Article in Cleveland SCENE, "He Works Hard For the Money"

HE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY

Posted by Frank Lewis on Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 9:51 AM

Until fairly recently, Harvey Pekar says, he “always had a lot of trouble” getting artists to illustrate his stories. “I had to work with some people who were not that good. It was either that or nothing.”

• RICK PARKER

That’s not the case anymore, as one look at his new online project and real-world gallery exhibit proves.The Pekar Project is a web comic series published by SMITH magazine, edited by Jeff Newelt. It’s a multifaceted adventure in the real-life stories of Harvey. New comics are published every other week at smithmag.net, along with interviews, artist spotlights and other material. Artists include New Yorkers Rick Parker and Sean Pryor, Los Angelino Joseph Remnant and Clevelander Tara Seibel.

“I met Tara at a workshop at Lakeland [Community College],” says Pekar. “The other three came to me from Jeff, who just sent me people he thought were real good. They were really anxious to work with me, even though they weren’t getting paid.”

Not getting paid is not unusual in the world of storytelling and comics, especially online. Pekar is hopeful that the Pekar Project will attract the interest of a print publisher.

For the first Project, Siebel depicted a conversation Pekar had with comic-book colleague R. Crumb. They talked about contemporary artists’ and musicians’ struggle to find an audience, which was a key concept in the opera Leave Me Alone, for which Pekar wrote the libretto.

• TARA SIEBEL

The stories he’s currently writing for the project are about his trip to and from a speaking engagement in Muncie, Indiana. Once he’s “run into” a story, Pekar writes it in the format of a comic strip, with word balloons and stick figures. “No matter how many times I copy, it’s always messy and sloppy,” he says.
“If nothing ever comes of [the Pekar Project], it wouldn’t be a big huge loss. It’s not like I’ve been chiseling away at a big block of stone to make a sculpture or something.”

And whether the Pekar Project sees print or not, the Pennello Gallery(12407 Mayfield Rd., 216.707.9390) will show original art from the series in an exhibit called The Pekar Project Live: From Web to Walls. It opens with a reception from 7-11 p.m. Friday, October 3, and continues through October 9. — Michael Gill