Emmy Award-winning cartoonist Dean Haspiel has reached an agreement to donate his collection of mini-comics to the Small Press Expo Collection at the Library of Congress. Haspiel’s collection includes more than 600 mini-comics acquired over 15 years and features works by such artists as Kevin Huizenga, Raina Telgemeier, Charles Burns, Sara Nick Abadzis and many others.
The Small Press Expo Collection is a partnership between SPX, a highly regarded annual festival of indie and self-published comics, and the Library of Congress to collect and preserve comics, mini comics and other publications published by SPX exhibitors. The partnership was announced at last year’s SPX, held annually in Bethesda, Md.
In a release Haspiel, who has worked for such publishers as Marvel and DC in addition to cofounding such acclaimed web comics and online multimedia salons as ACT-I-VATE and Trip City, said, “I can't think of a more honorable home for my massive mini-comics collection than the Library of Congress.”
Georgia Higley, head curator of the serial and government publications division of the Library of Congress, said, “A wealth of creativity was donated to the Library in this first year of the SPX-LC agreement. I was impressed with the diversity of subject matter, formats, and artistic styles represented by this year’s comic book donations.” Higley continued, “From the tiny two-inch square mini-comic to the oversize hardback and from the promising newcomer to the long-established publisher, it’s obvious that the independent comic book is alive and well and now is represented at the Library of Congress. “
