R.I.P. HARVEY PEKAR

In case you hadn’t heard, he was found dead today.

If you don’t know who he is watch AMERICAN SPLENDOR. It’s worth it.

:(

Yeah, what a splendid character…..RIP

Sad to see him go, glad I got to see him lecture a few years back. A truly original american character.

RIP

He was my favorite part of that Alan Zweig documentary, I, Curmudgeon. You should all check that out.

He was my favorite part of that Alan Zweig documentary, I, Curmudgeon. You should all check that out.

RIP Harvey. Flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

His appearances on Letterman in the late 80s were always wild.

The man’s career is difficult to sum up, especially if you haven’t seen American Splendor. But this 1987 performance on David Letterman’s show gives a taste, not to mention that it demonstrates just how far the Letterman show has changed.

Some reasons why the clip is great:

1. Well, the t-shirt saying he’s on strike against NBC, for starters.

2. His catching the Vaughn Monroe reference in terms of his voice and riffing off it.

3. The perfectly delivered sarcasm of “Yeah, Dave, wait `til next year.”

4. The rant against GE.

5. The fact he keeps up the rant against GE after Letterman seriously asks him to stop.

Very sad news. One of my favorite people. RIP Harvey.

“4. The rant against GE.”

An amazing television moment. I wasn’t that interested in his battles with Letterman, and thought they marred the comic, but it was great to see a real moment from Letterman for a change.

American Splendor the comic, not Watchmen, was a groundbreaking phenomena in comics. Not only eschewing superheroes, but all relation to action, adventure or science fiction. Pekar was way ahead of the game and many of the stories are excellent. He made comics that were truly for adults.

RIP

Watching Letterman to see if mentions him. Hope so.

American Splendor is a good movies.

Letterman is almost over and no mention. The world makes me sad.

i rented american splendor years ago but never got around to watching it for some reason er other.

“American Splendor the comic, not Watchmen, was a groundbreaking phenomena in comics. Not only eschewing superheroes, but all relation to action, adventure or science fiction. Pekar was way ahead of the game and many of the stories are excellent. He made comics that were truly for adults.”

watchmen was revolutionary in its form, but not its content; american splendor, the reverse. no need to slight one to build up the other. that said — comix are greater for harvey pekar having been badgered into getting people to draw his thoughts. nuff said, true believers.

I’m a sucker for espionage, KGB vs. CIA, the Cold War, Carlos the Jackal, etc… (Robert Ludlum novels mostly) and when I heard that Watchmen takes place in an alternate future where the US is on the brink of a nuclear war with the USSR I almost fainted. It sounded exactly like my kind of comic. And the whole 9 panel grid layout… I realized I had to read this. Until then all I had read were issues of Mad Magazine which belonged to my father, some issues of Heavy Metal and had a brief look at the Nikopol Trilogy novels. That said, I’m still hoping to get my hands on Watchmen soon. I’ll leave the movie for later.

Back to Pekar, I watched American Splendor a couple of years ago and loved it. Such an oddball this Harvey Pekar. And his obsession with jazz on vinyl… I loved that. It’s the average Joe displaying his life for us to read. That’s always so refreshing. Harvey was a blogger of sorts before blogging even existed. There’s an autobiography of his called The Quitter. That would be interesting to read, there are probably anecdotes about Crumb and other members of the Underground Comix movement in there.

Sad news. Joyce must be devastated.

I’m a sucker for espionage, KGB vs. CIA, the Cold War, Carlos the Jackal, etc… (Robert Ludlum novels mostly) and when I heard that Watchmen takes place in an alternate future where the US is on the brink of a nuclear war with the USSR I almost fainted. It sounded exactly like my kind of comic. And the whole 9 panel grid layout… I realized I had to read this. Until then all I had read were issues of Mad Magazine which belonged to my father, some issues of Heavy Metal and had a brief look at the Nikopol Trilogy novels. That said, I’m still hoping to get my hands on Watchmen soon. I’ll leave the movie for later.

Back to Pekar, I watched American Splendor a couple of years ago and loved it. Such an oddball this Harvey Pekar. And his obsession with jazz on vinyl… I loved that. It’s the average Joe displaying his life for us to read. That’s always so refreshing. Harvey was a blogger of sorts before blogging even existed. There’s an autobiography of his called The Quitter. That would be interesting to read, there are probably anecdotes about Crumb and other members of the Underground Comix movement in there.

Sad news. Joyce must be devastated.