Real Life Comix: 51 true NYC stories from 66 cartoonists (and Moby)

Fifty-one true stories about New York, from 66 people who've survived it. Real Life Comix: Only in New York is a 216-page hardcover memoir anthology co-edited by Dean Haspiel and Doug Latino, now on Kickstarter from Cosmic Lion Productions.

The contributors span New Yorker cartoonists Roz Chast and Ben Katchor, MAD contributors, American Splendor veterans Gary Dumm and Bob Fingerman, Peter Kuper, R. Sikoryak, and Moby (yes, the musician). Drew Friedman, who has spent his career chronicling the grotesque particulars of American life, contributed the foreword and two illustrated stories. Keith Knight, Julia Wertz, Noah Van Sciver, Liana Finck, Carol Tyler, and roughly four dozen more round out the book. Siblings Maria and Peter Hoey did the cover; Columbia University librarian Karen Green wrote the preface.

The book is already finished; Haspiel and Latino are crowdfunding to pay contributors and cover printing costs, with delivery expected August 2026.

Sample pages in the Kickstarter previews show subway stories, lost pigeons, fancy haircuts, and missed meetings. The hardcover starts at $35. With $12,808 raised of a $20,000 goal and 15 days left, the campaign runs through May 8, 2026, according to the Kickstarter page.

Previously:

• Illustrator Dean Haspiel is Kickstarting a new dystopian sci-fi satire comic called COVID Cop
• The Golem of Venice Beach Vol. 2 boasts an all-star artist lineup
• Second Avenue Caper: When Goodfellas, Divas, and Dealers Plotted Against the Plague