Harvey Lawrence Pekar (born October 8, 1939 in
Cleveland, OhioCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border...
; ) is an American underground comic book writer best known for his autobiographical
American SplendorAmerican Splendor is a series of autobiographical comic books written by Harvey Pekar 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...
series. In 2003, the series inspired a critically acclaimed film adaptation of the
same nameAmerican Splendor is a 2003 biopic 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. The film was written and directed by documentarians Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, who share...
.
American Splendor
Pekar's friendship with
Robert CrumbRobert Dennis Crumb , often credited simply as R. Crumb, is an American artist and illustrator recognized for the distinctive style of his drawings and his critical, satirical, subversive view of the American mainstream...
led to the creation of the autobiographical
comic bookA comic book is a magazine made up of narrative artwork, often accompanied by dialog and often including brief descriptive prose...
series
American SplendorAmerican Splendor is a series of autobiographical comic books written by Harvey Pekar 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...
, later
adapted as a movieAmerican Splendor is a 2003 biopic 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. The film was written and directed by documentarians Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, who share...
. Crumb and Pekar became friends through their mutual love of
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
records; as a result of his friend's work in underground comics, Pekar says, he started to see the form's possibilities. "Comics could do anything that film could do," he offers. "And I wanted in on it." But it took Pekar some time to decide just what he wanted to do. "I theorized for maybe ten years about doing comics," he says. Pekar laid out some stories with crude stick figures and showed them to Crumb and another artist, Robert Armstrong. Impressed, they both offered to illustrate, and soon Pekar's story "Crazy Ed" appeared in Crumb's
The People's Comics, 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 DummGary Dumm is an Ohio-based comic artist known particularly for his work illustrating the comics of Harvey Pekar. Since the late 1970s, he has worked on Pekar's autobiographical comic series, American Splendor, where he has appeared alongside such notable comic artists as Robert Crumb, Joe Zabel,...
, Greg Budgett,
Spain RodriguezManuel "Spain" Rodriguez is an American underground cartoonist best known for his 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.Rodriguez studied at the Silvermine Guild Art School...
,
Joe ZabelJoe Zabel is a comic book artist living in Cleveland Heights. He is best known for his work on American Splendor by fellow Clevelander Harvey Pekar, much of which was done in collaboration with artist Gary Dumm. Zabel has also published his own series of mystery comics. More recently, he has turned...
,
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,...
,
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...
, Mark Zingarelli, and
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 :...
; while recent years have seen him repeatedly team up with artists like
Dean HaspielDean Edmund Haspiel is a comic book artist living in Brooklyn, New York. He is most recognized for his collaborations with writer Harvey Pekar on his American Splendor series as well as the graphic novel The Quitter.-Biography:...
and
Josh NeufeldJosh Neufeld is an alternative cartoonist known for his fact-based comics on subjects like Hurricane Katrina, international travel and finance, as well as his collaborations with writers like Harvey Pekar and David Greenberger.-Biography and Career Highlights:Neufeld graduated from the High School...
. Other notable cartoonists who have worked with Pekar include
Jim WoodringJim Woodring is a Seattle-based comic book author and artist. He also produces fine art works in a variety of other media, including painting and charcoal, and designs toys.-Biography and Works:...
,
Chester BrownChester Brown is a Canadian alternative cartoonist. His underground work was initially self-published, then released by the independent publishing company Vortex Comics...
,
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 autobiographical graphic memoir Fun Home.-Biography:Alison Bechdel was born in Lock Haven,...
,
Gilbert HernandezGilberto Hernandez, 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...
,
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, and Bacchus , a wry adventure series about the few Greek gods who have...
,
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...
,
Drew FriedmanDrew Friedman is an American cartoonist and illustrator who first gained renown for his humorous artwork and "stippling"-like style of caricature, employing thousands of pen-marks to simulate the look of a photograph. In the mid-1990s he switched to painting...
,
Ho Che AndersonHo Che Anderson, born 1969 in London, is a cartoonist and comics artist primarily affiliated with Fantagraphics publishers. He wrote, designed, and illustrated a series of graphic novels on Martin Luther King, Jr., and wrote the Wise Son: The White Wolf miniseries for Milestone Comics...
,
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...
,
Ed PiskorEd Piskor is an alternative comics artist operating out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a former student of the Joe 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...
,
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...
,
Bob FingermanBob Fingerman is an American comic book writer/artist born in Queens, New York.Best known for his comic series Minimum Wage , Fingerman’s contributions to the world of comic books have been many and varied....
, and Alex Wald; as well as such unexpected illustrators as Pekar's wife
Joyce BrabnerJoyce Brabner is a writer of political comics and sometimes collaborator with her husband Harvey Pekar.-Biography:Brabner recalls "read[ing] comics when I was five or six years old - including Mad Magazine," her first exposure to political satire...
and legendary comics writer
Alan MooreAlan Oswald Moore is an English writer known for work in comics, including the acclaimed comic book series Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell...
. Still, Harvey loved collecting, and his interests turned to jazz. Through that obsession, he began writing as a critic in 1959, and among his fellow fans was a young Robert Crumb.
The critically acclaimed film adaptation of
American Splendor was released in 2003, directed by Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman. It featured
Paul GiamattiPaul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor and comedian. 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...
as Pekar, as well as appearances by Pekar himself. Columnist Jaime Wolf wrote a laudatory review of the film in
Slate, also drawing attention to formal parallels with
Woody AllenWoody Allen is an American screenwriter, film director, actor, comedian, writer, musician, and playwright....
's
Annie HallAnnie Hall is a 1977 American romantic comedy film directed by Woody Allen from a script co-written with Marshall Brickman. One of Allen's most popular films, it won numerous awards at the time of its release, including four Academy Awards, and in 2002 Roger Ebert referred to it as "just about...
and other Allen films. Pekar wrote about the effects of the film in
American Splendor: Our Movie Year.
On October 5, 2005, the
DC ComicsDC Comics is one of the largest and most popular American comic book and related media companies, along with Marvel Comics. It is the publishing division of DC Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary company of Warner Bros. Entertainment...
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. In 2008 Vertigo released a second "season" of
American Splendor that was collected in the
American Splendor: Another Dollar paperback.
Biographies
In addition to his autobiographical work on
American Splendor, Pekar has done a number of
biographiesA biography is a description or account of someone's life and the times, which is usually published in the form of a book or essay, or in some other form, such as a film. An autobiography is a biography of a person's life written or told by that same person...
on other people's lives, the first of which,
American Splendor: Unsung Hero was released in 2003.
Unsung Hero documented the
Vietnam WarThe Vietnam War or the Second Indochina War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1959 to 30 April 1975...
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
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
countryMacedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country in the central Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
.
January 2008 saw another biographical work from Pekar,
Students for a Democratic Society: A Graphic History, released through Hill & Wang.
In March 2009 Pekar released
The Beats, a history of
the BeatsThe Beat Generation is a term used to describe a group of American writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, and the cultural phenomena that they wrote about and inspired...
including Kerouac and
GinsbergGinsberg, Ginsburg, Ginsburgh, Ginsparg, Ginzberg, Ginzborg, and Ginzburg are variants of the same surname.-Ginsberg:* Allen Ginsberg, a Beat poet* Asher Hirsch Ginsberg , Zionist writer and philosopher...
, illustrated by
Ed PiskorEd Piskor is an alternative comics artist operating out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is a former student of the Joe 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...
. In May 2009 he released
Studs Terkel's Working: A Graphic Adaptation.
Other media
In the late 1980s, Pekar's comic book success led to eight guest appearances on
Late Night with David LettermanLate Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to The Late Show on CBS. Late Night with Conan O'Brien then filled the time slot...
. His confrontational style and overt on-air criticism of
General ElectricThe General Electric Company, or GE , is a multinational American technology and services conglomerate incorporated in the State of New York. In 2009, Forbes ranked GE as the world's largest company...
(which owned
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
) led to the show banning him as a guest until the early 1990s.
Pekar is a prolific freelance
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
and book critic. As a jazz critic he typically focused on significant figures from jazz's golden age but has also championed such out-of-mainstream artists as Birth,
Scott FieldsScott Fields , is a guitarist, composer and band leader. He is best known for his attempts to blend music that is composed and music that is written and for his modular pieces . He works primarily in avant-garde jazz, experimental music, and New Music.- Biography :Fields grew up in Chicago, Illinois...
,
Fred FrithFred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best-known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
, and
Joe ManeriJoseph Gabriel Esther "Joe" Maneri was an American jazz composer, saxophone and clarinet player. Violinist Mat Maneri is his son....
. He has also won awards for his essays which were broadcast on
public radioPublic broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets that receive some or all of their funding from the public. Public broadcasters may receive their funding from individuals through voluntary donations, a specific tax such as a television licence fee, or as direct...
. In August 2007, Pekar was featured on the Cleveland episode of
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations with host
Anthony BourdainAnthony Michael "Tony" Bourdain is an American author and chef. He is well known for his 2000 book, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, and is the host of Travel Channel's culinary and cultural adventure program Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.A 1978 graduate of the...
.
Pekar was also given the honor of being the first guest editor for the
The Best American Comics 2006 collection published by
Houghton MifflinHoughton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company is a leading educational publisher in the United States. The company's headquarters is located in Boston's Back Bay...
, the first comics publication in the "
Best American seriesThe Best American Series is an annually-published collection of books, published by Houghton Mifflin, each of which features a different genre or theme. Each book selects from works published in North America during the previous year, selected by a guest editor who is an established writer within...
" series.
While
American Splendor theater adaptations have occurred before, in 2009 Pekar made his theatrical debut with
Leave Me Alone!, a
jazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
operaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
for which Pekar wrote the
librettoA libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, musical, and ballet. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata.Libretto ,...
.
Leave Me Alone! featured music by
Dan PlonseyDan Plonsey is a jazz saxophonist, popularly labeled as a free jazz musician. -Career:...
and premiered at
Oberlin CollegeOberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1833 by Presbyterian ministers, and is home to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, making it the only top-ranked liberal arts college with a top-ranked conservatory...
on January 31, 2009.
Pekar has recently started up a
webcomicWebcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website, often exclusively, providing easy access to an audience, though some are published in books and newspapers but maintain a web archive....
with
Smith MagazineSmith Magazine is an online magazine devoted to storytelling in all its forms. Smiths content is participatory in nature, and the magazine welcomes contributions from all its readers...
online called
The Pekar Project .
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 BrabnerJoyce Brabner is a writer of political comics and sometimes collaborator with her husband Harvey Pekar.-Biography:Brabner recalls "read[ing] comics when I was five or six years old - including Mad Magazine," her first exposure to political satire...
, with whom he collaborated on
Our Cancer YearOur Cancer Year is a graphic novel written by Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner and illustrated by Frank Stack.Published in 1994 by the New York press Four Walls Eight Windows, Our Cancer Year relates the story of Harvey's struggle to overcome cancer, as well as serving as a social commentary on...
, a
graphic novelA graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using the comics form. The term is employed in a broad manner, encompassing non-fiction works and thematically linked short stories as well as fictional stories across a number of genres.Graphic novels are typically...
autobiography of his struggle with
lymphomaLymphoma is a cancer that begins in the lymphocytes of the immune system and presents as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. They often originate like balls in lymph nodes, presenting as an enlargement of the node...
. He lives in Cleveland Heights, Ohio with Brabner and their foster daughter, Danielle.
Awards
- 1987: American Book Award
The American Book Award was established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation. It seeks to recognize outstanding literary achievement by contemporary American authors, without restriction to race, sex, ethnic background, or genre...
(for American Splendor series).
- 1995: Harvey Award
The Harvey Awards, named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman and coordinated by the publisher Fantagraphics are given for achievement in comic books. The Harveys were created as part of a successor to the Kirby Awards which were discontinued after 1987.The Harvey Awards are nominated by an open vote...
Best Graphic Album of Original Work (for Our Cancer Year) http://www.harveyawards.org/awards_1995win.html
- 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
The Edward R. Murrow Awards are presented by the Radio-Television News Directors Association in recognition of what the Association terms "outstanding achievements in electronic journalism."-Awards and categories:...
for Best Writing (for "Father's Day") http://www.harveypekar.com/about.html
Books
- American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar (Doubleday, 1986)
- 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
- Our Cancer Year
Our Cancer Year is a graphic novel written by Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner and illustrated by Frank Stack.Published in 1994 by the New York press Four Walls Eight Windows, Our Cancer Year relates the story of Harvey's struggle to overcome cancer, as well as serving as a social commentary on...
, 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 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
- American Splendor: Our Movie Year (Ballantine Books, 2004) ISBN 0-345-47937-8
- Best of American Splendor (Ballantine Books, 2005) ISBN 0-345-47938-6
- 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
- Macedonia, with Heather Roberson and Ed Piskor (Ballantine Books, 2006) ISBN 0-3454-9899-2
- American Splendor: Another Day (DC/Vertigo, 2007) ISBN 978-1-4012-1235-3
- Students for a Democratic Society: A Graphic History (Hill and Wang, 2008) ISBN 978-0809095391
- American Splendor: Another Dollar (2009) ISBN 978-1-4012-2173-7
- The Beats (2009) ISBN 978-0-2856-3858-7
- Studs Terkel
Louis "Studs" Terkel was an American author, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for The Good War, and is best remembered for his oral histories of common Americans, and for hosting a long-running radio show in Chicago.-Early...
's Working: A Graphic Adaptation (2009) ISBN 978-1-59558-321-5
External links
- Personal Homepage (last updated in 2003)
- Interview on The Sound of Young America
The Sound of Young America is a public radio program and podcast based in Los Angeles, California and distributed by Public Radio International...
: MP3 Link
- New York Press Interview
- Walrus Comix interview
- Article by James Hynes
James Hynes is an American novelist. He was born in Okemos, Michigan, and grew up in Big Rapids, Michigan. He lived for many years in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and currently resides in Austin, Texas, where he has taught creative writing at the University of Texas...
about Pekar's last appearance on Late Night with David Letterman.
- An extensive list of Pekar's American Splendor collaborators
- An Archive of Pekar's Jazz Reviews for the Austin Chronicle
- Another archive of Jazz reviews
- November 10, 2005 Interview on Fresh Air with Terry Gross
- Profile of and Commentaries by Pekar on WKSU-FM
WKSU-FM is a non-commercial FM radio station at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio broadcasting at 89.7 MHz. It features NPR, APM and PRI programming, classical music, regional news and, on weekends, folk music....
, Kent, OhioKent is a city in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It is located along the Cuyahoga River in the northeastern part of Ohio and the western edge of Portage County...
- Podcast of Pekar by the Cartoon Research Library
- Preview of "The Beats"
- http://www.prx.org/pieces/20883 Boppin' With Pekar A One-Hour Public Radio Program on jazz history with Harvey Pekar, Jerry Zolten, and Phoebe Gloeckner