Fifth Degree: Harvey Pekar
American Splendor
by Josh Crawley
I’m not sure when I first heard of Harvey Pekar or American Splendor. I’m pretty sure the first thing I bought and read, though, was American Splendor: Portrait of the Author in his Declining Years. I know by that point I’d heard of him, but the primary reason I bought the book was one of the stories’ artists: Dean Haspiel.
If there’s one thing that really struck me about Pekar’s talent reading that comic, it was this: while some stories may seem relatively mundane compared to larger-than-life superhero comics, that doesn’t mean they can’t be structured and well-paced with a natural-feeling rhythm. (Unlike some other memoirs, but this isn’t the place for that right now. Buy me a beer sometime at a convention and I’m pretty sure I’ll be willing to share.)
That, and it seemed difficult for him to accept happiness. Which may be why I haven’t bought too much Pekar work after that. I picked up American Splendor: Unsung Hero. I don’t recall it at all, honestly. It very well may have just not been what my brain needed at the time.
The Quitter
After that, I bought The Quitter, an original graphic novel slam-bang chock-full of Haspiel artwork. After reading it, I think it cemented me not reading any more Pekar work. Not because it wasn’t well done and not because I have issues with depressing stories, but I just couldn’t handle the massive amount of negative feelings it caused me.
Of course, after writing this, and after reading the memorials that are sure to pop up in the next few days (like this one from my pal Zack Kruse, who mentions Phil Hester’s tweet, I will return to his work someday soon.
And in all fairness to Pekar, I’ll also be going into with a better emotionally-prepared mindset than I have in the past.
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Josh Crawley is the tenured Master of Disaster at Westfield Comics. He is not the keyboardist for Everclear.
http://www.twitter.com/joshcrawley
Westfield Comics
ATTN: JOSH
7475 Mineral Point Rd STE 22
Madison WI 53717
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