Tag: Harvey Pekar

The late, great (and grating) Harvey Pekar died one year ago Tuesday and left behind a singular legacy in the world of comics. Anxious, grouchy, obsessive and frequently paranoid, Pekar was a fascinating figure who loved music more than people and, fittingly, introduced a new jazz rhythm to comics with the wry, misanthropic memoir “American Splendor.” Above you’ll find an exclusive five-page excerpt from a new tribute to Pekar that will be going live Tuesday at Act-i-Vate, one of the liveliest corners of the online comics world and a place worthy of your bookmark. The tribute is a 25-page fumetti and features quote from Pekar himself and contributions from Seth Kushner, Josh Neufeld, Dean Haspiel, Jeff Newelt, Ted Hope and Joseph Remnant; Joyce Brabner, Pekar’s widow; and Shari Springer-Berman and Robert Pulcini, the directors of the terrific “American Splendor” film from 2003. Beyond the ...

  The Cleveland Plain-Dealer is reporting that Harvey Pekar, the singular and acerbic voice of underground comics who brought a new autobiographical candor and rhythm to the medium, has died. Here’s an excerpt from the obituary by the paper’s Joanna Connors. Harvey Pekar’s life was not an open book. It was an open comic book. Pekar chronicled his life and times in the acclaimed autobiographical comic-book series, “American Splendor,” portraying himself as a rumpled, depressed, obsessive-compulsive “flunky file clerk” engaged in a constant battle with loneliness and anxiety. Pekar, 70, was found dead shortly before 1 a.m. today by his wife, Joyce Brabner, in their Cleveland Heights home, said Powell Caesar, spokesman for Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank Miller. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death. Pekar and his wife, Joyce Brabner, wrote “Our Cancer Year,” a book-length ...