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AMERICAN SPLENDOR: From The Streets of Cleveland Comes Harvey Pekar Inventive Biopic Wins Friends and Influences People By Cole Smithey The deeply cynical blue-collar everyman of Harvey Pekar's self-possessed character is a guy right out of a Graham Parker song. He knows damn well that there's more 'suck' in hard-won "success" than there is 'excess,' and that the real test of a man's mettle comes down to how he handles himself in mundane situations. It was from Harvey's distinctly pessimistic perceptions and confrontational attitude that he self-published the first issue of his autobiographical "American Splendor" comic books in 1976, with the illustrative assistance of Robert Crumb, while working his day job as a file clerk at the Veterans Administration. Harvey's friendship with Crumb had begun in the '60s, and bore tangible fruit in 1972, when Harvey showed the underground cartoonist some of his poorly drawn, but exceptionally written comics about his depressed life in his hometown of Cleveland. Crumb agreed to illustrate the comic, and "American Splendor" went on to initiate the autobiographical comic genre (see "Ghost World") and eventually win an American Book Award in 1987. But Harvey would nonetheless keep his day job for 25 years, until his recent retirement in 2001. Inspired by naturalist writers like Theodore Dreiser, Harvey took to task the social realities around him without pulling any punches, and his roughly annual comic book series had the profound effect of attracting his soulmate and wife Joyce Brabner (well played in "American Splendor" by Hope Davis).
"American Splendor" gives insight into a an era of boldly American freethinking that hardscrabble men like Harvey had in spades before the government and corporations figured out how to leverage the lowest common denominators of democracy and capitalism into the same thing. It's an important movie for all of the right reasons. It gives glimpses into our deteriorating culture from an honest man's perspective that hints at how America has gone from bad to worse and it does it in an original and entertaining way. I had the pleasure of meeting the now 63-year-old Harvey and his delightful wife Joyce Brabner for a brief interview about the movie that won top honors at this year's Sundance Film Festival, and about Harvey's opinions, projects and ideas. Review: What did you think when you found out that Paul Giamatti was cast as Harvey? JB: We were staying at a motel and we had cable TV and we watched this blue monkey (in "Planet of the Apes") and tried to figure out what Harvey would look like and what the actor looked like under the monkey make-up - this Yiddish slinging orangutan. But we've seen American Splendor done four times theatrically with different people and there've been different interpretations. I think the most bizarre one was this Russian guy who'd won a couple of Tonys for Checkov, and he was playing Harvey with a big Christ Dola Rosa medal around his neck and he had Catholic angst, which isn't really the same as Jewish angst. Review: Do you stay in touch with Robert Crumb? HP: I've been trying to, but I haven't been able to get a hold of him lately. We crossed paths when we went to Cannes for the festival, but Crumb had just packed his bags and come to the states. We stay in touch. I wanted him to see the movie because one of the things that I felt pretty good about with this movie was that it showed Crumb at his best. Crumb can be a real nice guy - and not just to me, although he was super nice to me and I'm forever beholden to him because of it - but I wanted to show what he was like when he was younger. I think James Urbaniak gave an accurate representation of him. Review: Your comic is based on this average working class guy who sees the world as it is, and calls it as he sees it. The plight of the working class has gotten progressively worse since you started the comic, what do you think these days about that situation? HP: I think it's terrible. I can't understand why people would put up with Bush. I'm certainly against what he's done in Iraq, but just his handling of the economy alone is enough to have a recall. He doesn't know what he's doing, he has the wrong people advising him, and I don't think he has much interest in the economy. I think everybody is feeling the pinch in some kind of way. Review: Was there ever a point when you were tempted to just sell out and write for Spider-Man or something? HP: I can't do that. They came to us and wanted me to do something for "Howard The Duck" because he comes ostensibly from Cleveland and they offered me incredible money, but I can't write fantasy stories so I had to pass that big paycheck up. Joyce and I plan to do a "Our Movie Year" comic as a follow-up to "Our Cancer Year." Review: Have you sold anymore books with the movie coming out? HP: Well there's a new Random House anthology-which is the first two out-of-print American Splendor anthologies - and then the three titles from Four Walls Eight Windows Press went back to press. I've got the Robert McNeil stories - The Unsung Hero-- that I did with Darkhorse Publishing coming out. That's a book-length paperback story about an African American Viet Nam combat veteran and his experiences in the military.
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