The Death of Harvey Pekar Leaves a Hole in Comic Hearts

Harvey Pekar, a legend of the underground comic community, died July 12, 2010 at the age of 70. A champion of reality-based comics, Pekar was probably best known for his autobiographical series, "American Splendor", which began in 1976 and was published up until 2008. Many people became familiar with Pekar as portrayed by Paul Giamatti in the film version of American Splendor.

Explaining Pekar's importance to someone unfamiliar with comics is difficult, mainly because Pekar influenced many people in his art, but never became particularly famous.

Although he was well-known in the comic book underground internationally, Pekar was also revered as a hero in Cleveland for his portrayal of the culture of the city. Pekar came up working with many well-known comic book artists, writers and illustrators, particularly Harry Crumb, who partnered with Pekar on his first comic book. Pekar collaborated often with other artists, including Gary Dumm and Frank Stack, and worked with countless others, including Joe Sacco, Alan Moore, Gilbert Rodriguez and Allison Bechdel.

I had the lucky pleasure of meeting Pekar at a talk he gave with fellow autobiographical comic book artist Allison Bechdel, who is best known for her comic strip "Dykes to Watch Out For." The event was in the theater at the Clark County Library, the central library of Las Vegas, Nevada. Bechdel and Pekar both gave brilliant talks on their paths to underground comic book fame.

It was Pekar's openness and honesty when speaking that made listening to him unique. Though he built his career on being a surly, cranky fellow, Pekar's surliness was married with a humor that gave it a special charm. As expected, juxtaposed with Bechdel's organized, methodical timeline guiding us through her adventures in the world of comic books, Pekar's speech was very natural, flowing through the relationships that led him into the comic book world. He spoke of how much he loved his job as a file clerk because all he had to do was walk around and talk to people all day, and talked about his amazement with the humble perks -- like travel, or free food -- of life as a comic book artist

They were two notably different artists, Bechdel and Pekar, with different life paths, different artistic methods and different ideas but a common struggle that gave the event a congealed feel. Where Pekar explained his method in which he communicated stories to illustrators by quickly scrawling stick figure strips, Bechdel talked about her changes in media, her artistic process and how her childhood experiences with keeping a journal affected the comics she later produced. Meeting Pekar was something to remember; even as we were crammed and filed into lines based on whether we'd acquired a ticket for the library signing, Pekar was open, gracious, accommodating and connected.

The comic book world has lost a great creative mind whose memory will propel forward generations of struggling comic book artists who have passion for day to day life. He will remain a beacon for any artist struggling to build a comic career starting with nothing but their dreams.