A modest antihero if there ever was one. Harvey Pekar may not have had a super-exciting life by traditional standards, but he certainly knew how to make it feel a lot more important than it really was. The miserable guy from Cleveland took all those failings and little victories and turned them into “American Splendor,” one of the greatest underground comic books ever made. Beyond being one of our personal inspirations, his autobiographical works helped inspire a generation of DIY artists – even if he couldn’t draw anything beyond a stick figure. Beyond the comics, here are three ways you know his work:
His Letterman guest spotsPekar’s many guest appearances on “Late Night With David Letterman” were often funny, but this particular clip got him banned from the show for a number of years – not only did he wear a shirt bad-mouthing NBC, he trashed on the network’s corporate owners, General Electric. A gripping watch.
His protegé ToBy RadloffPartly due to the Letterman appearances, some of his friends, who regularly showed up in his comic books, built a name outside of them. Radloff is the best-known Clevelandite to build success off his comic notoriety, with appearances on both MTV and the local “The Eddie Marshall Show.”
His popular hit moviePekar, Radloff and pretty much everybody else in his life got the documentary-slash-biography treatment in the 2003 film “American Splendor,” which pulled off the neat trick of mixing comics, drama and real people – and built a base for Paul Giamatti’s later “Sideways” fame. source
