Writer: Harvey Pekar
Artists: Dean Haspiel, Ty Templeton, Hilary Barta, Greg Budgett, and Gary Dumm
Publisher: DC Comics/Vertigo
Hey, not everything is wrong or nerve-wracking in the world of Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor! Just check out the last page of "The Day’s Highlights," which features the splendid artwork of Dean Haspiel. After dealing with a rebellious foster daughter, a runaway cat, and a certain newspaper company that hasn’t paid him yet, everything comes together for Harvey at the end of the day. What this reveals is an image we rarely see of Harvey: the triumphant man with hands on his hips and a satisfied expression. It’s good to see that. Though “ordinary life is pretty complex stuff,” there is a relative balance to things in life. Some days you win, and some days you lose. But, like everyone from curmudgeons to golden-boys, you’ve gotta keep chugging, no matter what you do. Okay, enough with the motivation! What I really want to say about American Splendor #1 is that nothing has changed from the ground-breaking work Pekar is famous for. This is the same American Splendor underground fans have loved for decades, though it is kind of an odd fit in Vertigo’s "normal" scheme of things. Still, it’s nice to see that the decision makers at Vertigo respect their fans enough to bring them the very best comics has to offer, and you have to put Harvey Pekar’s autobiographical work among this elite.
There are four stories in this first issue of American Splendor, but the one that stands out is the first: "What Happened to Your Parents” features great realistic art by Ty Templeton, but what really grabs you is the subject matter, like any affecting Pekar story does. The story concerns his parents and their final years battling Alzheimer’s Disease, a horrible ailment that I am familiar with because of my wife, who works with Alzheimer’s patients each and every day at a retirement community. To hear her tragic stories of lost memories and family heartbreak always moves me, and I wonder how she has the strength to go in and introduce herself to the same group of people every day. Well, Pekar has found a way to deal with this heartache through the art-form he adores. Obviously, the fact that both of his parents died from Alzheimer’s has affected his life in ways that cannot be easily explained, but Pekar looks at the consequences of the disease with nearly the objectivity of a journalist, enhanced only by admiration for the devotion of his mother and brother. In the final page of the story, we receive Pekar’s final analysis, one which colors everything he has produced before and everything that is to come: “I dunno, maybe it’s just not in the cards for some people to have happy lives. Although we’re here for such a short time, maybe it doesn’t even matter that much.” As you see Harvey walk off the last panel, you know his words are filled as much with pain of loss and the cruelty of the world as with his own unique world-view. "What Happened to Your Parents" is a moving continuation from The Quitter, but more importantly it gives us an idea of why Pekar writes the autobiographical works he does. Maybe, in some ways, it is so he can document his life in case the same fate that took his parents one day takes him. In a comic book filled with dry humor, it was an emotionally moving start that effectively brings new and old readers into his world.
All of the artists who contributed to Pekar’s stories in this issue have done an excellent job in rendering realistic complexity to Harvey and all of the characters throughout. Dean Haspiel continues his outstanding over-the-top emotional work from The Quitter, the aforementioned Ty Templeton astonishes with his realism, Hilary Barta does a Mad Magazine-clone for “Delicacy,” and longtime Pekar collaborators Greg Budgett and Gary Dumm bring back the classic American Splendor in “Northwest Airlines Goes Socialist.” Both “Delicacy” and “Northwest Airlines” are great social commentaries about airlines, Americans, and the state of the world today. Basically, they’re the same stories that Pekar has always told, and comic fans should be grateful that he’s still around to tell it like it is. Yeah, American Splendor doesn’t have fairy tale characters, a futuristic war-zone, or feuding gods, but it does have real-life sensibility you don’t see from the Big Two anymore. Check out Vertigo’s fine presentation of Pekar’s work for a slice-of-life comic done right.
What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!