Harvey Pekar Dies at Age 70 - What You Can Learn from This Comic Book Legend's Life

I was able to meet Harvey Pekar in person last April when he attended the university where I work and pursue my MA. He was there as part of a visiting writers series where he would be introducing the film, "American Splendor" based on his own comics, visiting several creative writing classes, and giving an hour long talk and taking questions about his life and career.

For those of you who know who Pekar was on the pages of his comics, I can assure you that he was exactly the same way in real life. Completely humble, slightly insecure, tremendously funny, extremely forthcoming, and absolutely one-of-a-kind. Paul Giamatti managed to do him a good deal of justice when playing him on film, but still...you couldn't really fully appreciate Pekar unless you had the opportunity to meet him. This is what makes his early passing an even greater shame than it would have otherwise been, and from the way that he spoke to those of us that he met, Pekar was still entirely unaware of the massive effect that he had on an entire generation of comic book lovers, writers, and artists in general.

Pekar had an everyman perspective, which sometimes baffled the academic community to which he was speaking when I was present for his visit. He put a heavy emphasis on creating something that real people could relate to and on highlighting the weird and wonderful people that surround us every day. He made it a point to say that you don't have to be writing about space ships or cowboys or adventures to have material to work with in whatever medium you love. When one steps back and looks at the entire body of his work, you can see that on the whole, it made a huge statement. Everyone matters. Your life matters, even during periods of boredom and frustration, the stuff of your life will be interesting to someone. This is not a common idea today in the realm of entertainment, where most movies have to be blockbusters with CGI special effects and the books that sell the most copies can be found in the self-help section.

Pekar chose his own life as subject matter for comics instead of inventing superheroes and plots that he found predictable. His work as a writer revolutionized the comic industry and jump-started the world of indie comics.

Some of what he talked about would be very helpful to share with all you working and aspiring creatives out there, and in the end, his message when he was alive makes a fitting tribute to him now that he's gone. From my brief experience with him, Pekar never liked smoke and mirrors and downright hated the idea that one artist might consider themselves better than anyone else, no matter what their level of success. I found Pekar's background and creative process to be completely refreshing, and though we can't all recreate it because what Pekar did was so unique, we can draw from it and learn from the fact that everyone will have their own individual creative process, and we should learn and follow that process no matter where we are in life at the moment. Because who knows what it may lead to.

Pekar didn't go to art school, he wasn't a Hollywood big shot (He lived in Cleveland permanently.), and the essence of his message in person (and on film) was that you could do what he does too...if you wanted to. Though I should be careful not to portray such a "you can do it" tone. Pekar was no motivational speaker. He was as matter of fact as he could possibly be about art and career. It's not that he was our cheerleader, he would simply look at people with a kind of blank stare when they asked a question about how to climb the ladder or how to "make it". He didn't really differentiate between "making it" and doing what you love sitting in your apartment building day in and day out. He was completely no-nonsense about pursuing what you loved to do, no matter how you felt about it from day to day. He just wrote comic books because, well, that's what he wanted to do and so why wouldn't he?

Here are some of the main points and take-aways I got from the experience of hearing and seeing him live in person. Whatever you think of his writing or the man as a person, you can certainly appreciate his demystification of the writing process. These are some of the revelations that I had when listening to him, and they've stuck with me since I heard him speak. I hope I can pass them on to you now in his honor, with quotes from his time speaking with students included.

1.) Don't buy the hype. By "hype" I mean you don't have to be a starving artist to be an effective one. One of the first statements Pekar made, and he made sure to hit this point in every talk was, "A big reason for me to write is that I get praise, another reason is money." This statement usually got a laugh from the audience, but the man had a point, and every time he said it, he would stare at his audience with a kind of dead-pan stare and then maybe crack the slightest smile. Part of what Pekar was doing was comedy, though he probably never would've admitted it...

Anyone who says they don't want to make a living off of their art is probably lying. Anyone who says that they don't want anyone to like their stuff is also probably lying. That's not the only reason we do what we do as artists, if all we wanted was money and praise, we'd be in a different business. But whether you're into film, television, comics, books, or scriptwriting, I think the lesson here is that it's okay to want success and it's okay for that to be a goal. It doesn't make you a sell-out, though that's usually the first thing we say about anyone after they succeed.

2.) Another Pekar-ism that made a big impression on me was this, "If I write it, I intend to publish it." This was his response to a question from a student about how he decides what will make it into his comic books and what won't.

It may seem simplistic at first, and maybe it is, of course everything we do needs revision and work. But what would happen in your life if you treated everything you attempted like it was worthwhile to someone? Would you finish things more often? Would you try to sell that script sitting on your shelf? Maybe sometimes we spend too much time thinking about and preparing for an idea we want to do instead of just sitting down and doing it already.

3.) Pekar then went on to say that if he doesn't like what he's writing, he wads it up and it goes in the trash. When was the last time you were able to let something go if it wasn't working for you? Are you willing to self-edit? Can you do so judiciously and without beating yourself up?

When I think about how simple Pekar makes it sound, I realize how much that flies in the face of how we think we should behave as aspiring writers and filmmakers. We think we have to punish ourselves for our art in order for it to be good. But what if we divorced ourselves from our egos long enough to really look at something we're working on and be able to give it an honest assessment?

Pekar reminded me that creative work is still just work, just like anything else you attempt in life. What if we threw out all of our ennui and ego and just looked at a project like it was work, did what it took to get it done, revised it and then moved on to the next project? Wouldn't that be refreshing?

4.) Whenever a student asked him about the best to get started in the comic book industry, Pekar responded with, "Start small and see what happens." A lot of people who want to work in film or television or comics think that it's such a far-off goal and a long road that they decide it's easier not to try. It almost didn't seem to translate to Pekar why people had such fears and worries about getting started, but perhaps that's because so much of his writing was about fear and worry. Perhaps he was simply more comfortable with his anxieties on a day-to-day basis than most of us are. He lived with them, was inspired by them, and maybe that's the trick. So you're scared to try, okay, use it.

But the people who seem to "make it" are the ones who are willing to be humble and just give it a try. So what if the first script you ever write is terrible? You're one terrible script closer to writing a good one. And with every new thing that you try, every class you take, every new medium you attempt, you're just closer to discovering what you're good at and what you need to work on in order to get better. You could talk about what you want to do forever, but why not just go ahead and give it a try?

Like great cult figures of the past before him, Harvey Pekar was almost like a litmus test. It wasn't what he said to you, it was how you responded to him. He had a way of creating a reaction in people, love or hate, totally getting what he was doing or being utterly baffled by it. He was so completely himself and in such a concentrated way. He recoiled from the idea of doing anything just because it was trendy or popular, but he was also blunt and honest about what he desired from his work, money and praise among creative fulfillment. No matter what art you want to pursue, Harvey and his work can make you think long and hard about how you are going about it and what you might be missing if you don't pay attention to your surroundings.

Last but not least, Harvey Pekar is a man who has a way with words. He's clever, even when he's not trying to be. So I thought I'd leave you with some Pekar quotes to remember him by...

On his job at a VA hospital as a file clerk.

"I loved my job as much as you can love a mundane job. It was beyond boring...it was great."

"I was able to support three wives on my salary. (pause) Not at the same time, three consecutively."

"It was like a sure thing, anybody could do it. Even me."

On the HBO film made about his life, "American Splendor".

"If I was working for HBO, I wouldn't touch my stuff...not that I don't like my stuff."

On his famous verbal altercation on the David Letterman Show. After several rounds of being invited on the show almost as a joke, Pekar became tired when he caught on that Letterman was essentially mocking him in their once friendly verbal sparring sessions. Pekar asked why everything on the show was fair game to make fun of except for Letterman's then sponsor, GE. Letterman went to a commercial break and Pekar was never invited back.

"It's never comfortable on Letterman's show for many reasons. He wanted me to do a satire of the Cleveland working man...but I don't want to do the same G*# D#mn thing all the time. The second thing is, it didn't pay a lot."

On selling his own comics.

"A lot of people thought I was crazy to do that, but I thought I'd just go down in a blaze of glory."

And at risk of finishing this article in the most cliche way possible, I just have to say to Mr. Pekar wherever he is, that you did man. That you did. You lived your career by your own rules, you didn't let anyone pick on you, and you generously spoke with anyone who wanted to ask about your art.