American Splendor: Another Dollar [Paperback]

Harvey Pekar (Author), Zachary Baldus (Author), Darick Robertson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: American Splendor | Publication Date: January 13, 2009

In 2006, comics legend Harvey Pekar brought his unflinching tales of ordinary life to Vertigo with an all-new run of AMERICAN SPLENDOR, the comic that, 30 years earlier, rose "from the streets of Cleveland" and changed how we look at comics. Often imitated but never duplicated, Pekar proved that he still has the power to "make mundane reality seem like the highest drama" (Entertainment Weekly) in his critically acclaimed Vertigo series.

Now, Harvey Pekar is back with an all-new volume of AMERICAN SPLENDOR, featuring his funniest, most poignant, somber and uplifting stories from the complex life of an ordinary man.

Once again, AMERICAN SPLENDOR pairs Harvey with some of the most exciting, innovative artists currently in comics, including David Lapham (YOUNG LIARS, Stray Bullets), Darick Robertson (THE BOYS), Chris Weston (THE FILTH, Fantastic Four), Dean Haspiel (THE QUITTER, THE ALCOHOLIC), Warren Pleece (INCOGNEGRO), longtime Pekar collaborators Greg Budgett and Gary Dumm, and other luminaries from both the mainstream and indie worlds.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The most recent volume of Pekar's autobiographical anecdotes about the nonevents of his life is so self-reflexive it threatens to swallow its own tail. Pekar has been writing American Splendor comics for well over 30 years, but as they've become a bigger part of his life, they've also become the subject of more of his stories. Many of the several dozen short pieces here at least touch on the process of working on his comics—a few are even variations on the groan-worthy what am I going to write a story about? I know—I'll write about having to come up with a story! formula. The book's artists, as usual, are decent to excellent—Pekar's got a fine eye for collaborators. Darwyn Cooke and Rick Geary contribute stylish short strips, and The Boys artist Darick Robertson is a particularly good match with his fine-lined, detailed facial expressions. A few strips are prime Pekar, observant and witty, especially a David Lapham–drawn piece in which he's pleased to discover a hard-working, humane, knowledgeable barber; he's also starting to explore the physical difficulties of aging in some stories. Too often, though, this volume simply rambles, with Pekar casting himself as a grouch talking to himself about talking to himself. (Jan.)
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From Booklist

The retirement career as a comics and jazz commentator that Pekar posited in Another Day (2006) has proven elusive or, rather, as he allows herein, not lucrative enough to keep him from agreeing to script such nonfiction graphic novels as Macedonia (2007), Students for a Democratic Society (2008), and The Beats (forthcoming). Thank goodness, longtime fans must sigh, that he still does the comic book American Splendor, which made his name and launched that independent comics staple, autobiographical comics. In this roundup of the latest four AS issues, Pekar tackles issues facing any aging man—aches, pains, creakiness, forgetfulness—but also, despite his fabled (not least by himself) curmudgeonliness, some of the joys. In “Coventry,” he gets to recall his neighborhood of the 1970s. In “Bop Philosophy,” he gets to talk about jazz with a saxophonist friend. In “Global Warming,” he gets to play Jeremiah. Things get no better than stuff like that. Meanwhile, his artist collaborators these days (here, Darick Robertson, Hilary Barta, Rick Geary, Ty Templeton, among many others) give him their best every time. --Ray Olson

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (January 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401221734
• ISBN-13: 978-1401221737
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.3 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #938,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not New Material-but Great Stuff, February 12, 2009

By 

J. Brennan (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: American Splendor: Another Dollar (Paperback)

This material was all published in four comics during the summer of 2008. Pekar fans will already have it! So don't get excited like me, buy it, sit down with a glass of milk at home thinking you are in for another rare and beautiful experience, you're not. In this respect I give 0 stars to the publisher, because nothing on the cover or back of the book says it is previously published material, only the fine print beneath the copyright. Like the guy who hyperventilated getting to ask President Obama a question at a Town Hall in Florida I was too excited, praising God and such about a new Pekar to look that far. I won't get fooled again, though, and will return it for store credit to put towards Pekar's Beat Generation book coming out in March.

The content of this book is outstanding, however. Pekar is back writing about what he knows best, himself. I've been reading him since 1980 and though he has become a big movie star I continue to be amazed at how his story is still really the story of all us everyfolk. These stories deal with how life is going for him following his fifteen minutes of fame in Hollywood. You'll see him deal with his car, like we all do, methods for dealing with fans who show up on his doorstep and won't leave, which none of us do, and watch as he debates how much pain is too much and ruminates upon the things he's done he's not proud of, while reminding us of all the terrible things he didn't do. Great stories, great art, great man. Buy the book, in fact I'm now considering keeping mine just to have it all in one handy volume, and because Harvey needs a few dollars more.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Dollar, Another Winner for Pekar, October 5, 2009

By 

Timothy Minnis (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: American Splendor: Another Dollar (Paperback)

As usual, Pekar is witty, curmudgeonly, humane beneath the gruff exterior, and full of fresh insight into the everyday human condition. It's such a pleasure to spend time in the presence of an artist with a unique point of view.

5.0 out of 5 stars Harvey never disappoints, December 7, 2010

By 

S. Jones (Bel Air, MD, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: American Splendor: Another Dollar (Paperback)

As always, Harvey Pekar succeeds in showing the beauty that surrounds us ... if we only open our eyes and see it.