Mystery Solved!

Harvey Pekar died yesterday. I don’t much cotton to the idea of eulogizing someone who I didn’t know or ever have the chance to meet in person. But there are some people who’s work has had a significant impact on me and I feel it’s appropriate to share my thoughts about that person’s work and what it meant to me. Harvey Pekar was one of those people.

After hearing the sad news about Pekar, I mentioned my sadness and was prepared to just keep it to myself beyond acknowledging his passing. Then, in my travels around the Twitterverse on Monday, I saw a Tweet from Phil Hester. What he had to say totally hit the nail on the head. It both encapsulated my feelings about Pekar and made think it was necessary to write this blog post. If you want to take some time out to honor Pekar, this is the way to do it.

Phil’s Tweet read as follows: Cartoonists, honor Harvey Pekar today by spending some time working on comics that belong to you, not a corporation.

To me, that statement perfectly encapsulates what makes Pekar not just important, but great.

It’s possible that Phil may disagree but, to my reading, the bit about corporations is less an anti-capitalist jab (especially as Pekar’s American Splendor and The Quitter were published by DC/Vertigo in recent years) and more of a reinforcement of the artistic ideal of creating something new that belongs to you; and the integrity that Pekar maintained throughout his career.

He made the comics he wanted to make and he made them his way, without regard or fear of what the mainstream had to say about it. Tacitly, I think that was Pekar’s message to comic creators across the board. Do what you want and do it your way.

To some, maybe doing what you want and what makes you happy means working on Spider-Man or Superman. To others maybe that means Xeroxing your next mini-comic. To others still it means something different or something in between those two extremes. It doesn’t mean don’t take a paying gig when you can, and it doesn’t mean that you have to live your life in a hovel if you really want to be an Artist, and it’s not indie versus mainstream goading. What it means is, maintain your integrity. Whatever kind of comics you make, be sure that you spend time making the ones that mean something to you.

There were many specific instances where reading the works of a particular artist, or reading a particular book, had a significant impact on me personally and/or how I perceived comics. Pekar’s American Splendor was one of those books.

American Splendor is a book that is unique both in its vision and its execution. I was impressed and influenced by its execution, but it’s vision and its subtle beauty are what really captured me.

Pekar has a way of making hum-drum, day-to-day happenings fascinating. Are the actions necessarily dramatic? Not always. But they offer a vision of everyday life that reminds us of the subtle complexity of each of our existences. It explores the minutia of what makes up much of our time and exposes the simple pleasures and reveals the minor pains that we all experience. In that way, his work is beautiful and even vulnerable.

It’s something that made a powerful impression on me as a writer and as a comic fan. If you have not taken the time to sit down with Pekar’s work, I urge you to do so. Maybe you’ll love it, maybe you’ll hate it or be otherwise unmoved. But it means something to me and it’s work that, in my mind, has earned the right to be seen at least by virtue of it’s uncompromising, yet simple feel.

On this sad day, please, take Phil Hester’s advice. If Harvey Pekar’s work meant something to you, take some time to honor him by working on your own creations and telling the stories that are important to you.

your pal,
zack