RIP, Harvey Pekar

Originally uploaded by Angie Naron

I won't lie and say that I was the biggest fan of Pekar - far from it; I found his appearances on David Letterman...somewhat off-putting, to be quite candid.

However, it was around that time that I actually picked up some issues of American Splendor and read them. It was some time later, after an initial period of feeling the comics were so-so, that I finally "got" Pekar.

Comics tended to be more dramatic stories of men and women in spandex fighting great evils. Pekar was able to relate the seemingly mundane in a great, detailed way.

And so I would at least try to keep up when I could - not just American Splendor, but other works like Our Cancer Year or The Quitter. In them, I finally realized that I was starting to like Pekar's work because it was so quiet, so detailed, so normal....

He was open. He was honest. And he will be missed.