Pekar & Crumb; Talkin' 'bout Art /compiled & illustrated by Tara Seibel

" Da Vinci For Dummies" Harvey Pekar & Tara Seibel

"Plague of the Phone Hustlers" Harvey Pekar & Tara Seibel

"Meeting Harvey Pekar" by Rick Brown

I was attending the Ohioanna Book Festival in the spring of 2008, mostly to talk to Pulitzer Prize winning Plain Dealer columnist and author Connie Schultz. I also had the hopes of meeting her husband, recently elected Senator Sherrod Brown. And I did just that. But to my surprise, I later had the good fortune to be introduced to another famous Clevelander, Harvey Pekar.

Naked Sunfish “Onion City” cartoonist Sue Olcott was lucky enough to interview Mr. Pekar that day. She introduced me and we spoke very briefly. The hectic pace of the book festival made it impossible to talk for long. Yet I came away satisfied knowing I would be able to publish an interview in the very near future.

Ms. Olcott later gave me Harvey’s phone number and encouraged me to call him. I’m not one who enjoys talking on the phone. And to be honest I was never a comic book aficionado, even as a boy. I learned of Harvey mostly through the success of American Splendor, a cinematic biographical account of his life. Consequently, I was a bit nervous about speaking with Harvey. But Sue insisted and I finally did contact him.

At first our conversation was somewhat clumsy, in a West Side guy talking to an East Side guy, Clevelander sort of way. Anyone from the area knows what I mean. I wasn’t quite sure what to say, making it difficult for Mr. Pekar to understand what it was I wanted from him. But after I told him I was the editor of an electronic magazine in search of another comic strip, we both loosened up. Harvey immediately began telling me about his current project with a talented young artist named Tara Seibel. He gave me her number and told me to call.

Harvey and Tara contributed the wonderful “Rock City-Terminally Ill" comic to Naked Sunfish for over a year following that. It was a great companion piece to “Onion City” and gave the website a real Northern Ohio flavor. And while Tara and I have never met in person, we have become friends and colleagues.

I suppose I cannot say that Harvey Pekar’s writing directly influenced me, at least not initially and not in a literary way. Harvey’s deflecting my attention from himself to Ms. Seibel struck me. Having grown up outside Cleveland I immediately recognized the loyalty he had for her and their collaboration. Clevelanders tend to be loyal, sometimes to a fault. (Look at their sports teams’ fans) I have since realized that Mr. Pekar’s influence on me, and many others, was his fixation with the mundane.

After becoming more familiar with Harvey’s work, I have come to see many similarities in our outlook on life. I write about everyday occurrences. I even have a series of one act plays called “The Non-Fiction Theater for the Truly Mundane”. And Harvey saw the essence of living in the day to day: a person’s job, a loyalty to community, frustrations, a person’s fight with cancer. And while I am mostly a humorist, I am proud I share Harvey Pekar’s eye for redundancy, the brave struggle of getting up every morning and living that day. His sarcasm and wit were amazing. It got him in trouble. I can relate.

The inspiration I can draw from Harvey is that he saw the wonder in everyday events. He knew the mystery of boring tasks, the commonality of it all, and the sameness as difference, like the beautiful bickering emanating from an old married couple still in love. I believe Mr. Pekar saw all this and yet was never trite in his art, only the genuine thing, and the real deal.

Thanks Harvey.

Rick Brown

Editor and Head Writer – www.nakedsunfish.com

Author – Naked Sunfish – Best Bites

"No Reservations" Written by Harvey Pekar Illustrated by Tara Seibel

This story was published on SMITHmag.net but has been removed for some unknown reason. It's totally bogus, but NO WORRIES! We hope you enjoy it here at The Alternative Project
{T.A.P. Comix}

This Rock City—Terminally Ill comic story is also getting published in an underground mini comic
{T.A.P. Comix#1}. Along with the limited edition Rock City—Terminally Ill Comic mini Harvey and I put together in 2009. A paypal is being set up for future purchase.

Lake View Cemetery

(Ironically, where Harvey Pekar will be buried and the first comic I wrote.)
From Thecomicsbeat.com "Word has reached us that while a formal memorial service will be announced at a future date, Harvey Pekar will be buried at Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, in a place of honor next to the grave of Eliot Ness, the famed FBI agent, and another proud son of Cleveland. When Harvey’s future wife, Joyce Brabner, was introduced as a character in the book, she was seen in Lakeview Cemetery.

Crumb's Genesis

Jewish Review of Books
http://www.jewishreviewofbooks.com/authors/detail/harvey-pekar-tara-seibel
*{Robert Crumb gave this comic a thumbs up}

Manifest Equality "We believe in Full & Equal Rights for all Americans with no exceptions."

Meet the Artist : Harvey Pekar :
Why have you chosen to participate in Manifest Equality?
When I heard about this exhibit from my Pekar Project editor Jeff Newelt, I knew right away I wanted to capture my experience of the moment of March 4th, 1970 as a large scale painting, not a comic. It's called "American Splendor: Kent State Shootings Demonstration" and Tara Seibel did a terrific job capturing my memory.
Describe a bit about your submission to the gallery or the creative process you are putting into it.
In 1970, I was working near Case Western Reserve University when the Kent State shootings happened. My bosses were liberal with me, and I had some break time, so I went out to join in the demonstration at Case Western. I went out and there were mobs of people, and they were marching and chanting "Join us! Join us!" So I joined them. i never forgot that and this painting is a perfect way to remember that moment.
What else do you want to manifest?
I don't know what kind of power I have to influence, but through my writing I'd like to bring the world a little closer to peace and equality.
:: You can read Harvey's newest autobiographical comics on the Pekar Project at SMITH Magazine. You can watch Paul Giamatti play Harvey and Harvey play himself in the Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning film version of his life and work: American Splendor. ::

Meet the Artist: Tara Seibel :
Why have you chosen to participate in Manifest Equality?
The spirit and art created during the Manifest Hope Campaign was drop-dead gorgeous. I'm thrilled to be a part of this on-going quest to bring hope, new possibilities and change to our country through artistic and collaborative endeavors.
Describe a bit about your submission to the gallery or the creative process you are putting into it?
Harvey Pekar and I are working on a piece entitled "American Splendor: Kent State Shootings Demonstration." It's an original large scale painting based on a memory of Harvey's from May 4th, 1970 -- during the day of the Kent State shootings.
Essentially, I will be painting an American Splendor moment on canvas instead of drawing a comic based on his life, like I do for The Pekar Project webcomics series. I'm not sure if that's even been done before.
For the gallery show we did in Cleveland for Harvey's 70th Birthday, I adapted an illustration of Duke Ellington that ran on The Pekar Project into a painting [see above], and did some paintings of Harvey, but this is our first collaboration on a painting. The subject is emotional with not much dialogue. It's about people coming together. I also have an image in my mind for a solo piece as well, we'll see if time permits.
What else would you like to manifest?
Same-sex married couples can adopt unwanted or orphaned children in need of families.. hello?
I would like to see more self-sufficiency through urban homesteading; for example, composting, using rain water, turning your front lawn into a vegetable garden etc.
It would also be nice if we could wipe the stigma off mental illness in this country.

::::Goodbye To My Friend & Mentor::::

I've been working with Harvey Pekar for a little over two years now, almost daily. I have know idea how I could have lucked out like this as an artist, though I've certainly worked hard these past 15 years at my craft.

We started working on a book project. I started doing my own script writing side by side with our man. He told me that I "have a natural ability to write along with being a talented artist." I'm so glad I worked my ass off while he was alive. He kept saying to me."Why are you cranking so hard? You have time. You act like the end of the world is coming or something." And I told him. "Well, Harv, I think time is so valuable. And maybe you don't understand what kind of opportunity this is working with you." He and I collaborated on strips that went into Chicago NewCity, Austin Chronicle, Cleveland Freetimes, Cleveland Scene, Funnytimes, Heeb Magazine, SmithMag.net/PekarProject
and our latest strip in the Jewish Review of Books

I never took him for granted, and when he visited my house and family, we doted on him and made him feel comfortable. And I think he loved that! What a ham! He got along great with my husband and children. He read to them and would always come over with a new book in hand. Or we would meet at the Cleveland Heights library (where he was treated like a king, btw) and work.

It was a lot of hard work, but it was so exciting and fun to show him progress. How often do you ever get somebody interested in your work? I soaked up every second of it. It was a rare set-up and we both knew it. He loved being on the ground floor and watching me try and do something different. The last day we worked together (day before he died) at a cafe on Lee Road. We were talkin' and (after we ripped apart LeBron) got into our daily art discussion. We talked about Joan Miro being an innovator in automatic drawing along with Masson. And how they started surrealism and how Miro didn't want to be pinned down to that movement because he wanted to be free to experiment with other styles. Who am I going to dish with about art now?? I'm devastated.

If you read my latest interview in Juxtapoz (click on bottom of article part 1 & 2)
You'd know that I confessed to tearing up during the film American Splendor (before I met him) What an inspiration!!! What an amazing hard-working man. He became my cult-classic professional hero. I had know idea that the wind was going to drift me into the seat next to him at a comix discussion? He symbolized (and was) the working-class D.I.Y. and I share the same work ethic. Talent is something that you have to unearth during your life journey. And you can't do it unless you are also blessed with this embedded drive in your mind and soul. And then you need the physical energy to try and get it out on paper in an organized fashion. He had all of those skills and he wasn't lazy. He would get inspired and then he would bolt at the speed of lightening back home and get it down on paper. HE DIDN"T MESS AROUND when it came to work. And that's why I admired him.

I know he had a great life. He got everything he wanted (except money). And now he's finally a free spirit. No more hip replacement surgeries, no more cancer treatments, no more feeling angst over taxes. no more trips to the body shop or changing cat litter. No more Cleveland winters (I'm a little jealous). I know he's in a gorgeous place with piles of many fruits and vegetables he's marveling over and eating. And of course "Panayiotis 9" is playing in the background. My condolences go out to his beloved wife Joyce Brabner and his daughter Danielle. I hope God is holding him in the palm of his hand. And I would like to end this with my all time favorite quote by him. From the story entitled "Alice Quinn" -- "As decades a' faces ran through my mind. I felt like cryin': Life seemed so sweet an'so sad an' so hard to let go of in the end. But this is Monday. I went t'work , hustled some records. Came home and wrote this. T'night I'll finish 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.' Life goes on. Every day is a new deal. Keep workin; and sump'n'll turn up." Something turned up for him. ––Tara

My latest Harvey Illustrations...

This illustration/caricature came out of sheer impulse. I've been exploring some of the great caricaturists like Al Hirschfeld and David Levine. Lately, I've had the rare and fortunate opportunity to get some drawing tips from R. Crumb!
Illustration Coming out in a book called Comic's Comics.
note: Harvey's grave site is still unmarked. This emotional piece helped me deal with mourning Harvey Pekar's death. I was able to create some sort of memorial to him.