Harvey Pekar, writer of the autobiographical comic series American Splendor, is dead.
Pekar, 70, was found dead shortly before 1 a.m. today by his wife, Joyce Brabner, in their Cleveland Heights home, said Powell Caesar, spokesman for Cuyahoga County Coroner Frank Miller. An autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death. Pekar and his wife, Joyce Brabner, wrote “Our Cancer Year,” a book-length comic, after Pekar was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer in 1990 and underwent a grueling treatment.
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cleveland comic-book legend Harvey Pekar dead at age 70
(Thanks Audrey)
Here’s Pekar’s famous appearance on Letterman:
Here’s an excellent piece Pekar wrote about the experience under a pseudonym.
Pekar’s most recent and perhaps last work was his online series The Pekar Project.
July 12, 2010 at 5:22 pm
Man, what a way to start the week. Harvey was is one of my favorite comic book writers of all time, right up there with Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Warren Ellis, and Ed Brubaker. And in many ways he was more important than all of them.
One of my favorite people too.
I don’t see a link to the pseudonym piece.
July 12, 2010 at 5:31 pm
It’s showing up for me, but it was broken earlier. You might need to refresh.