I've been a fan of Dean Haspiel's illustrations since he worked on The Alcoholic with Jonathan Ames, though he's probably better known for his work on Billy Dogma and The Red Hook, or his collaborations with Harvey Pekar in American Splendor.
Haspiel is currently kickstarting his next project — a romance horror comic called COVID COP. Yes really. Here's the setup:
A cross between Judge Dredd, Toxic Avenger, Mad Max, and Sin City, COVID COP is my response to a pandemic that never found its cure and has wiped out 98% of mankind. By steeping in the fumes and waters of Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal, can Covid Cop become the antidote that might save what's left of humanity and rekindle romance with his ex-wife, Fate Majeure?
I'm inviting you to hop on board the ground floor of my grassroots effort and help me print an outlier sensation that will be mailed directly to your doorstep. If this introductory one-shot does well, I have more Covid Cop stories to chronicle.
I can understood (however reluctantly) why some publishers may have been hesitant to touch a manuscript titled "COVID Cop." But with comparisons like that, and artwork like this, I'm intrigued:
Digital copies of the comic start at a $10 Kickstarter pledge; for five bucks more, you can get the book in print, signed by Haspiel himself. The campaign runs through the end of March.
COVID Cop [Dean Haspiel / Kickstarter]
