American Splendor is a series of
autobiographicalAutobiographical comics are autobiography in the form of comic books or comic strips. The form first became popular in the underground comics movement and has since become more widespread...
comic bookA comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s written by the late
Harvey PekarHarvey Lawrence Pekar was an American underground comic book writer, music critic and media personality, best known for his autobiographical American Splendor comic series. In 2003, the series inspired a critically acclaimed film adaptation of the same name.Pekar described American Splendor as "an...
and drawn by a variety of artists. The first issue was published in 1976 and the most recent in September 2008, with publication occurring at irregular intervals. Publishers have been, at various times, Harvey Pekar himself,
Dark Horse ComicsDark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
, and
DC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
.
The comics have been adapted into a film
of the same nameAmerican Splendor is a 2003 American biographical comedy-drama film about Harvey Pekar, the author of the American Splendor comic book series. The film is also in part an adaptation of the comics, which dramatize Pekar's life...
and a number of theatrical productions.
Origins
Despite comic books in the United States being traditionally the province of fantasy-adventure and other genre stories, Pekar felt that the medium could be put to wider use:
When I was a little kid, and I was reading these comics in the '40s, I kind of got sick of them because after a while, they were just formulaic. I figured there was some kind of a flaw that keeps them from getting better than they are, and then when I saw Robert Crumb's work in the early '60s, when he moved from Philadelphia to Cleveland, and he moved around the corner from me, I thought 'Man, comics are where it's at'.
Pekar's philosophy of the potential of comics is also expressed in his often repeated statement that 'comics are words and pictures. You can do anything with words and pictures'. In an interview with Walrus Comix, Pekar described how the idea of producing his own comic book developed. In 1972 when Crumb was visiting him in Cleveland, Pekar showed him his story ideas. Not only did Crumb agree to draw some of them but also offered to show them to other artists to draw. By 1975, Pekar decided to produce and publish his own comic book.
Themes
The stories in
American Splendor concern the everyday life of Pekar in Cleveland,
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. Situations covered include Pekar's job as a file clerk at a Veteran's Administration hospital and his relations with work colleagues and patients there. There are also stories about Pekar and his relations with friends and family, including his third wife
Joyce BrabnerJoyce Brabner is a writer of political comics and a sometime collaborator with her late husband Harvey Pekar. Brabner is also a liberal social activist, most recently championing Coventry Village in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, the neighborhood in which she resides, with a series of imaginative...
and their adopted daughter Danielle. Other stories concern everyday situations such as Pekar's troubles with his car, money, his health, and his concerns and anxieties in general. Several issues (#14, #13, #[18]) give accounts of Pekar's becoming a recurring guest on the
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television show
Late Night with David LettermanLate Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
, including a 1987 interview segment in which Pekar criticized Letterman for ducking criticism of
General ElectricGeneral Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
, the parent company of NBC.
American Splendor sometimes departs from Pekar's own life, with stories about jazz musicians ([#23]), the artists for his comics (#[25]), and a three-issue miniseries
American Splendor: Unsung Hero (#[29]-[31]), which chronicles the Vietnam experience of Pekar's African-American co-worker Robert McNeill.
Artists
As Pekar was not an artist himself, and was incapable of "drawing a straight line", according to a line in the film version of his story, he recruited his friend, underground comics artist
Robert CrumbRobert Dennis Crumb —known as Robert Crumb and R. Crumb—is an American artist, illustrator, and musician recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream.Crumb was a founder of the underground comix movement and is regarded...
, to help create a comics series. Besides Crumb, other notable
American Splendor illustrators include
Alison BechdelAlison Bechdel is an American cartoonist. Originally best known for the long-running comic strip Dykes To Watch Out For, in 2006 she became a best-selling and critically acclaimed author with her graphic memoir Fun Home.-Early life:...
,
Brian BramBrian Bram, born May 9, 1955 in Chicago and raised in Deerfield, Illinois, played a minor role in the underground comix movement with his contributions to American Splendor, the comic book series written and published by Harvey Pekar and, in 2003, made into an award-winning motion picture starring...
,
Chester BrownChester William David Brown , is an award-winning, best-selling Canadian alternative cartoonist and, since 2008, the Libertarian Party of Canada's candidate for the riding of Trinity-Spadina in Toronto, Canada....
,
Alan MooreAlan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
,
David CollierDavid Collier is a Canadian alternative cartoonist best known for his fact-based "comic strip essays."- Biography :As a child, Collier was introduced to the work of Robert Crumb, whose work has been a significant influence...
,
Gary DummGary Dumm is an Ohio-based comic book artist known particularly for his work illustrating the comics of Harvey Pekar. From 1977 until Pekar's 2010 death, he worked on Pekar's autobiographical comic series, American Splendor, where he appeared alongside such notable comics artists as Robert Crumb,...
,
Frank StackFrank Huntington Stack is an American underground cartoonist. Working under the name Foolbert Sturgeon to avoid persecution for his work while living in the bible belt, Stack published what is considered by many to be the first underground comic book, The Adventures of Jesus, in 1962.He graduated...
,
Drew Friedman,
Dean HaspielDean Edmund Haspiel is an American comic book artist. He is known for his collaborations with writer Harvey Pekar on his American Splendor series as well as the graphic novel The Quitter. He has been nominated for numerous Eisner Awards, and won a 2010 Emmy Award for TV design work.-Early...
,
Val MayerikVal Mayerik is an American comic-book and commercial artist, best known as co-creator of Marvel Comics' satiric character Howard the Duck.-Early life and career:...
,
Josh NeufeldJosh Neufeld is an alternative cartoonist known for his nonfiction comics on subjects like Hurricane Katrina, international travel, and finance, as well as his collaborations with writers like Harvey Pekar and Brooke Gladstone...
,
Spain RodriguezManuel Rodriguez , better known as Spain or Spain Rodriguez, is an American underground cartoonist who created the character Trashman. His experiences on the road with the biker gang, the Road Vultures, provided inspiration for his work, as did his left-wing politics.-Biography:Born in Buffalo, New...
,
Joe SaccoJoe Sacco is a Maltese-American comics artist and journalist. He achieved international fame through the 1996 American Book Award-winning Palestine, and his graphic novel on the Bosnian War, Safe Area Goražde.- Biography :...
,
Gerry ShamrayGerry Shamray has illustrated many issues of American Splendor, Harvey Pekar's autobiographical comics. In an introduction to a compilation of Pekar's work, R. Crumb stated that Shamray "went all the way, taking hundreds of photos of Pekar, his wife, his apartment, the streets of his neighborhood,...
,
Jim WoodringJim Woodring is a Seattle-based cartoonist, comic book author, artist and toy designer. He also produces fine art works in a variety of other media, including painting and charcoal....
,
Joe ZabelJoe Zabel is a comic book artist living in Cleveland Heights. He is best known for his work illustrating American Splendor, by fellow Clevelander Harvey Pekar...
,
Ed PiskorEd Piskor is an alternative comics artist operating out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a former student of The Kubert School and is best known for his artistic collaborations with underground comics pioneers Harvey Pekar of American Splendor fame, and Jay Lynch who illustrates Garbage Pail Kids...
, and Greg Budgett. Later issues employed a new crop of artists, including
Ty TempletonTy Templeton is a popular Canadian comic book artist and writer who has drawn a number of popular mainstream titles, TV-associated titles and his own series.-Biography:Templeton was born on May 9, 1962...
,
Richard CorbenRichard Corben is an American illustrator and comic book artist best known for his comics featured in Heavy Metal magazine...
,
Hunt EmersonHunt Emerson is a cartoonist living and working in Birmingham, England. He was closely involved with the Birmingham Arts Lab of the mid-to-late 1970s, and with the British underground comics scene of the 1970s and 1980s...
,
Eddie CampbellEddie Campbell is a Scottish comics artist and cartoonist who now lives in Australia. Probably best known as the illustrator and publisher of From Hell , Campbell is also the creator of the semi-autobiographical Alec stories collected in Alec: The Years Have Pants, and Bacchus , a wry adventure...
,
Gilbert HernandezGilberto Hernández, born February 1, 1957, in Oxnard, California, usually credited as Gilbert Hernandez and also known by the nickname Beto , is an American comics writer/artist...
,
Ho Che AndersonHo Che Anderson, born 1969 in London, is a cartoonist and comics artist primarily affiliated with Fantagraphics publishers.-Biography:Anderson was one of the creators to submit ideas when Fantagraphics put out a call for adult comics and the submission became I Want to Be Your Dog.He wrote,...
, and
Rick GearyRick Geary is an American cartoonist and illustrator.-Biography:Rick Geary was born on February 25, 1946 in Kansas City, Missouri. Geary was initially introduced to comics readers with his contributions to the Heavy Metal and National Lampoon magazines...
.
Publication history
Pekar produced seventeen issues of
American Splendor from 1976 to 1993, which, except for the last few issues, he also self-published and self-distributed. By keeping back issues in print and available (contrary to the industry practice of the time), Pekar continued to receive income on previously-completed work, although at the time some of them were published, according to his
Comics Journal interview, he was losing thousands of dollars per year on the books. Starting in 1994, additional
American Splendor were published by
Dark Horse ComicsDark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
, although these issues are not numbered. They include the two-issue
American Splendor: Windfall and several themed issues such as
American Splendor: Transatlantic Comics and
American Splendor: On the Job. In September 2006, a four-issue
American Splendor mini-series was published by the
DC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
imprint Vertigo. A second four-issue miniseries was published by DC in 2008.
List of American Splendor issues
| Number |
Date of Publication |
Pages (including cover) |
Publisher |
| 1 |
1976 |
52 |
Harvey Pekar |
| 2 |
1977 |
60 |
Harvey Pekar |
| 3 |
1978 |
56 |
Harvey Pekar |
| 4 |
1979 |
60 |
Harvey Pekar |
| 5 |
1980 |
60 |
Harvey Pekar |
| 6 |
1981 |
60 |
Harvey Pekar |
| 7 |
1982 |
60 |
Harvey Pekar |
| 8 |
1983 |
60 |
Harvey Pekar |
| 9 |
1984 |
60 |
Harvey Pekar |
| 10 |
1985 |
60 |
Harvey Pekar |
| 11 |
1986 |
60 |
Harvey Pekar |
| 12 |
1987 |
60 |
Harvey Pekar |
| 13 |
1988 |
60 |
Harvey Pekar |
| 14 |
1989 |
60 |
Harvey Pekar |
| 15 |
1990 |
60 |
Harvey Pekar |
| 16 |
Nov 1991 |
60 |
Harvey Pekar in association with Tundra PublishingTundra Publishing was a Northampton, Massachusetts-based comic book publisher founded by Kevin Eastman in 1990.-Overview:Tundra was meant to provide a venue for high-quality work by talented cartoonists and illustrators. Its publications were noted in the trade for their high production values,...
|
| 17 |
1993 |
60 |
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
|
| (18) A Step Out of the Nest |
Aug 1994 |
36 |
Dark Horse |
| (19) Windfall 1 |
Sep 1995 |
44 |
Dark Horse |
| (20) Windfall 2 |
Oct 1995 |
44 |
Dark Horse |
| (21) Comic-Con Comics |
Aug 1996 |
|
Dark Horse |
| (22) On the Job |
May 1997 |
28 |
Dark Horse |
| (23) Music Comics |
Nov 1997 |
28 |
Dark Horse |
| (24) Odds and Ends |
Dec 1997 |
28 |
Dark Horse |
| (25) Transatlantic Comics |
Jul 1998 |
28 |
Dark Horse |
| (26) Terminal |
Sep 1999 |
28 |
Dark Horse |
| (27) Bedtime Stories |
June 2000 |
28 |
Dark Horse |
| (28) Portrait of the Author in his Declining Years |
Apr 2001 |
28 |
Dark Horse |
| (29) Unsung Hero 1 |
Aug 2002 |
28 |
Dark Horse |
| (30) Unsung Hero 2 |
Sep 2002 |
28 |
Dark Horse |
| (31) Unsung Hero 3 |
Oct 2002 |
28 |
Dark Horse |
| (32) 1 |
Nov 2006 |
36 |
Vertigo (DC Comics) |
| (33) 2 |
Dec 2006 |
36 |
Vertigo |
| (34) 3 |
Jan 2007 |
36 |
Vertigo |
| (35) 4 |
Feb 2007 |
36 |
Vertigo |
| (36) Vol 2 1 |
June 2008 |
36 |
Vertigo |
| (37) Vol 2 2 |
July 2008 |
36 |
Vertigo |
| (38) Vol 2 3 |
Aug 2008 |
36 |
Vertigo |
| (39) Vol 2 4 |
Sep 2008 |
36 |
Vertigo |
Collected editions
Many stories from
American Splendor have been collected into
trade paperbacksIn comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...
from various publishers, their material not (for the most part) overlapping.
- American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar (Doubleday, 1986) ISBN 0-345-46830-9
- More American Splendor (Doubleday, 1987) ISBN 0-385-24073-2
- The New American Splendor Anthology (Four Walls Eight Windows
Four Walls Eight Windows was an independent book publisher in New York City. Its debut occurred in the fall of 1987, under the direction of two young editors, John G. H. Oakes and Daniel Simon. In 1995, Oakes and Simon parted ways...
, 1991) ISBN 0-941423-64-6
- American Splendor Presents: Bob & Harv's Comics, with R. Crumb (Four Walls Eight Windows
Four Walls Eight Windows was an independent book publisher in New York City. Its debut occurred in the fall of 1987, under the direction of two young editors, John G. H. Oakes and Daniel Simon. In 1995, Oakes and Simon parted ways...
, 1996) ISBN 1-56858-101-7
- American Splendor: Unsung Hero, with David Collier (Dark Horse, 2003) ISBN 1-59307-040-3
- Best of American Splendor (Ballantine Books, 2005) ISBN 0-345-47938-6
- American Splendor: Another Day (DC/Vertigo, 2007) ISBN 978-1-4012-1235-3
- American Splendor: Another Dollar (2009)
Graphic novels
Pekar wrote two larger works which carry the
American Splendor label,
Our Movie Year (
Ballantine BooksBallantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann AG in 1998 and remains part of that company today. Ballantine's logo is a...
, 2004), a collection of comics written about or at the time of the
American Splendor film, and
Ego & Hubris: The Michael Malice Story (Ballantine, 2006).
Pekar also wrote two graphic novels which are not officially labeled
American Splendor but which should arguably be considered part of it:
Our Cancer Year (
Four Walls Eight WindowsFour Walls Eight Windows was an independent book publisher in New York City. Its debut occurred in the fall of 1987, under the direction of two young editors, John G. H. Oakes and Daniel Simon. In 1995, Oakes and Simon parted ways...
, 1994), co-written with Pekar's wife
Joyce BrabnerJoyce Brabner is a writer of political comics and a sometime collaborator with her late husband Harvey Pekar. Brabner is also a liberal social activist, most recently championing Coventry Village in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, the neighborhood in which she resides, with a series of imaginative...
and illustrated by
Frank StackFrank Huntington Stack is an American underground cartoonist. Working under the name Foolbert Sturgeon to avoid persecution for his work while living in the bible belt, Stack published what is considered by many to be the first underground comic book, The Adventures of Jesus, in 1962.He graduated...
, covering the year when Pekar was diagnosed with cancer; and
The Quitter (
DC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
, 2005), illustrated by
Dean HaspielDean Edmund Haspiel is an American comic book artist. He is known for his collaborations with writer Harvey Pekar on his American Splendor series as well as the graphic novel The Quitter. He has been nominated for numerous Eisner Awards, and won a 2010 Emmy Award for TV design work.-Early...
, which deals with Pekar's youth.
- Our Cancer Year
Our Cancer Year is a graphic novel written by Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner and illustrated by Frank Stack.-Overview:Published in 1994 by the New York Press publisher Four Walls Eight Windows, Our Cancer Year relates the story of Harvey's struggle to overcome cancer, as well as serving as a social...
, with Joyce Brabner and Frank Stack (Four Walls Eight WindowsFour Walls Eight Windows was an independent book publisher in New York City. Its debut occurred in the fall of 1987, under the direction of two young editors, John G. H. Oakes and Daniel Simon. In 1995, Oakes and Simon parted ways...
, 1994) ISBN 1-56858-011-8
- American Splendor: Our Movie Year (Ballantine Books, 2004) ISBN 0-345-47937-8
- The Quitter, with Dean Haspiel (DC/Vertigo, 2005) ISBN 1-4012-0399-X
- Ego & Hubris: The Michael Malice Story, with Gary Dumm (Ballantine Books, 2006) ISBN 0-345-47939-4
Film
In 2003 a
movie adaptationAmerican Splendor is a 2003 American biographical comedy-drama film about Harvey Pekar, the author of the American Splendor comic book series. The film is also in part an adaptation of the comics, which dramatize Pekar's life...
featuring
Paul GiamattiPaul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. Giamatti began his career as a supporting actor in several films produced during the 1990s including Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, and Man on the Moon, before earning lead roles in several projects in the...
playing Pekar (as well as appearances by Pekar himself) and
Hope DavisHope Davis is an American actress. She has starred in more than 20 feature films, including About Schmidt, Arlington Road, Flatliners, Mumford, American Splendor, The Lodger and Next Stop Wonderland....
as his wife was released to critical acclaim and first honors at the
Sundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
in addition to the
Writers Guild of America AwardThe Writers Guild of America Award for outstanding achievements in film, television, and radio has been presented annually by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America, West since 1949...
for best adapted screenplay. It was written and directed by documentarists Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. It was filmed entirely on location in Cleveland and
LakewoodLakewood is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. It is part of the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area, and borders the city of Cleveland. The population was 52,131 at the 2010 making it the third largest city in Cuyahoga County, behind Cleveland and Parma .Lakewood, one of Cleveland's...
in
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. It was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 2003
Academy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
(it lost to
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
).
Theatrical productions
Theatrical productions based on
American Splendor have been mounted over the years. The first of these was produced by
The Independent EyeThe Independent Eye is an American theatre company currently based in Sebastopol, California.The group was founded in 1974 by Conrad Bishop and Elizabeth Fuller, who were then performing with Theatre X in Milwaukee and had helped to found that group...
in
Lancaster, PennsylvaniaLancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
in 1985, adapted and directed by Conrad Bishop. The second, produced in 1987 at Washington, DC's
Arena StageArena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest Washington, D.C. Its declared mission"is to produce huge plays of all that is passionate, exuberant, profound, deep and dangerous in the American spirit. Arena has broad shoulders and a capacity to produce anything from vast epics...
, was adapted by
Lloyd RoseLloyd Rose is an American writer most associated with her work on various Doctor Who spin-offs. She has also written for the American television series Homicide: Life on the Street and Kingpin...
and directed by James C. Nicola. The third, which is represented in fictionalized form in the
American Splendor movie, ran from September 1990 through September 1991 at Hollywood's Theater in
Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
; it was adapted and directed by Vince Waldron, and starred
Dan CastellanetaDaniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,...
as Harvey.
External links