Harvey Pekar

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Harvey Lawrence Pekar

Born October 8, 1939 (1939-10-08) (age 68)
Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Occupation Comic book writer, filing clerk
Nationality United States
Genres Underground comics
Subjects Autobiography
Official website

Harvey Lawrence Pekar (born October 8, 1939 in Cleveland, Ohio; pronounced /ˈpiːkɑr/) is an American underground comic book writer best known for his autobiographical American Splendor series.

In 2003, the series inspired a critically acclaimed film adaptation of the same name.

Contents

[edit] American Splendor

Pekar's friendship with Robert Crumb led to the creation of the autobiographical comic book series American Splendor, later adapted as a movie. Crumb and Pekar became friends through their mutual love of jazz records, and Crumb became the first artist to illustrate American Splendor. The comic documents daily life in the aging neighborhoods of Pekar's native Cleveland, where Pekar worked throughout his life (even after gaining fame) as a file clerk in a large Veterans Administration hospital.

American Splendor has been illustrated over the years by some of comics' best talents. Pekar's most well-known and longest-running collaborators include Crumb, Gary Dumm, Greg Budgett, Spain Rodriguez, Joe Zabel, Gerry Shamray, Frank Stack, Mark Zingarelli, and Joe Sacco; while recent years have seen him repeatedly team up with artists like Dean Haspiel and Josh Neufeld. Other notable cartoonists who have worked with Pekar include Jim Woodring, Chester Brown, Alison Bechdel, Gilbert Hernandez, Eddie Campbell, David Collier, Drew Friedman, Ho Che Anderson, Rick Geary, Ed Piskor, Hunt Emerson, and Bob Fingerman; as well as such unexpected illustrators as Pekar's wife Joyce Brabner and legendary comics writer Alan Moore.

A critically acclaimed film adaptation of American Splendor was released in 2003. It featured Paul Giamatti as Pekar, as well as appearances by Pekar himself. Pekar wrote about the effects of the film in American Splendor: Our Movie Year. On October 5, 2005, the DC Comics imprint Vertigo released Pekar's autobiographical hardcover The Quitter, with artwork by Dean Haspiel. The book detailed Pekar's early years, and was created in part to reward Haspiel for his role in introducing Pekar to the producers who made the American Splendor movie.

In 2006, Pekar released a four-issue American Splendor miniseries through Vertigo. This was collected in the American Splendor: Another Day paperback. Vertigo is currently releasing a second "season" of American Splendor, the first issue came out in April 2008 [5].

[edit] Biographies

In addition to his autobiographical work on American Splendor, Pekar has done a number of biographies on other people's lives, the first of which, American Splendor: Unsung Hero was released in 2003. Unsung Hero documented the Vietnam War experience of Robert McNeill, one of Pekar's African American coworkers at Cleveland's VA hospital.

In 2006 Pekar released another biography for Ballantine/Random House, Ego & Hubris: The Michael Malice Story, about the life of Michael Malice, who was the founding editor of OverheardinNewYork.com[1]

In June 2007 Pekar collaborated with student Heather Roberson and artist Ed Piskor on the book Macedonia, which centers around Roberson's studies in the country.[2][3]

January 2008 saw another biographical work from Pekar, Students for a Democratic Society: A Graphic History released through Hill and Wang. Also due in 2008 is The Beats, a history of the Beats including Kerouac and Ginsberg, illustrated by Ed Piskor.[4]

[edit] Other Media

In the late 1980s, Pekar's comic book success led to eight guest appearances on Late Night with David Letterman. His confrontational style and overt on-air criticism of General Electric (which owned NBC) led to the show banning him as a guest until the early 1990s.

Pekar is a prolific freelance jazz and book critic. He has also won awards for his essays which were broadcast on public radio. In August 2007, Pekar was featured on the Cleveland episode of Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations with host Anthony Bourdain.

Pekar was also given the honor of being the first guest editor for the The Best American Comics 2006 collection published by Houghton Mifflin, the first comics publication in the "Best American series" series.

[edit] Personal Life

He was married from 1960 to 1972 to Karen Delaney (his first wife), a writer and educator, who currently lives in Chicago. She was the (uncredited) photographer who took many of the pictures of Pekar that appeared in "The Quitter."

Pekar's third wife is writer Joyce Brabner, with whom he collaborated on Our Cancer Year, a graphic novel autobiography of his struggle with lymphoma. He lives in Cleveland Heights, Ohio with Brabner and their foster daughter, Danielle.

[edit] Awards

  • 1987: American Book Award (for American Splendor series).
  • 1995: Harvey Award Best Graphic Album of Original Work (for Our Cancer Year) [6]
  • 2000: 1st Place in Public Radio News Director’s Incorporated "Commentary/Essay" section (for "What's In a Name").
  • 2001: Radio-Television News Director’s Association's 2001 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Writing (for "Father's Day") [7]

[edit] Books

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ [3]
  4. ^ [4]

[edit] External links