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Sunday 18 July 2010

Harvey Pekar 1939-2010

To some the word comicbook will always be a perjurative term. A synonym for near illiteracy, juvenile, immature trash. And theres a reason for that - many comic books are juvenile, many are immature. There are however, books out there, books that just happen to be written in the graphic medium. Books that make you think, books that make you feel. And those are the books that I tend to go for. I'm Spandex intolerant and thanks to Harvey Pekar there are plenty of books out there that don't feature Men of Iron or Dark Knights but rather books that deal with everyday lives. Harvey's work features his trials and tribulations told in an utterly honest way, exposing his curmudgeonly take on life , his tales of the means streets of Cleveland and his frustrations at his wife, his fans, the system that we all have to endure - books written by authors like - Adrian Tomine, Daniel Clowes, Andi Watson, Art Spiegalman, Joe Sacco and The Hernandez Brothers. He came to wider attention with the release of the movie American Splendor (2003) based on his book which garnered awards at Cannes and the Sundance Festival and also an Oscar nomination.

Thanks Harve.

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