Ordinary Life is Pretty Complex Stuff

By Randy Gentile

Harvey Pekar's work hit me like a bolt of lightening and I've never looked at comics the same way since. How did a file clerk from Cleveland change the landscape of the comics medium?

When you think of comic giants, names like Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Will Eisner, and Frank Miller come to mind... if you're thinking about underground comix you're talking R. Crumb, the Hernandez Brothers maybe Dave Sim... but Pekar is on a level all his own.

Growing up in a small town doesn't really expose you to a wide variety of comics. My LCS was a Shop Rite that had a spinner rack full of the usual Marvel and DC suspects. The notion that there were these black and white underground comix was completely foreign to me.

It wasn't until I moved to New York and checked out all the amazing shops here like Jim Hanley's Universe, Midtown Comics and Forbidden Planet that I became exposed to the underground comix scene. The big turning point for me was Volume 12 of The Complete Crumb Comics, which focused on Crumb and Pekar's legendary American Splendor team-ups.

Pekar's work was and still is so unlike anything being done today that it opened me up not only as a reader but as a creator as well.

"Comix are words and pictures... you can do anything with words and pictures..."
--Harvey Pekar

And that's exactly what Pekar has done with his work. From peeling and eating an orange at work to the personal triumph of successfully unclogging his toilet, a Pekar story makes the mundane engaging.

Autobiographical comics are a very difficult genre to work in. In my experience, the more honest the work is, the more successful it will be. How much do you hold back? How much do you put "out there"? Will putting this down on paper for the world to see harm you or, even worse, a loved one? Looking at the unbridled honesty that he's put into his work for almost 40 years makes you wonder what, if anything, he has held back.

Pekar has also chosen some of the most diverse and talented artists to draw his comics that you'll find anywhere. From the obvious guys like Crumb and Dean Haspiel to Joe Sacco and Frank Stack. Haspiel recently illustrated Pekar's first Graphic Novel: The Quitter, a story of his youth that adds a whole new layer to the Pekar Mystique. American Splendor has also hit the big time last year after it was published by DC's Vertigo Comics. Headlined by Haspiel along with other indy stalwarts like Richard Corben and Gilbert Hernandez

I can't recommend these books strongly enough as well as the myriad of American Splendor collections that should be on the shelves of any good comic shops.

The American Splendor movie (2003) starring the amazing Paul Giamatti is also a nice way to dip your toes into the life of Cleveland's resident hero. The film, directed by
Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini took first prize at the Sundance Film Festival and it was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2003 Oscars. The film mixes traditional film, animation and documentary seamlessly and really captures the feel of the comics. It's certainly worth a rental and I'm willing to bet it'll make you check out a few American Splendor comix.