AMERICAN SPLENDOR: ANOTHER DAY – VOL. 1
Written by Harvey Pekar; Art by Dean Haspiel, Eddie Campbell, Ty Templeton and others

Harvey Pekar’s four-issue Vertigo mini-series consists of boring, uninspired, pointless, self-indulgent non-stories. And I couldn’t stop reading them. I read each issue in one quick burst, then reached for the next one.

Confused? Let me clear that up.

I never read a Harvey Pekar comic before his Vertigo series, and only vaguely remember him from his “Late Night With David Letterman” appearances. Harvey came to my attention with the release of the “America Splendor” movie starring Paul Giamatti. In the movie Harvey is portrayed as a deeply neurotic schlub destined to always lose, an angry, ugly, little man (sorry, Harvey) who leads an uneventful life (unless you count his many setbacks and personal tragedies). I found the Harvey Pekar character fascinating.

His comics are much the same. “American Splendor” is an artless chronicle of one man’s life, an unadulterated look at a screwed-up, unglamorous man. In the black-and-white Vertigo series, which has been collected in a trade paperback called “American Splendor: Another Day,” you get to watch Harvey fix a toilet. Experience Harvey talking on the phone. Witness Harvey obsessing over his stepdaughter’s lost glasses. Overhear Harvey worrying about his comic sales. I found his comics fascinating, too.

I prefer stories that have plots and some attempt at resolutions. “American Splendor,” like life, has neither. The stories are simple and unadorned and, most importantly, honest. You get the sense you’re watching a real human being; Harvey’s artless style infuses his comics with a sincerity and realism that allows you to really connect with his character. It’s uplifiting to know someone like Harvey Pekar is still making comic books and telling his stories his way. Through it all, Harvey might be happy to know that his misery has had a positive effect on the world. At least in some small corner of it, anyway.