American Splendor by Vertigo

[Comix Junky]

Cool.
What does your avatar say?

[ProJunior]

Cool.
What does your avatar say?

Um, at first I didn't know what you meant because I didn't think I had an avatar but after thinking it over a bit I decided that you must mean my little pic/logo thingie to the left.  Didn't know you called them avatars.  Thought that term was limited to games like 2nd Space, etc.  <g>  Anyway, the little green man is pointing to a sign in front of a Japanese drinking establishment that says "ei-gyou-chuu," which means "Open for Business."  It's from the front cover of a book I own on Chinese characters called Ideogram.  Very interesting book.  I'll attach a scan of the whole front cover.  The character on the red lantern is read "sake" & we know what that means.  The 2 large ones on the "noren," the short curtain hanging down over the door read "Taishou," which is the name of the establishment.  The 3 characters immediately to their left are kinda hard to make out but they say "izakaya," which means drinking establishment.  There's lots of these kinds of places in Japan.  (I lived there for 8 yrs.)  The reasons for the 2 little green men would take too long to explain here.  Maybe some other time in the "Off Topic" section.

-Projunior

[Reverend]

One of the aliens appears to have a blue foot.

[ProJunior]

One of the aliens appears to have a blue foot.

Heh, I think you're right.  I hadn't noticed that.  Maybe it's supposed to indicate that it's in shadow.

-Projr.

[50Cent #II (1st print)]

I forgot to post last week that I think the new issue came out.

[Brother J]

I forgot to post last week that I think the new issue came out.

yep, #3 is out, just picked it up lat Wednesday.

ProJunior, you still out there?

[ProJunior]

I forgot to post last week that I think the new issue came out.

yep, #3 is out, just picked it up lat Wednesday.

ProJunior, you still out there?

Yep.  Been away awhile, tho.  I just picked up all 4 issues of the 2nd vol. of Vertigo's Amer. Splendor at a comic shop up in Ashland, OR.  Here they are for the Wiki.

-Projunior

[50Cent #II (1st print)]

Thanks, good to see you back.

[Brother J]

Was Volume 2 a limited series, as well? I was kind of hoping it was going to be a regular series. I guess that might be a little too much to ask for.

[50Cent #II (1st print)]

I was under the impression the current series is ongoing, not limited.

[Rick Bradford]

Boy, what a strange thing to see American Splendor looking like a DC/Vertigo book. Even the Dark Horse books didn't seem so slick to me. Not necessarily a bad thing -- it's just a jump.

Pekar has pretty much always worked with artists of his choosing, right? Artists who he contacted or otherwise met? I wonder how much that dynamic has changed?

[Brother J]

Boy, what a strange thing to see American Splendor looking like a DC/Vertigo book. Even the Dark Horse books didn't seem so slick to me. Not necessarily a bad thing -- it's just a jump.

Pekar has pretty much always worked with artists of his choosing, right? Artists who he contacted or otherwise met? I wonder how much that dynamic has changed?

I discussed it with Dave Lapham on the Valiantfans message board. I'll re-post the exchange in it's entirety, I think it sheds some interesting light on how Pekar works.

Me: "Mr. Lapham, I see you recently did a story for the new American Splendor comic from Vertigo. Any stories about working with Harvey Pekar?"

David Lapham: It's funny, everything goes through an editor so I never even spoke to Harvey, but I did learn he was very happy with what I did.

He works in an interesting way in that his stories are written on blank unlined paper. He divides the paper with a lie down the middle and vertical lines to make 12 panels or so (more) then basically draws in stick figures with dialogue. It's great. It also leaves a ton of room for the artist to visualize and interpret the story however they want. I felt that I was responsible for the subtext of the story. For instance, my first story (I did 2) was about an awkward teen who comes to visit Harvey because he saw the movie and isn't even really a fan. I had to read the story and basically come up with who I thought that kid was. What's his problem, why is her doing this? What, based on what I know about Harvey through his comic, is Harvey's reason for even seeing the kid, and what is his reaction to the kid? What does the kid want from Harvey and what does Harvey want from the kid? I also bring a lot of my "young awkward dysfunctional" self to the kid and my "wise older awkward self" to the mix. In my case I determined it to be an awkward affair (no shocker) with a lot of silence and little eye contact. Harvey's looking for an ego boost from a fan and he's not getting it. The kid is looking to connect with someone "famous" outside his miserable life and he doesn't get it. Or maybe he does....

Believe me, this is a lot of freedom for an artist.

Anyway, the reason Harvey's stories are so great is because he gives a real slice of life. A comics Raymond Carver. A simple story but fun to interpret.

[over40artist]

Outstanding post, Brother J. Thanks for contributing it.

I love Harvey. All his stuff is a bargain at any price.

[Rick Bradford]

Thanks, Brother J.

It's funny, everything goes through an editor so I never even spoke to Harvey

That's what I was really wondering about. That's a big change -- I'd assumed working for DC would mean that sort of arrangement but was interested in knowing for sure. That's a big change from the way the book used to be put together, I think. Interesting.

[oldmilwaukee6er]

420post-i was doing some re-boxing of stuff i wanted to keep b/c the movers trashed most of my 'shipped' comic boxes (books are fine, but the boxes took a real beat-down) & ANYWAYs... went to the nice little comic shop on the 1800 block of farwell (off brady)  & they had the new Vertigo AS Vol2 #2-4.  picked them up (& a long box).  i REALLY liked 'you get old you can fall apart' (1st story; vintage upbeat pekar) & the hunt emerson piece in #2.  #3 is nice... loved the music piece 'bop philosophy.'  #4 'free association' kinda loses me & gets both meta (epilogue) & lazy (income tax/car) toward the end of #4.  chapter 1 'cleopatra' is wonderful.  i love his comix about collecting records & the Crumb collaborations on the topic.