Nine Square Inches

A new 3"×3" illustration for ninesquareinches.com of Harvey Pekar by Dean Haspiel!

Dean Haspiel is an American cartoonist, writer, and playwright. Known for Billy Dogma, The Red Hook, and Keyhole (with Josh Neufeld), he collaborated with Harvey Pekar on American Splendor and The Quitter and with Jonathan Ames on The Alcoholic. He designed for HBO’s Bored to Death (Emmy, 2010) and won a Ringo Award. A LaGuardia High graduate, he assisted Sienkiewicz, Chaykin, and Simonson before a long career in alternative and mainstream comics.

Harvey Pekar (Oct. 8, 1939–July 12, 2010) was a Cleveland comic writer and jazz critic known for autobiographical series, American Splendor, drawn by Robert Crumb and others. A VA clerk for decades, he wrote of ordinary life; a 2003 film adapted it.

Guys! A new piece for the ninesquareinches.com collection, from one of my favorite artists: Kagan McLeod (check out www.kaganmcleod.com)!

Kagan McLeod is an acclaimed Canadian commercial illustrator, designer, and graphic novelist based in Toronto. Since graduating from Sheridan College in 1999, his distinct style—defined by loose, highly expressive ink brushwork paired with vivid watercolor and acrylic gouache—has made him a prominent figure in editorial art, comic books, and mainstream entertainment.

He began his career as a staff artist for Canada’s National Post, which honed his exceptional knack for caricature and fast-paced visual storytelling. As a freelancer, his illustrations have graced major global publications like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, GQ, and Time.

In the comic industry, McLeod is celebrated as the sole creator of the martial-arts epic graphic novel Infinite Kung Fu. He also frequently collaborates with writer Chip Zdarsky, co-creating the sci-fi comedy series Kaptara for Image Comics. His talent caught the attention of Marvel Studios, leading him to draw the custom illustrated courtroom art featured throughout the end-credits sequences of the Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

Deeply invested in mentorship, McLeod now teaches drawing at his alma mater, Sheridan College. In 2019, he authored Draw People Every Day, a practical instructional book advocating for daily figure drawing and the confidence of sketching directly in ink without using a pencil layout first.

New to the ninesquareinches.com collection is this awesome 3"x3" Tracy Lawless piece by the amazing Sean Phillips!

Sean is an acclaimed British comic book artist renowned for his moody, atmospheric realism and masterful use of shadows. While his career spans decades of exceptional work for major publishers, he is best known for his historic, multi-Eisner Award-winning partnership with writer Ed Brubaker. Together, they are widely considered one of the most iconic and prolific creative teams in modern comics history. Their landmark collaboration began in earnest with Sleeper and quickly evolved into a series of celebrated, creator-owned noir masterworks including The Fade Out, Kill or be Killed, Fatale, Pulp, and the Reckless graphic novel series.

At the center of their collaborative empire is Criminal, a critically acclaimed, interlocking universe of gritty noir stories that deconstructs classic crime tropes. One of the most famous arcs within this universe focuses on Tracy Lawless, a hard-edged military veteran who goes AWOL to investigate the murder of his brother.

The beloved comic is currently being adapted into a major live-action TV series for Amazon Prime Video. Ed Brubaker is steering the project as the co-showrunner and writer, while Sean Phillips serves as an executive producer. The highly anticipated series features an all-star cast—including Charlie Hunnam, Emilia Clarke, and Richard Jenkins—and will prominently integrate Phillips' signature artwork into the show's visual identity and title sequences.

Thank you, Sean!

To paraphrase Chunk: "Hey guys, I just made the best...you're not gonna believe it. Hey you guys, you gotta check this out!"

I just made ninesquareinches.com easier to navigate! If you go to the CONTRIBUTORS page, each artist's name is now a hyperlink that will brings up a small, separate window showcasing their contribution(s)!

I also added a shop with a couple items, if you are so inclined. Check it out! It's more amazing than that time I ate my weight in Godfather's pizza! :)

ninesquareinches.com A gallery of giant talents in tiny spaces!

Chuffed to have a Vince Locke 3"×3" BAKER STREET piece in the ninesquareinches.com collection!

Vince Locke is a comic-book artist and illustrator born in 1966 in Michigan. He began his professional career as the illustrator of the independent zombie-horror series Deadworld for Arrow Comics, a title that developed a dedicated cult following and later continued at Caliber Comics.

During his years at Caliber, Locke contributed to Baker Street (which is where I was first introduced to his work), the ten-issue alternate-history series created by Gary Reed and Guy Davis. Set in a late-twentieth-century world that retained Victorian social structures and never experienced the Second World War, the story follows a group of punks (with a Sherlock Holmes vibe) investigating Ripper-style murders. Locke served as an inker, a letterer, and the painter of several of the series’ distinctive covers.

Locke’s subsequent credits include Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, the graphic novel A History of Violence (adapted into the 2005 David Cronenberg film), American Freak, The Unwritten, and stories for 2000 AD. He is equally recognized for his album covers by the death-metal band Cannibal Co**se, as well as illustrations for role-playing games (White Wolf, TSR, Wizards of the Coast) and horror-themed fine art. In 2005 he received the Haxtur Award for Best Long Comic Strip for A History of Violence.

Recently, Vince contributed to DC’s Swamp Thing 1989, inking Michael Zulli’s original pencils on Rick Veitch’s long-unpublished 1989 story, now released as a Black Label miniseries.

This is horrible news.

Happy 250th Birthday, America! ^_^

Sneak peek of a new 3"×3" commission for ninesquareinches.com! Thanks to Emily for the assist! ^_^

Sneak peek of a new 3"×3" commission for ninesquareinches.com! Thanks to Tori and Dustin for the assist! ^_^

A new 3"×3" illustration for the ninesquareinches.com collection: "Spear and Fang" from Genndy Tartokovsky's PRIMAL by the wonderful STEPHEN DeSTEFANO!

Stephen DeStefano is a veteran cartoonist, animator, and two-time Emmy Award-winning character designer whose career bridges independent comics and acclaimed animated series.

In the 1990s, he co-created and contributed to Instant Piano, the sharp-witted, cynical Dark Horse Comics anthology featuring quick, irreverent strips alongside talents like Evan Dorkin, Kyle Baker, and Robbie Busch. The series captured a raw, comedic edge in alternative comics.

He later became a key collaborator with Genndy Tartakovsky, providing character designs and inking for projects including Samurai Jack, Primal (earning Emmys for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation), and related works.

DeStefano’s versatile style blends old-school cartooning with dynamic animation design, leaving a distinctive mark across comics and television.