Comic Review: American Splendor #2

[jakebe]

So in this issue we follow Harvey as he recovers from his fall in the last issue, goes on a trip to the barber, muses about his cats, has creative differences with one of his artists, follows Joyce to a community meeting, catches up with a friend and her change in job and finally discusses the necessity of a one-page comic with an editor…presented as a one-page comic.

This collection of stories is a bit more upbeat, and finds Harvey thinking about his life as opposed to worrying about it. Again, he presents himself as a man with simple pleasures: a surprisingly competent barber who knows his stuff about his craft and his neighborhood makes his day, as well as being able to negotiate a compromise with an artist over the final panel of a strip. Pekar seems to be saying here that mellowing out has allowed him to see the opportunities for joy around him, and that he’s simply better for it. It’s hard to argue with that.

The first entry is by far the best; after messing about with his dreaded cast, Harvey has a series of mishaps befall him, from losing a fake tooth to having a screw fall out of his glasses. Instead of using this as a springboard for falling into a bad day, he just takes care of the problems as they come up, with a minimum of fuss. He ends the comic with the simple adage, “Keep on pushin’.”

What’s different about this collection is it features a more confident Harvey, one who seems less interested in presenting the image of a man who’s changed his ways and simply letting us see how those changes have affected his reactions. In “The Knowledgeable Barber,” Joyce’s nagging him to get a haircut could have derailed him a bit more than it did, but he simply took care of it and wound up having a great time in the process.

Of course, this is all bs. I don’t know that much about Harvey Pekar, and I’m writing almost purely based on his reputation and what I’ve seen of him in the movie. I’m sure a die-hard Splendor fan would have a completely different take on it, but that’s the read that I get.

Rating: 7/10