Book-It 'o11! Book #68
The Fifty Books Challenge, year three! (Years one and two, just in case you're curious.) This was a library request.
Title: American Splendor: Another Dollar by Harvey Pekar and illustrated by various
Details: Copyright 2009, DC Comics
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "Welcome to the highly examined life of Harvey Pekar-- Cleveland's most famous chronicler of the mundane and self-made star of the autobiographical epic that is AMERICAN SPLENDOR!
In this latest volume of his long-running life story, Pekar carefully unpacks the never-ending challenges that make up daily life with his signature wit and honesty. From the worries of tax time to the ordeals of breaking in a new barber, no aspect of existence goes unscrutinized in these arresting anecdotes.
Joining Pekar for this journey into the everyday is a star-studded cast of graphic talent, including Darwyn Cooke, David Lapham, Rick Geary, Dean Haspiel, Josh Neufeld, Darick Robertson and many more."
Why I Wanted to Read It: I've kept up with the classics of the graphic novel genre pretty well, I think, but there's been some I've missed. V For Vendetta was one of them, the work of Harvey Pekar is another.
How I Liked It: I reiterate that I have no experience in Pekar's oeuvre and I haven't even viewed the apparently hugely successful movie (American Splendor) based on his work.
So it did take a little getting used to to grasp the idea of the series. For those unfamiliar, I'll break the idea down as best I can.
Harvey Pekar is a somewhat grumpy everyman who slouches through his life in Cleveland encountering various characters and telling their stories as well as the minutia of his own.
The "catch" (as it were)? Pekar is a real person who pens the stories but most interestingly, each story (or chapter, if you will) is penned by a different artist, through a vast array of styles.
While some of Pekar's stories can border on the tedious (it is minutia after all), he seems to almost always have a capper that ties the tale together. Unfortunately, due to the success of the series and thus its role in Pekar's life (and the advantages it presents) increasing, some of the stories in the series are about the very series itself. It doesn't feel self-indulgent that Pekar based an entire comic franchise on his image, musings, and persona, but it feels self-indulgent when the main thread of a story is about his collaborating with a cartoonist for an idea (particularly when said cartoonist is depicted, which they always are, and as you assumed, by the very artist that appears as a character in the story). It feels almost self-conscious and at the same time, lazy. An interesting dichotomy again for the fact when Pekar discusses the fall-out and success of the film based on his series, it doesn't distract from the narrative the way the discussions of the series itself do. Perhaps it's due to the fact the film is seen of far more of an outside presence (a Hollywood film in Pekar's staid, middle class Cleveland?), particularly when Pekar has encounters like the story that opens the book, his meeting with a young aspiring film actor who wants to meet Pekar but has read none of his work (on the phone when first speaking to the kid, Pekar levels "Well, look, I don't think I can do you much good [...] you know I didn't write the script for the movie." pg 7).
Some artists' styles work well, some don't. But even those whose illustration falls flat still contribute what's perhaps most interesting (and possibly meta) about the series. All depict their version of Pekar (and occasionally their versions of Pekar's house which he shares with his wife and cat) which varies wildly. So in essence, we have a fairly run-of-the-mill persona/character that's viewed through vastly different artistic visions.
Flaws aside, this is a fascinating concept and certainly a hook to those (like me) who haven't read Pekar's work before.
Notable:
As promised on the back cover, the series does feature a vast array of highly talented artists. Notable to me where ones I recognized such as Rick Geary (who I wasn't aware did collaborations) and Josh Neufeld.
Some research shows that other luminaries (that don't happen to appear in this specific volume but who have worked with Pekar in the past) are Alison Bechdel (who knew she did collaborations either?) and the infamous Robert Crumb (who was instrumental in Pekar finding a creative outlet for his ideas).
Title: American Splendor: Another Dollar by Harvey Pekar and illustrated by various
Details: Copyright 2009, DC Comics
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "Welcome to the highly examined life of Harvey Pekar-- Cleveland's most famous chronicler of the mundane and self-made star of the autobiographical epic that is AMERICAN SPLENDOR!
In this latest volume of his long-running life story, Pekar carefully unpacks the never-ending challenges that make up daily life with his signature wit and honesty. From the worries of tax time to the ordeals of breaking in a new barber, no aspect of existence goes unscrutinized in these arresting anecdotes.
Joining Pekar for this journey into the everyday is a star-studded cast of graphic talent, including Darwyn Cooke, David Lapham, Rick Geary, Dean Haspiel, Josh Neufeld, Darick Robertson and many more."
Why I Wanted to Read It: I've kept up with the classics of the graphic novel genre pretty well, I think, but there's been some I've missed. V For Vendetta was one of them, the work of Harvey Pekar is another.
How I Liked It: I reiterate that I have no experience in Pekar's oeuvre and I haven't even viewed the apparently hugely successful movie (American Splendor) based on his work.
So it did take a little getting used to to grasp the idea of the series. For those unfamiliar, I'll break the idea down as best I can.
Harvey Pekar is a somewhat grumpy everyman who slouches through his life in Cleveland encountering various characters and telling their stories as well as the minutia of his own.
The "catch" (as it were)? Pekar is a real person who pens the stories but most interestingly, each story (or chapter, if you will) is penned by a different artist, through a vast array of styles.
While some of Pekar's stories can border on the tedious (it is minutia after all), he seems to almost always have a capper that ties the tale together. Unfortunately, due to the success of the series and thus its role in Pekar's life (and the advantages it presents) increasing, some of the stories in the series are about the very series itself. It doesn't feel self-indulgent that Pekar based an entire comic franchise on his image, musings, and persona, but it feels self-indulgent when the main thread of a story is about his collaborating with a cartoonist for an idea (particularly when said cartoonist is depicted, which they always are, and as you assumed, by the very artist that appears as a character in the story). It feels almost self-conscious and at the same time, lazy. An interesting dichotomy again for the fact when Pekar discusses the fall-out and success of the film based on his series, it doesn't distract from the narrative the way the discussions of the series itself do. Perhaps it's due to the fact the film is seen of far more of an outside presence (a Hollywood film in Pekar's staid, middle class Cleveland?), particularly when Pekar has encounters like the story that opens the book, his meeting with a young aspiring film actor who wants to meet Pekar but has read none of his work (on the phone when first speaking to the kid, Pekar levels "Well, look, I don't think I can do you much good [...] you know I didn't write the script for the movie." pg 7).
Some artists' styles work well, some don't. But even those whose illustration falls flat still contribute what's perhaps most interesting (and possibly meta) about the series. All depict their version of Pekar (and occasionally their versions of Pekar's house which he shares with his wife and cat) which varies wildly. So in essence, we have a fairly run-of-the-mill persona/character that's viewed through vastly different artistic visions.
Flaws aside, this is a fascinating concept and certainly a hook to those (like me) who haven't read Pekar's work before.
Notable:
As promised on the back cover, the series does feature a vast array of highly talented artists. Notable to me where ones I recognized such as Rick Geary (who I wasn't aware did collaborations) and Josh Neufeld.
Some research shows that other luminaries (that don't happen to appear in this specific volume but who have worked with Pekar in the past) are Alison Bechdel (who knew she did collaborations either?) and the infamous Robert Crumb (who was instrumental in Pekar finding a creative outlet for his ideas).