American Splendor: Another Day - Volume 1

Harvey Pekar never has "just another day"; follow his battles of everyday life in this latest volume of his autobiographical series.

Underground comics favorite Pekar returns with another collection of autobiographical reflections. His narratives are subdued and unconventional, with the rhythm of ordinary life. In this collection he captures something every reader can relate to, whether it's worrying over his runaway cat or levelheadedly dealing with a plumbing disaster (leading him to the exclamation, Today I am a man!). It is the very lack of a point to these narratives that makes them work. The flaw of the stories in this collection is that they are of his current life—that is, the life of a freelance comic book writer. Many of the rambling thoughts reflect so closely on the act of creating what readers are holding in their hands that it's like looking at the infinite reflections in a pair of parallel mirrors. In one story, Pekar goes through all his thoughts when deciding whether he should search for more work or just take a nap; in another he details the hassles of getting paid for his latest comic. A number of talented artists illustrate this collection, giving spice and variety to the relentlessly average life of Pekar. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Pekar returns to form in this gathering of four recent issues of his long-running merican Splendor. His last several books have been long stories, two of them--nsung Hero (2003) and Ego and Hubris (2006)--not even autobiographical. This one contains mostly two- to six-pagers about his daily doings as a civil-service retiree now just writing comics and jazz commentary. A few are memoirs, and one is about a public-health physician, his friend, seeking a new job, which she finds with an extraordinarily busy doctor serving the uninsured at prices they can afford; this piece is a genuine day brightener. As usual in his autobiographical stuff, Pekar's anxiety and compulsiveness get him into minuscule scrapes that keeping his cool, or just waiting, soothes or dissipates. Now more than before, and maybe to greater comedic effect, cool is achieved (in the piece about fixing the toilet, downright triumph is achieved). Thanks to DC, Pekar here collaborates with several distinctive star artists (e.g., Gilbert Hernandez, Eddie Campbell) as well as established partners Gary Dumm and Dean Haspiel. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved