Hospital work, money worries and ordinary Cleveland life become the subject matter of Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor comics. The stories follow his job as a hospital file clerk in Cleveland, conversations with colleagues, money worries, relationships, illness and the frustrations of daily life, often drawn by different artists including Robert Crumb. Our Cancer Year, written with Joyce Brabner, records Pekar’s treatment for lymphoma alongside family and political concerns, while later collections revisit ageing and his increasingly public identity as a writer. Pekar’s scripts are conversational, digressive and determinedly anti-glamorous, finding narrative in bus rides, arguments and workplace routines rather than superhero action. Those qualities place the books near autobiographical comics, working-class memoir, Cleveland writing and literary graphic nonfiction. Read more Less
No products in the cart.