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Newbie
 
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 11/18/2008 11:24:09 PM
Posts: 7,
Visits: 17
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| What is the attraction to this guy. I see his stuff and some "buzz" about him but I just read the vertigo issue that came out and Totally don't get it
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A True Collector
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 10:29:33 PM
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I look at all that stuff at the local comic book store on the shelf...the amazing whatsit...the mighty whozit ....and virtually everything published by Mighty Marbles and the Distinguished Competition, and everything you feel about Harvey Pekar is EXACTLY how I feel...I don't get it! I get Harvey, though, and if you don't...you don't!
WESTPORTALBOOKS ARE SQUINKY BOOKS!
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Newbie
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 11/18/2008 11:24:09 PM
Posts: 7,
Visits: 17
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| I guess not. I three of the stories I read he was like "im a crumudgeon" and I really didn't see any crumudgeoning going on ain any story I read. Unless you got the one page wonderful story where he fell off the stairs.
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A True Collector
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 10:29:33 PM
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Visits: 947
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A good starting place for Harvey is his book "My Cancer Year" .....Think the Kree-Skrull War but without the Kree and The Skrull!!!!
WESTPORTALBOOKS ARE SQUINKY BOOKS!
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CPG Moderator
Group: Moderators
Last Login: 11/20/2008 4:14:41 AM
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On the rare happenstance that Harvey Pekar appears in this forum, I must seize the opportunity to add my two cents.
I have not read the recent Vertigo books, but I have read almost everything else that Pekar has written in the past 30+ years. Pekar was one of the first, if not THE first, comic book creators who believed that real, every day modern life was a worthy subject for comic books. The trail he blazed has been followed by tens of thousands of autobiographical comic book artists and writers, and only a few have produced superior work to Pekar.
Harvey is an acquired taste for most people, I won't argue that. Most "real life" comic book creators are, as it takes time to allow yourself to become absorbed into their world. But once you do, it gets easier and easier to identify with Harvey's life and his seemingly mundane stories. While I agree with wpbooks suggestion to start with "Our Cancer Year," I would suggest that you begin with the original 17 issues of the American Splendor series that launched in 1976. Starting at the beginning of Harvey's chronicle makes the journey evermore satisfying as you follow its path.
Pekar did more than open the world of comic books to personal autobiographies. He opened that world to common-man intellectualism, Dilbert-style business frustration, outcast suffering, and real-world bitterness. He did it in a way that had never, ever been done before, and his influence on today's comic book industry is overwhelmingly overlooked.
Harvey was also one of the first creators to self-publish high-quality comic books and attempt to serve as his own distributor on a national scale. It was a very tough road to travel and he lost thousands of dollars per year that he could scarcely afford to lose (he squeaked by just above the poverty level for most of his life). But he did it anyway, for 15 years until his genius was finally recognized in the '90s.
There are a handful of comic book creators who have surpassed Pekar's brilliant meanderings on humanity, but every one of them will acknowledge that Pekar was the one who built the stage upon which they performed.
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A True Collector
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 10:29:33 PM
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My suggestion Re: Our Cancer Year was purely on the basis that it was a prolonged self contained story that might be easier to obtain than the first 17 self-published issues...these days. I agree with the previous poster that the early issues are the place to start, but for a truly excruciating read with real life drama, OCY is quite a piece of work and a great sustained narrative. Most of HP's previous output is pretty slice of life, but for someone who is new to Harvey and a comic collector, I'd suggest finding the story about HP's obsession with record collecting and the path it led him down....can't remember the exact title, but he does perform it in the documentary Comic Book Confidential! And it has R. Crumb art!
WESTPORTALBOOKS ARE SQUINKY BOOKS!
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