Joyce Farmer's, "Special Exits": A Compassionate Account on Family and Aging

In Joyce Farmer’s, first ever-graphic novel, “Special Exits,” she chronicles the last four years of her parent’s lives. Unable or unwilling to care for themselves, Farmer intervenes, and becomes their full time caretaker as they slowly die due to sickness and old age. Farmer spent thirteen years creating this comic completely by hand using pencil and nib pen. The innumerable hours show in her delicate and detailed drawings. In an age when most things are done on the computer, Farmer, like many other graphic novelists chooses to work in an “old school” manner. Speaking of “old school,” the author herself was in her sixties and seventies while making this book. She comes from the era of the underground comix, a contemporary of artists such as Robert Crumb, who was a huge proponent for getting this work published. It is a graphic memoir by, for and about the elderly, a truly unique perspective that one doesn’t usually find in this medium. Farmer’s early works like, “Tits and Clits Comix,” from the seventies had a feminist bent. She and her colleagues were reacting to the misogyny of underground comic artists as well as publications such as “Playboy” and “Penthouse.” Farmer claims that they “were all off and just saw women as photographs that needed to be airbrushed and women who were bed mates and not much else.”

In this same vein of advocacy, Farmer approaches the story of her parents. She brings awareness to the difficulty of caring for the elderly. She depicts them in their sickness and vulnerability while at the same time imbuing them with dignity. Historically, the comic’s form was made for a younger audience, but with the birth of the graphic memoir, that audience has broadened immensely. In an interview with Richard Metzger, Farmer was asked whom she though her target audience was while making this book. Farmer responds “ I was thinking the target audience should be people like I was when I was going through taking care of my parents which would have meant forty-five years on up…the target audience turns out to be more twenty something’s that are very interested in their grandparents and maybe even their parents and the problems their parents have to face”(int.) The interest in her book may also have something to do with the wild popularity of the graphic novel itself. I myself would not have read it if it hadn’t been for it’s format. It brings up the question: why would any twenty something want to read about two lonely old people dying in a dilapidated house in south Los Angeles? Who wants to look at drawings of an eighty year old women having a sponge bath? This quandary brings up some unique points about the graphic memoirs appeal. As opposed to a novel, they are a much easier read. There are innumerable depths to be explored in both pictures and the words and their relationship to each other. This makes it easier for both the young reader and the more mature adult to enjoy. It is easy for one to get caught up in the eloquence of Farmer’s lines, which portray a sense of kindness and wisdom, both about the characters in her story and the author herself. The anecdotes run the gamut of emotions, from heart warming to utterly depressing and sometimes both.

One very depressing moment from the book is when Laura(Farmer’s surrogate character), visits the house to find that her stepmother has lost her eyesight due to neglect of self care. Living on their own, her parents weren’t equipped to keep up with their medical or health needs, and thus Rachel(Farmer’s step-mothers character), didn’t keep up with her Glaucoma medicine. In one panel Rachel comes to the realization that she won’t be able to sew anymore, a hobby that she had pursued with great passion her entire life. Laura’s thoughts turn to panic as she tries to process this devastating turn of events. Interestingly enough, Farmer herself was suffering from macular degeneration while making this painstakingly detailed novel. These traumatic events are to be found throughout the story and are a major part of what makes it so emotionally compelling. Deeply personal moments are found in many autographies, from “Maus” to “Persepolis,” of which this book has been compared. The ability to relate such moments in words and pictures is a special quality of the medium, which makes it distinct from all others.

Many times throughout the book farmer depicts the act of bathing her senile stepmother. Although deeply saddening in the fact that Rachel can no longer take care of herself, it also speaks to the kindness and respect Farmer showed her parents. The care and respect of our elders is the running theme of this book. Farmer shines a light on this intimate act, one done in hospitals and behind closed doors, but never shown to the public. She makes it palatable for us with her dignified drawings, evoking empathy for her disabled stepmother’s struggle as well as her own.

Farmer’s depictions of the candid moments between her and her parents brings to light why the graphic novel is such an apt medium for the memoir. The essence of the work lies somewhere between the drawing and the word. A grey area guided and informed by the physical memory of the hand, as well as a memory evoked through words. If done with skill, this mixture of aesthetics creates a unique story world which no other medium can lay claim to. Using these tools Farmer explores the area of old age and death, a reality that couldn’t be further from the super heroes and fantasy from which the medium made it’s name. Even so, it’s popularity ranges from young to old. From people who are dealing with the issues addressed in this novel, to ones who have had not even thought of it yet.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Los Angeles Times Hero Complex.http://herocomplex.latimes.com/tag/joyce-farmer/(accessed December 23, 2011).

2.DangerousMinds.http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/special_exits_an_interview_with_joyce_farmer(accessed December 23, 2011).

3. Farmer, Joyce, Special Exits, Washington: Fantagraphics Books, 2010.

Family Vs. Fantasy: Stories from the life of Robert Crumb

The name Robert Crumb has become synonymous with the drug addled hippy culture of the nineteen sixties in which he made his name. He is one of the originators of the “Underground Comix” genre. By his own admission, the work that Crumb made during this time, which he was to become most known for, was often LSD inspired.¹ There is no doubt that he and his ilk broke new ground in the world of comics, using the format to explore the unconscious mind as well as taboo subjects ranging from drugs to sex (at least taboo in comics!). Crumb, and his cast of bizarre characters, such as the wise old perverted sage “Mr. Natural,” became icons of the bohemian sub culture. Ironically, the peace and love associated with the flower children of the sixties, was for crumb a twisted and compulsive enterprise. The pages of his comics are filled with violent sexual anxiety. In stories like, “My Troubles With Women,” he gives voice to the need to compensate and retaliate, through sex, for an isolated childhood, in which he was constantly bullied and spurned by the fairer sex. In addition to his problems outside of his house, his home-life was a mess. It is this life that most interests me, and also fits nicely into the autobiographical theme of this blog. Crumb’s chronicles of his childhood, family dysfunction and abuse tell an honest story of his evolution as an artist and a human. In contrast to the highly experimental and shocking work of his early career, his biographical comics relate stories which reveal the origins of deep psychological wounds he was to carry with him into maturity. In Crumb’s memoirs, the cast of fantastic surrogate characters; perverted gurus and devil women, are abandoned and replaced by the real people in his life. In the following comics we find a hateful and drug addicted mother, an overbearingly macho and insensitive father and their misanthropic and alienated children.

“Treasure Island Days,” is a two-page comic about the creative imaginings of adolescent boys escaping life through the emulation of their favorite television show. In it, we are witness to the camaraderie and innocent pleasure of the Crumb siblings as they navigate the world of Oceanside, California in nineteen-fifty five.

Unlike so much of Crumb’s tortured stories and fantasies, this one is, well…sweet. It almost hurts to say that about his work, as if I’m stealing his misogynistic mojo. The honesty that comes through in his comics of early childhood are often sweet, or at least have sweet moments. True to Crumb’s repertoire, there must be moments of sadness and alienation peppered throughout. He depicts his older brother, Charles, as the stalwart leader of the group, as they look for materials to build their own version of “Treasure Island.” Charles did take the helm in their early life, forcing Crumb to draw comics as a child, just as he manically takes control of the imaginative game in this story. In an interview with Deirde Hanna, Crumb spoke of his brother, who had just committed suicide, “ If it wasn’t for my older brother’s burning obsession, I don’t know what I would be doing now. I always liked to draw, but he always insisted that I draw comics. I never really had much choice.” He goes on to speak about Charles mental illness, “ But while I made a career, my brother never left home. He just stayed home and wrote thousands and thousands of pages in very tiny, light-pencil, hand printed script.”² At the end of the comic we get a taste of the bitter as opposed to the sweet when Robert and Charles are bullied, which was a common experienced for them as kids. Seen in the larger context of Crumb’s repertoire, one realizes that this beat-down isn't a single occurrence, but one of many humiliating and damaging life experiences.

A letter Crumb's older brother Charles wrote to him later in life sheds an entirely different, although more disturbing, light on this comic, revealing the many layers of meaning that can be interpreted through these very personal accounts of his life. Charles's writing comes by way of Terry Zwigoff, the creator of the famous “Crumb” documentary, which takes a look into the inner lives of the Crumb family. This documentary inspired a book entitled “The Whole Family is Crazy!” wherein the letters are published. They reveal an entirely different level of alienation that Charles was going through around the time this comic took place. In these letters he candidly discloses his homosexuality and romantic affection towards young boys. Specifically, he talks of his fondness of Bobby Driscoll, the child actor whom played the pirate, “Jim Hawkins,” in Disney’s “Treasure Island.” Charles letter states, “It was in the autumn of 1959…when I first realized it was a romantic infatuation, my thing with Driscoll.” He goes on to speak of the shame and fear around his infatuation, “I didn’t want anyone to know that I was a homosexual pedophiliac with a hopeless crush on a little boy.”³One can only imagine the torture Charles was going through in hiding these secrets from the world. They may have had a lot to do with his the depression that eventually caused him to take his own life. Charles' confessions put an even further twist on the seemingly innocent play depicted in, "Treasure Island Days," revealing a psychological inner world that existed beneath the surface of playful childhood entertainment.

“Walkin’ the streets,” is a five page autobiographical story that takes place in Crumb’s early teens, wherein he describes the dysfunctional nature of his parent’s relationship and how that affected the himself and the rest of his siblings.

He portrays his mother as a loose cannon, who was verbally abusive and sometimes physically violent. Their father appears deeply depressed and apathetic to his wife's rage, while she tears into him day and night, literally. While trying to achieve some semblance of a normal life, the children quietly watch the horror that is called matrimony. Crumb’s depictions of his father and mother are deeply disturbing. One can get a sense of the disharmony in which Robert and his siblings were forced to grow up. The look of anxiety on Robert’s young face as he watches his father leave for work covered in band-aids, speaks of the pain and sorrow felt around these memories. Through these stories we start to get a sense of what makes R.Crumb the highly compulsive and neurotic man he later becomes.

Crumb’s ability as an artist is expansive. He is able to relate accurately, the craziness as well as the wonder of his childhood. Working in the confessional vein of Justin Green’s, “Binky Brown,” Crumb takes us into the psychological drama of his family and upbringing. Through these stories one can experience a different side of the artist, one of real vulnerability recorded through actual experience. The work that made him famous was hyper-charged with sexuality and fantasy. In contrast, his autobiographical work is grounded in reality, and so becomes something completely different.

ENDNOTES

1. D.K. Holm, “R.Crumb Conversations,” (Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi,2004)30.

2. D.K. Holm, “R.Crumb Conversations,” (Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi,2004)172-173.

3. Maxon Crumb, “The Whole Family is Crazy!” (San Fransisco: Last Gasp,1998)30.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Holm, D.K. R.Crumb Conversations. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2004.

Crumb, Maxon. The Whole Family is Crazy! San Fransisco: Last Gasp, 1998.

Crumb, Robert. “Walkin’ the Streets” Zap(2004)

Illustrating the Obsessive: Justin Green's, "Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary"

The genre of graphic novel known as, “Confessional Biography,” has been said to have started with Justin Green’s seminal work, “Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary.” This self-exploratory novel played an integral part in influencing the work of many artists who have, in turn, contributed greatly to the path and popularity of this genre. He has directly influenced such major players in alternative comics as Art Spiegelman and Robert Crumb. The former wrote an introduction to, “Justin Greens Binky Brown Sampler,” in which the story mentioned above is published. Spiegelman notes that due to Green’s not so subtle encouragement, which came in the form of two tabs of amphetamine taped to a letter pleading for a story, that he contributed his first “Maus” piece to a collaborative underground comic¹. This was to spark the idea for his Pulitzer Prize winning comic of the same name based on his fathers experience during the Holocaust. “Maus” was a historically significant work and contributed greatly to the acceptance of comics as a credible literary art form. Spiegelman also observes that “ …before Justin Green, cartoonists were actually expected to keep a lid on their psyches and personal histories, or at least disguise and sublimate them into diverting entertainments.²” According to Mr. Spiegelman, a great artist, teacher and comics historian, Green’s work blew the top off of comics, allowing for a torrent of intimate and idiosyncratic work to flow into the mainstream. Another great contributor to the deconstruction of the accepted persona of comics was Robert Crumb. An important figure in the underground Comix scene of the sixties and beyond, his work, much like Green’s, deals with bizarrely sexual and compulsive topics. He too, venerates Green’s work on the back cover of “Justin Greens Binky Brown Sampler.” Crumb claims Green to be “The first ever cartoonist to draw highly personal autobiographical comics.³” He goes on to credit Green with guiding his own direction in the medium. Justin Green’s impact on these two pillars of alternative comics gives one a sense of the importance his work. More specifically this one story, and the effect it had on the evolution of comics and the autobiographical genre.

In “Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary,” we follow Justin Green’s alter ego, Binky, through his childhood struggles with Catholicism, sexuality and mental illness. These aspects of his life comingle to create bizarre experiences that border on nightmarish hallucinations. Spiegelman describes his comic panels as “intimate secular confession booths.⁴” That is what they appear to be. Much like the work of Spiegelman and many other autobiographical cartoonists, Green reprocesses his early development in an attempt to understand it and exorcize his demons. Like the Catholic confessional booths that filled his young mind with panic and fear, this comic is a confession to the reader in order to undo what had been done to him by the church. What I find most interesting about the work are the ways in which Green gives life to the many manifestations of his illness. His idiosyncrasies are so distinctly a product of his disorder and that’s what makes them fascinating. They range from anthropomorphic blades of grass threatening him in exchange for shelter from the rain, to the transformation of all his extremities into beam projecting Phalluses.

At one point in the story Binky becomes so obsessed with his sinful thoughts, that he creates the nonsensical word, “Noyatin.” This word is, “intoned all day long as a temporary release from guilt pangs that accompany every other though. It blends imperceptibly with the rhythm of his breathing."⁵ His mental torture, on one hand appears to be created by the church, and then subsequently co-opted and twisted by his compulsive disorder.

To a lesser extent, I can relate to the fear instilled in a child by religion. In elementary school I befriended a boy whose parents were born again Christians. Coming out of a secular Jewish background, I had no clue about the workings of sin or the fires of hell. After many a sleepover and story from said boy about the fragile nature of ones soul when confronted with the power of Satan, I had trouble falling asleep at night. I would to repeat phrases concerning my love for God, over and over again, in order to fall asleep. This struck me as similar to Binky’s “Noyatin”, and I’m sure many others have their own version. My parents tried to remedy this by sending me to Hebrew school where I learned, to my relief that Jews did not believe in hell. I dropped out shortly after, moments before becoming a man in the eyes of my religion.

Besides Binky’s sexual attraction to the Virgin Mary, his infatuation with phallic objects, like the rubber bumper guard of a nineteen fifty-eight Cadillac or his sinful penis rays, his conception of the soul seemed particularly quirky to me, and is a poignant place to conclude.

He envisions the soul as a biomorphic, lung-like organ. He believes that the sign of the cross led him to this conception of the exact size and shape of the human soul. Binky also notes that when the lungs cease to function they “give up the ghost,⁶” which is another supporting factor in this vision. It seems so peculiar to me because, in retrospect I had never given much thought to what a soul would look like. Green believed that the soul was like a physical appendage, something essential to life. If not cared for it could be tarnished, covered in tar like spots. He gave a physicality to sin. It was something very real, and in his mind deserving of the fear and turmoil it evoked. At least in his childhood, his ideas, which were heavily influenced by the Catholic Church, appear to have fueled a mental illness that would follow him into his adult years.

Footnotes:

1. Justin Green, Justin Green’s Binky Brown Sampler(San Fransico:Last Gasp, 1995)5.

2. Justin Green, Justin Green’s Binky Brown Sampler(San Fransico:Last Gasp, 1995)4.

3. Justin Green, Justin Green’s Binky Brown Sampler(San Fransico:Last Gasp,

1995)Back Cover.

4. Justin Green, Justin Green’s Binky Brown Sampler(San Fransico:Last Gasp, 1995)4.

5. Justin Green, Justin Green’s Binky Brown Sampler(San Fransico:Last Gasp, 1995)38.

6. Justin Green, Justin Green’s Binky Brown Sampler(San Fransico:Last Gasp, 1995)23.

Bibliography

1. Justin Green, Justin Green’s Binky Brown Sampler(San Fransico:Last Gasp, 1995).

Not So Clumsy:A Look Into Jeffery Brown's first Graphic Novel

Jeffery Brown’s, “Clumsy,” is an intimate graphic novel in which he reflects upon moments from his second long term relationship. During this time, which lasted just under a year¹, Brown unself-consciously takes the reader through many of his most vulnerable experiences. The short, often one-page vignettes reveal the profound sense of loneliness, longing and heartache that existed between him and his then girlfriend, Teresa. Often times he depicts himself as a needy person who leans on his partner for reassurance to the point of an unhealthy co-dependence. Brown’s drawings, like the title of this book, appear clumsy at first glance. However, closer inspection reveals a thoughtful simplicity behind the work. Similarly, the sparse dialogue and short titles have a Zen-like quality, giving the autobiography a meditative fluidity. The immediacy of Brown’s working methods, in which very little planning was involved, was an essential element in creating such a raw and honest account of this specific time in his life. Self-realizations creep out innocently through the cracks of his carefully chosen memories. He paints himself as neither the hero of the story, or the villain, but instead shines an un-heroic light on his flaws and vulnerabilities. At points, I was hit with involuntary feelings of embarrassment in reaction to his blatant expressions of emotion. In contrast to his sense of weakness, there is also courage and acceptance in depicting such candid and naked moments and subsequently, disseminating those moments to the world. When woven together, these ephemeral moments, drawn with vital and poetic simplicity, create a non-linear story world that becomes more than the sum of its parts.²

Whereas most graphic novelists plan and re-plan their work, using storyboards, rough sketches, penciling and finally inking, Brown bypassed these steps completely. Using only a technical pen, he drew the comic directly into his sketchbook.³ The sketchbook that Brown used to create the original comic is actually the same dimensions as the published product. This preservation of the original work allowed for all it’s vitality and raw emotion to translate clearly into the finished piece. Brown’s unrefined drawings invigorate and animate the story. Working in such an instantaneous manner, he sabotages any impulse to rework or overcomplicate his stories. The moments are transcribed much as they are remembered, quickly and out of order. The result retains an unprocessed and unedited honesty. The act of drawing was itself his way of processing the events, which must have been fresh in his mind. “Clumsy” was drawn during his relationship with Teresa and finished just after their break-up. When questioned by Ira Glass on, "This American Life," about the emotional difficulty of making this book, Brown answered, “When you break up with somebody aren’t you just drawing their face over and over again anyway? So it’s just like I was doing something instead of sitting their thinking about it.”4 The proximity of events remembered combined with the immediacy of his working methods made for a realistic portrait of his relationship, warts and all. That is what makes his work so relevant.

“A Morning Story,” is a two-page vignette wherein Brown’s sexual advances toward Teresa go unmet. Using sparing dialogue and neatly composed panels, he is able to relate feelings of sexual frustration, sadness and yearning. Brown plays with the tension that exists between the agonizing heartache of his experiences and the playful nature in which he describes the events. The simplicity of the title itself is reminiscent of a poem. Like poetry, Brown does not overfeed the reader with information but leaves ample space for one to breath and enjoy the mystery of what he has given us. In a childlike way, Brown visibly edits the title with a small black box that appears above it. He repeats this at various times throughout the book. The correction innocently hints at the frustration evident in the story below it. Given the intimate nature of the situation, “A Morning Story,” sounds a bit euphemistic, but it is in this way that brown creates the whimsical tension we find throughout the novel. Brown uses the same straightforward descriptions in his drawings. They become a powerful tool employed in tapping the core of his memories and drawing out the essence of the moment. The first page is a series of six panels all composed in the same way; a birds-eye view of Brown and Teresa, two pillows and a rumpled sheet. He leaves room for their simple body language and facial expressions to speak of discontent. In the third panel, Teresa attempts to console Brown stating, “I’m sorry, I wish I could please you.” Her statement, though innocent, is a metaphysical one. It articulates Brown’s insatiable need to be pleased and validated. His silent reaction in the following panel, in which he stares blankly out at us, the readers, seems to be a moment of reflection on the precision of her qualification. The story ends on a sad note, as he and Teresa press their foreheads together, their bodies at arms length, in a silent struggle to connect. Although happier stories are spread throughout the novel, the moments of desperation and sadness seem to stand out the most. Brown states, “I always use memory as an editor...I’m letting my memory tell me what the important things were.”⁵ It may be that the honesty inherent in his work and process gave voice to this anguish.

1. Jeffery Brown, Clumsy(Marietta: Top Shelf Productions,2006).

2. David Herman, narrative Worldmaking in graphic Life Writing(Madison: The university of Wisconsin Press, 2011)236.

3. patrick, montero. Daily News, "Dailynews.com." Last modified Sept.8th 2008. Accessed October 20, 2011. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2007/11/01/2007-11-01_comic_book_artist_jeffrey_brown_more_tha-1.html.

4.Ira, Glass. This American Life, "thisamericanlife.org." Last modified Sept.8th 2008. Accessed October 20, 2011. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/237/transcript.

5.dan, stafford. Ifpthendirt, "http://www.ifpthendirt.com." Last modified Sept.8th 2008. Accessed October 20, 2011. http://www.ifpthendirt.com/interviews.html.

Pekar and Crumb: A Match Made in Cleveland

Fortuitous forces were truly at work in Cleveland, when by chance in nineteen sixty-two, Harvey Pekar collided paths with a young Robert Crumb. They were introduced over a mutual love of old jazz records, but what Harvey found in Crumb was the inspirational spark to pursue a life in comics. He is now regarded as one of the progenitors of the autobiographical comics genre, and he has Crumb to thank for it. The simple but sophisticated real life stories, first published his comic series,” American Splendor,” developed the substance of the comics medium beyond, what Pekar called, the "adolescent"¹work of fantasy and science fiction. Through his short anecdotes, many of which have no story arc or punch line as would be found in a comic strip or super hero adventure, Pekar teased out the essence of being an actual human being, with no super natural powers to speak of. While Crumb brought Harvey's stories to life with his rich and subtle drawing, Harvey expanded on Crumb's repertoire, giving his work a new sense of realism. Their symbiotic bond arose out of a mutual appreciation for each other as intellectuals, music lovers and artists, as well as a kindred spirit formed through their equally obsessive and particular personalities. This mutual understanding created the foundation for what was to become a prolific partnership.

A deep artistic appreciation was formed at start of their relationship. Crumb's sketchbook drawings of, “The Big Yum Yum Book,” a comic he was working on at the time, inspired Harvey to start thinking about the medium seriously. A few panels from, “The Young Crumb Story,” a collaborative comic about the genesis of their relationship, clearly illustrates the extent to which Harvey was affected by Crumb's work.

Pekar casually slouches over the sketchbook, then, as if hit by some great revelation, he sinks down into his tattered loveseat, engrossed by the black sketchbook in front of him. His brow, once furrowed in a cool confidence, turns upward into a look of surrender as he begins to comprehend the power of the drawings before him. In the process of only two panels, and with very limited acting, Crumb subtly portrays Harvey's profound reaction to his work. Harvey's simple storytelling and dialogue complements Crumb's untheatrical drawings perfectly. When combined, the work of these two artists, create a world that is true to human experience, their experience specifically, and that is where its emotional power lies. One can see how Crumb's work affected Harvey, but Harvey also touched crumb in a deeply personal way. When asked to write about Harvey’s work, Crumb notes,” He brings this mundane work-a-day world to life, gives us it's poignant moments, its humor, absurdity, irony...and mostly it's absolute truth."² They had an unspoken connection that existed on the words and lines of the comic page. It would be difficult to imagine this connection existing without their shared experience of being young and creative intellectuals as well as music enthusiasts. Had they not been, it's unlikely that they would have even met in the first place.

Both Crumb and Pekar shared a deep love of old jazz and blues, as well as a mutual obsession with record collecting. It takes an intensely passionate and fanatical personality to be so compulsive about collecting records and they both shared these traits. Their extreme appreciation of music was an important aspect of their personalities, as well as a common thread in their lives and work and it was also the element that caused their initial introduction. One of their comics titled, "How I Quit Collecting Records and Put Out a

Comic Book With the Money I Saved," is a collaborative comic that tells the story of Harvey's struggle to finally put down his addiction to record collecting. In addition, it shows his deep appreciation of jazz music. One can feel the peaceful trance as Pekar sits at the table, listening to the record blare out a fury of notes. He looks eerily similar to a young Robert Crumb, sans thick frame glasses, as he rubs his chin while analyzing the song. Crumb may have seen much of himself in Pekar's story. His handling of Pekar's character seems to have come from a place of empathy that adds to the realism and power of the story. Crumb is well known for his love of old music. His vast record collection is pictured many times in his own comics. He has illustrated "Heroes of the Blues" trading cards as well as written whole comics on the subject. He even has his own old time band called "The Cheap Suit Serenaders." It can't be overstated how important this commonality was to their relationship, and everything that sprang forth from it. The cover of "American Splendor No.4" gives an intimate sense of their friendship and rapport, like two children trading baseball cards.

I think the shared thought bubble, "What A Sucker," reveals much about their relationship. It shows not only their similarity in thought, but also their acknowledgement, through the creation of the art itself, of their unspoken connection. It was that connection, forged through music, creativity and mutual appreciation that not only created some amazing and groundbreaking comics, but also a lifelong friendship.

1. Michael G. Rhode, Harvey Pekar Conversations ( Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2008), 36.

2. Harvey Pekar and Robert Crumb, American Splendor Presents: Bob and Harv’s Comics(New York: Four Walls Eight Windows)intro.

Bibliography

1. Michael G. Rhode, Harvey Pekar Conversations ( Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2008).

2. Harvey Pekar and Robert Crumb, American Splendor Presents: Bob and Harv’s Comics(New York: Four Walls Eight Windows).