. of issues | 7 |
Main character(s) | Josh & Sari Billy Dogma Titans of Finance Lionel |
Creative team | |
Created by | Dean Haspiel and Josh Neufeld |
Keyhole is a black-and-white alternative comic book published from 1996 to 1998. A two-man anthology by cartoonists Dean Haspiel and Josh Neufeld, Keyhole was published by two different publishers, starting with Millennium Publications and ending up at Top Shelf Productions. In 2021, Haspiel and Neufeld released a 25th-anniversary issue of Keyhole, with new material from both creators.
Keyhole began as a self-published mini-comic by the long-time friends Haspiel and Neufeld. [1] Keyhole Mini-Comics ran for four issues in 1995. Reviewed in Factsheet Five , Comics Buyer's Guide , and elsewhere, it was then picked up by Millennium, [2] which published the first full-sized issue in June 1996. With its fourth issue, Keyhole was released under Millennium's new imprint, Modern Comics. Top Shelf picked up the comic for its fifth and sixth issues. [3]
In 2002, Haspiel, Neufeld, and Alternative Comics announced plans to publish Keyhole vol. II, [4] but the comic never appeared, and the two cartoonists moved on to other projects.
In the fall of 2021, Haspiel and Neufeld self-published a seventh issue of Keyhole ("Keyhole 25"), a 36-page full-color flip comic with new material from both creators, as well as a center-spread article about the history of the comic, written by Whitney Matheson. [3]
Equally inspired by Harvey Pekar's American Splendor [5] and Los Bros Hernandez' Love and Rockets , a typical issue of Keyhole featured an autobiographical travel story by Neufeld, a Billy Dogma story by Haspiel, and short recurring features such as R. Walker and Neufeld's "Titans of Finance", Neufeld's one-page "Travel Tips" and the Haspiel/Neufeld collaborative feature "Lionel's Lament". Other stories appearing in Keyhole included short autobiographical pieces by Haspiel, and assorted collaborations with other writers (including one memorable piece with The Duplex Planet's David Greenberger).
Although Keyhole originally only ran six issues, it was a critically acclaimed project which proved to be a launching pad for both Haspiel and Neufeld's careers. [6] The Comics Journal characterized Keyhole this way: "Brought together in a single, independent magazine, these artists' strong, disparate talents create a broad reading experience, and a blending of artistic intentions and personal expression like very few others available today in American comix". [1]
Haspiel debuted his existential antihero, [7] Billy Dogma, in Keyhole, a character whose adventures have since been published by Modern Comics, Top Shelf, [8] Alternative Comics, [9] Z2 Comics, [10] and Image Comics. In addition, Haspiel collected many of the autobiographical stories from Keyhole in Opposable Thumbs (2001), published by Alternative Comics, and used those stories as a jumping-off point for the Street Code stories he later told on DC Comics' webcomics imprint Zuda Comics. [6]
Neufeld, in turn, collected the "Titans of Finance" stories in a self-titled comic published by Alternative in 2001. In 2004, he collected his Keyhole travel stories (as well as subsequent ones) in the Xeric Award-winning graphic novel A Few Perfect Hours.
In addition, both cartoonists became regular illustrators for Harvey Pekar and his American Splendor projects.
Robert Dennis Crumb is an American cartoonist who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American culture.
American Splendor is a series of autobiographical comic books written by Harvey Pekar and drawn by a variety of artists. The first issue was published in 1976 and the last one in September 2008, with publication occurring at irregular intervals. Publishers were, at various times, Harvey Pekar himself, Dark Horse Comics, and DC Comics.
Harvey Lawrence Pekar was an American underground comic book writer, music critic, and media personality, best known for his autobiographical American Splendor comic series. In 2003, the series inspired a well-received film adaptation of the same name.
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Weirdo was a magazine-sized comics anthology created by Robert Crumb and published by Last Gasp from 1981 to 1993. Featuring cartoonists both new and old, Weirdo served as a "low art" counterpoint to its contemporary highbrow Raw, co-edited by Art Spiegelman.
Top Shelf Productions is an American publishing company founded in 1997, originally owned and operated by Chris Staros and Brett Warnock and a small staff. Now an imprint of IDW Publishing, Top Shelf is based in Marietta, Georgia.
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Dean Edmund Haspiel is an American comic book artist, writer, and playwright. He is known for creating Billy Dogma, The Red Hook, and for his collaborations with writer Harvey Pekar on his American Splendor series as well as the graphic novel The Quitter, and for his collaborations with Jonathan Ames on The Alcoholic and HBO's Bored to Death. He has been nominated for numerous Eisner Awards, and won a 2010 Emmy Award for TV design work.
Josh Neufeld is an alternative cartoonist known for his comics journalism work on subjects like graphic medicine, equity, and technology; as well as his collaborations with writers like Harvey Pekar and Brooke Gladstone. He is the writer/artist of A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, and the illustrator of The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media.
Joyce Brabner is an American writer of political comics and the widow of Harvey Pekar.
Brian Bram, raised in Deerfield, Illinois, played a minor role in the underground comix movement with his contributions to American Splendor, the comic book series written and published by Harvey Pekar.
ACT-I-VATE was an American webcomics collective based on an original idea by Dean Haspiel and founded by Haspiel and seven other cartoonists. It started out on the blogging platform Livejournal, and then moved to its own dedicated website.
Millennium Publications was an American independent comic book publishing company active in the 1990s.
Dennis P. Eichhorn was an American writer, best known for his adult-oriented autobiographical comic book series Real Stuff. His stories, often involving, sex, drugs, and alcohol, have been compared to those of Jack Kerouac, Ken Kesey, and Charles Bukowski.
Alias the Cat is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Kim Deitch, published by Pantheon Books in 2007. It originally appeared as a three-issue comic book in 2002 as The Stuff of Dreams from Fantagraphics Books.
Greg Budgett is a Cleveland, Ohio-based comic book artist known particularly for his work illustrating the comics of Harvey Pekar. Most of Budgett's work on Pekar's American Splendor and other comics has been in partnership with Gary Dumm, who has inked most of Budgett's stories.
Z2 Comics is an American publisher of graphic novels, comic books, and popular culture merchandise. Known for its music-related projects and partnership with musical acts, the company uses "a data-driven approach to identify acts with strong followings across all musical genres, then recruits ... comics creators to produce the works."