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Harvey Lawrence Pekar ( October 8, 1939 – July 12, 2010) was an American underground comic book writer, music critic and media personality, best known for his autobiographical American Splendor comic series.
In 2003, the series inspired a critically acclaimed film adaptation of the same name.
Pekar described American Splendor as "an autobiography written as it's happening.
The theme is about staying alive.
Getting a job, finding a mate, having a place to live, finding a creative outlet.
Life is a war of attrition.
You have to stay active on all fronts.
It's one thing after another.
I've tried to control a chaotic universe.
And it's a losing battle.
But I can't let go.
I've tried, but I can't.
"
Description above from the Wikipedia article Harvey Pekar, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
David, a struggling comic book creator from Cleveland, spends his days cutting grass and his nights smoking it while desperately trying to keep his superhero fantasies alive. When Robyn, his aspiring fashion-designer girlfriend, makes him a Halloween costume of his original character Apama, it doesn't take David long to hit the streets and begin blundering towards disaster. This comic book Don Quixote is characterized by surreal flourishes, mixing dream, fantasy, and flashbacks that borrow as much from the art house as the comic shop. A midnight movie for superhero fans.
Toronto filmmaker Alan Zweig analyzes the phenomenon of record collecting.
A survey of the artistic history of the comic book medium and some of the major talents associated with it.