FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 12, 2012

CONTACT: Gary Livingston NerdyShirts gary@nerdyshirts.com

DEAN HASPIEL & NERDYSHIRTS TEAM UP TO SLAM JUVENILE DIABETES

SANTA MONICA, CA NerdyShirts is thrilled to announce the brand new Limited Edition T-shirt designed by American comic book artist Dean Haspiel. The Emmy Award-winning artist (Bored To Death), who is also known for collaborations with writer Harvey Pekar on his American Splendor series as well as the graphic novel The Quitter, has joined forces with NerdyShirts to create the very first certified t-shirt from his Eisner Award nominated comic Billy Dogma.

The collaboration is one of two debuts for NerdyShirts The Rule of Thirds philanthropic partnerships, which divides profits evenly between the company, the artist, and a charity of the artists choicein this case the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. In a recent interview, Haspiel explained his close connection with the disease and his motivation to help fight it: At the age of nine my brother, Michael, discovered he had Juvenile Diabetes, which greatly altered the quality of his life and our family. He had a tough time with it and died from complications of the disease in his late 30s. While he was alive, I dedicated The Quitter to Mike and he was overjoyed. Now, with his passing and my first sanctioned Billy Dogma t-shirt, I want some of the proceeds to help find a cure for Diabetes and continue to honor my brother. While the energetic t-shirt design seems inspired by the Golden Age artists, Haspiel clarified, Golden Age artists who were defining the Silver Age of comicsthe likes of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Romita, and C.C Beck . . . and my favorite era of comic art and story. He added, I hope everyone will feel good about supporting a worthy cause that helps educate people and saves lives while wearing a cool looking shirt that aims to SLAM Diabetes! The Limited Edition T-shirt is now available at NerdyShirts.com To read about the other exciting The Rule of Thirds debut, which was designed by Oliver Barrett, click HERE. To read the full interview with Dean Haspiel, head to NerdyShirts.com About the Artist: Dean has drawn many great superhero and semi-autobiographical comic books published by Marvel, DC/Vertigo, Dark Horse, IDW, Image, Scholastic Graphix, Toon Books, Top Shelf, Playboy, The New York Times, and Tor.comincluding critically acclaimed collaborations with Harvey Pekar (American Splendor, The Quitter), Jonathan Ames (The Alcoholic), Jonathan Lethem (Cousin Corinnes Reminder), Tim Hall (The Last Mortician), and Inverna Lockpez on the Harvey Award winning, CUBA: My Revolution. Dean illustrates the Super Ray art for HBOs Bored To Death, for which he also won an Emmy award for his work on the opening title sequence. For more info about Dean visit: deanhaspiel.com We are a group of nerdy friends dedicated to making clothing for nerds like us. Follow us on Twitter for ongoing updates, coupons, and links to many more great artists and causes: @NerdyShirts