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A Few Perfect Hours

…and Other Stories From Southeast Asia & Central Europe

Autobiographical cartoonist Josh Neufeld takes us on a dramatic tour of places as exotic and different as Thailand, the former Yugoslavia, and New York City. Highlights include Neufeld and traveling companion Sari Wilson on a volunteer expedition to an organic farm in Malaysia, their stint as extras in a Chinese-language Singaporean soap opera, a train trip through war-torn Serbia, and a near-disastrous cave adventure in Thailand.

A Few Perfect Hours explores religion and spirituality, politics and personalities, and the mysteries of everyday life. The stories reflect the backpacker’s conflicted feelings: a yearning for adventure mixed with homesickness and a sense of disconnection, trapped in a reality constantly in flux.

This Xeric Award-winning collection of travel stories is compiled from the pages of Keyhole and The Vagabonds, with an in-depth brand-new story capping off the book.

Praise for A Few Perfect Hours:

“[Provides] a street-level view of other cultures, with nothing whitewashed. . . . The stories often remind us of the point of traveling — to experience and come to terms with the unknown.”
— Comics Worth Reading

Because of YOU

An Exquisite Corpse

In the tradition of Zap Comix and The Narrative Corpse, long-time friends and collaborators Dean Haspiel and Josh Neufeld present Because of You, a unique two-man exquisite corpse consisting of an unscripted, impromptu, dynamic dialogue between the two cartoonists.

The story plumbs unparalleled depths of agony and personal humiliation. The protagonist, “Lionel,” wakes up one morning to an unpleasant surprise. From that point on he faces domestic crises, public transportation, the New York City streets, and his own hyperactive imagination — all in the course of one infamous ill-fated day (And we didn’t even mention the maggots.)

Behind the Scenes

Before Dean won an Emmy Award, before Josh was a Knight-Wallace Fellow in Journalism, there was… “Lionel’s Lament” — a collaborative strip that ran in the 1990s in the pages of Dean & Josh’s two-man anthology Keyhole. And then, at the dawn of the 21st century, Dean & Josh revived Lionel for this unique comics jam, now repackaged as Because of You!

The goal of the project was to create a completely improvisational two-man comic, working with two separate storylines about the same character. And the structure went like this: Each week, Dean and Josh drew two panels in the life of Lionel, one taking place in the morning, one taking place in the afternoon/evening of the same day. The two simultaneous storylines were then exchanged back and forth, from Dean to Josh and from Josh to Dean, from a.m. to p.m. and from p.m. to a.m., building both storylines two panels at a time. The ground rules were simple but strict: no discussion or hints of what each creator was planning as each tried to one-up the other! Eventually the two storylines meet (when morning turns into afternoon) to form one continuous narrative. The result is a comics jam that actually has a coherent (if slightly nauseating) narrative!

A bizarre change of pace from Dean & Josh’s usual stories and themes, Because of You is an exercise in anarchic tastelessness. It features impure thoughts, overflowing bedpans, a superhero and his arch-nemesis, exploding acne, maggot infestations, inner-city drama, and the ultimate taboo, 9/11. On the flip side, there are Ding Dongs. And a tender (but ill-fated) love story. To top it off, the story references everything from Star Trek to James Bond to Matt Madden’s Exercises in Style. (Should this be called “Exercises in Bile”?)

Sure, Lionel goes through the wringer, but his unique character is the cement that holds the whole story together. All due respect to a poor schlub just trying to get through a particularly stressful day.

Praise for Because of You:

It’s … a testament to … Neufeld and Haspiel’s strength in writing and cartooning — or the fact that they know each other well — that they were able to pull off such a coherently surreal story over the span of three years, two panels at a time. I don’t know of any other writer/artists in the field who would be able to do such a collaboration.
— Sequential Tart

Katrina Came Calling

Katrina Came Calling is not a comic book; it is a limited-edition, black-and-white, digest-sized, saddle-stitched, 102 pp. booklet.

In October 2005, shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, Brooklyn-based Josh Neufeld served a three-week stint as a Red Cross volunteer in Biloxi/Gulfport, Mississippi. Taken from his online journal and illustrated with photographs, Katrina Came Calling is an intimate account of Neufeld’s experiences; the conditions in the Gulf; the survivors and his co-workers; a New Orleans visit; issues of race, religion, and regional background; returning home; and much more.

Being a public forum, Neufeld’s blog was read and commented on by people from all over the spectrum: not only by his friends, associates, and regular readers, but by other Red Crossers, and by Biloxi-area survivors and evacuees. Many of those comments (and Neufeld’s responses to them) are included in Katrina Came Calling —a unique marriage of print and the ongoing conversation of the Internet.

Praise for Katrina Came Calling:

“A great little book. Most of us watched hours of news footage after Katrina, but I can’t say I read or saw anything as personal as this—through Josh’s eyes, we really get to know the people, places, and destruction that surrounded him.”
— Whitney Matheson, USA Today’s “Pop Candy”

[Katrina Came Calling] is … a very interesting perspective on a national disaster, most unlike many that you’d read…. [I]t’s a fascinating read all round, with Neufeld being a very sympathetic and astute writer.
— Indy Comics & Books

Keyhole covers

Keyhole

An eclectic two-man anthology by Josh Neufeld and Dean Haspiel, Keyhole mixed autobiographical stories of international travel with stark tales of introspection and social commentary. 

In Keyhole, Neufeld began telling stories from the around-the-world backpacking adventures of Josh and Sari (later collected in A Few Perfect Hours). His other regular contributions included humorous one-page “travel tips,” “Lionel’s Lament,” and “Titans of Finance.”

In 2021, Josh & Dean released an all-new 25th-anniversary issue of Keyhole in a unique flip-book format.

Keyhole #1–4 (Millennium Publications, 1996–1997)  | Keyhole #5–6 (Top Shelf Productions, 1998) | Keyhole 25 (#7) (Hang Dai Editions, 2021)
Praise for Keyhole
“Ah the 90s, … a fertile time for indie comics, as cartoonists found more outlets for personal expression, and showcases like the Small Press Expo gave rise to a new generation of stars. Among the books that made a splash: Keyhole Comics, a collaboration between longtime friends Dean Haspiel and Josh Neufeld that featured quotidian slice of life comics, travel tales and the unforgettable character Billy Dogma.”
— The Beat
 

“The stories of Josh and . . . Sari traveling through Thailand provide a street-level view of other cultures, with nothing whitewashed. . . . The lessons learned are basic but universal, made more relevant through seeing exactly how the travelers came to them. . . . The stories often remind us of the point of traveling — to experience and come to terms with the unknown, and ultimately to address your own spirituality and reason for being.”
— Comics Worth Reading

“(Two) talented young cartoonists who are aggressively exploring the comics medium.”
— Subliminal Tattoos

“Pushing the creative envelope to the limit.”
— World of Fandom

“One of the most thought-provoking, interesting, entertaining and all-out cool comics.”
— Poopsheet

“A head-on collision between American Splendor and Hate, but rest assured that its eccentric appeal is no accident.”
— Comic Shop News

“(Fans of) Acme Novelty Library or Zero Zero should check out this very mixed but highly entertaining bag.”
— Comics Buyer’s Guide

“A good mix of insightfulness and off-the-wall humor, with solid artwork throughout.”
— Bart Beaty

Keyhole 25

Longtime friends and cartoonists Dean Haspiel and Josh Neufeld celebrate a quarter-century of collaborations with a new issue of the comic that started it all: KEYHOLE COMICS!

Keyhole was an acclaimed two-man indie anthology that ran for six issues in the 1990s. Since then, Josh & Dino have achieved quite a lot in their individual careers. But in the spirit of collaboration and competition that has always fueled their friendship, the two men have reunited for a 25th-anniversary seventh issue of Keyhole.

This issue is chock-full of Josh & Dino’s signature stories: in Josh’s case true-life tales of the pandemic, food riots, and the story of his own name; while Dino regales us with stories of the Red Hook, Frankenstein, and Molotov Marshmallows. Confused? You’ll have to buy KEYHOLE 25 to figure it out!

KEYHOLE 25 is presented in a unique “flip-book” fashion with two front covers, one by each man. Also included is a special center-spread history of Keyhole, written by pop culture guru Whitney Matheson.

Stowaway

Stowaway

Originally published on The Atavist as an “enhanced e-comic” via the platform’s immersive storytelling technology, including sound, music, video, and interactive graphics.

A collaboration between journalist Tori Marlan and Josh Neufeld, Stowaway traces the 12,000-mile journey of Fanuel, an orphan from the streets of Addis Ababa, across the world to the Americas. Along the way to the U.S., he encounters child traffickers, dangerous strangers, and border coyotes, searching for the only friend he has left.

Praise for Stowaway:

“The images, by artist Josh Neufeld, along with the additional layers of sound, animation, dynamic paging, and interactive web-based content, transform Fanuel’s tale from a passive script to the portrait of a real person in a real place. Furthermore, the use of interactive content incorporates the reader’s presence into the story.”
— The Rumpus

“… [a] harrowing tale . . . in an awesome, immersive, wonderfully illustrated format.”
— Gizmodo

… an engaging meld of investigative journalism and graphic illustration with just enough New Journalism panache to keep a reader interested. . . . [S]hould be a must-read for politicians of every stripe.”
— Brooklyn Rail

Terms of Service

Understanding Our Role in the World of Big Data

Co-produced by Josh Neufeld and Al Jazeera America reporter Michael Keller, this comic examines the role of technology and the implications of sharing personal information. Follows Josh and Michael’s avatars as they learn about such topics as the “Unravelling Theory” and the so-called “Internet of Everything.”

Terms of Service examines the role of technology and the implications of sharing personal information. Terms of Service follows Keller and Neufeld’s comics avatars as they learn about such topics as the “Unravelling Theory” and the so-called “Internet of Everything.”

Terms of Service debuted online on Al Jazeera America’s website in late October 2014. It was the 2015 EPPY Award winner for Best Innovation Project on a Website.

Terms of Service (and its companion piece “Fare Game“) has been translated into French and German.

Praise for Terms of Service:

“Cartoon versions of Keller and Neufeld [are] smart, likable guides . . . explain[ing] the pitfalls of living in the age of Big Data. Terms is funny, informative, and ridiculously readable (and re-readable). And you’ll probably come away from it knowing more than you would from an 8,000-word explanatory piece on the same topic.”
— Editor & Publisher

“Perfectly explains big data and the threat it poses to our privacy rights . . . in a format that’s smart, breezy, and beautiful. . . . A rigorously reported piece of journalism . . . It doesn’t simplify the issue of big data and user privacy so much as it captures its complexity, through a combination of storytelling, reporting, and visual abstraction. And most importantly, the story isn’t closely pegged to the latest big data developments or breaking news. Instead, it’s told in a way that allows for sustained relevance — the mark of a truly great explainer.”
— Pando Daily

“An innovative online graphic novella . . . [that] uses comics to create a detailed but accessible narrative about the rise of electronic surveillance in a number of forms.”
— Publishers Weekly

“Terms of Service is a timely look at big data and digital privacy . . . and big discrimination, and it uses the storytelling tools of the graphic novel well. . . . And instead of telling you what you should think about online privacy, big data, and the implications for our future, it encourages you to ask those questions yourself.”
— ZDNet

“A less-than-rosy look at how big data is letting companies monetize your life — and come up with their own stories about you that you can’t control.”
— Poynter

The Vagabonds

The Vagabonds

Josh Neufeld‘s solo comics title, originally published by Alternative Comics, and now self-published under the Hang Dai Editions label. 
 
Praise for The Vagabonds:
“Neufeld draws clearly, utilizing a sturdy, straightforward style with the range to document anything from abstract principles to specific details observed abroad. His writing voice is smart and unobtrusive, drawing from an acute political awareness tempered by an appealingly skeptical view of his own ability to process information. Best of all, he can move between humorous and serious story segments with seamless aplomb.”
— The Comics Journal
 
“[R]iveting, handsomely illustrated, and experientially fascinating… It is artists in the cultural margins like Neufeld who will be remembered for their contributions and tenacity, when the long climb into the light of recognition concludes.”
— SF Site
 
“Neufeld’s instincts are always to push the reader just a little bit so as to get across information in a way that will make them remember it.”
— High-Low
 
“Neufeld’s … trademark humor and questioning attitude. How can essentially ‘serious’ comics be so entertaining? It’s all in the tone, and Neufeld’s is very inviting.”
— Bleeding Cool
 
“As soon as Neufeld wants to take us on another journey, I’ll be reserving my seat.”
— Greg McElhatton
Titans of Finance: True Tales of Money and Business

Titans of Finance

True Tales of Money & Business

With stories by R. Walker and art by Josh Neufeld, Titans of Finance is a nonfiction comic book about money and business. The stories collected in its pages — stories of outsized egos, astonishing hubris, shameless greed — are not only true, they’re too good to be made up. It’s a new and groundbreaking merger of reality — straight from the business pages — and comix: True tales from the world of big money, filtered through America’s most populist medium.

Titans of Finance is also available, in full color, as an iPad app.

Praise for Titans of Finance:
A brilliant use of the medium.
— James J. Cramer

 

These accounts of the lives of the sometimes rich and frequently unscrupulous hit the mark with their irony and sharp observation.
— Harvey Pekar

Dissections of executive arrogance and mismanagement. … Superman never pounded businessmen-gone-bad the way Titans of Finance does.
— James M. Pethokoukis, U.S. News & World Report

Sharp and fearless. The comic book is hilarious — or it would be if it weren’t all true. Recommended reading.
— Nell Minow, The Corporate Library

 

I have always been fascinated by the men behind the curtain, the actual faces that make up faceless corporations. Titans of Finance is an amazing and much needed work that shows that the machine is made not only made of real people, but made of really odd people. My only complaint is that I didn’t think of it first.
— Rich Mackin, author of Dear Mr. Mackin

Junk finance, with pictures.
— The New York Times

A delightful book, fascinating reading, and an amazing accomplishment. A+.
— Cliff Biggers, Comics Buyers Guide

Strange.
— The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune

A tad preachy at times.
— Ken Kurson

A fine antidote to the free-enterprise hype ladled out by ‘capitalist tool’ media outlets like Forbes and Money.… Hilarious.
— The Comics Journal