Excerpts:
“Subtle nods to his muses sprawl naked across the page, like the exhibitionists from “Boy Loves Girl Hair.” The art has a familiar, old school feel to it, but not for the sake of noir. It is indicative of the stark shadows of Alex Toth, the manic lines of Will Eisner, and even the grand scenery of Jack Kirby. In fact, Haspiel injects some of Kirby’s famous “crackle” in the final panel of “Awful George.”

“BEEF WITH TOMATO starts out with a stolen bicycle and a move to Brooklyn, continues with tales of whiskey-fueled nights in a post-9/11 NYC landscape, and ends with an essay about feeling at home wherever you are — set against the backdrop of a bustling artist community in Upstate New York. Through it all, this strong semi-autobiographical work does what any book, regardless of premise or plot, should achieve: It asks the reader to identify. Haspiel expertly portrays a sense of self-inspection and a love for the world around us through his prose and his drawings, without ever losing a sense of wonder.”

Read the entire review here: http://www.graphicnovelreporter.com/reviews/beef-with-tomato