American Splendor

    (Harvey Pekar)
™ and © Harvey Pekar

The spirit of independent publishing is alive and well deep within the pages of American Splendor. Written and published by Cleveland based author Harvey Pekar, American Splendor turns the “simple” complexities of everyday life into highly addictive, hard to put down short stories.

Ethical issues such as social prejudice, personal insecurities and street violence are at the core of every self-contained story—each reading more like a day in the life journal entry rather than the standard comic book fare. But perhaps the most personal tales, the ones most likely to have caught the attention of comic book publisher Dark Horse Comics, are the ones relating to Pekar’s bout with cancer. So touching are these stories, in fact, that they act as the precursor to the writer’s graphic non-novel, Our Cancer Year.
Jump to issue:
  • 1
    #1
    Color cover, B&W interiors
    May 1976
    Cover: $1.00
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Gary G. Dumm, Greg Budgett, Robert Crumb, Lod Jeric, Brian Bram
    52 pages; Nudity
    No copies available
  • 2
    #2
    May 1977
    Cover: $1.15
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Gary G. Dumm, Greg Budgett, Robert Crumb, Brian Bram
    No copies available
  • 3
    #3
    May 1978
    Cover: $1.50
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Gary G. Dumm, Greg Budgett, Robert Crumb
    No copies available
  • 4
    #4
    Oct 1979
    Cover: $2.00
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Gary G. Dumm, Gerry Shamray, Robert Crumb, Michael T. GIlbert
    No copies available
  • 5
    #5
    Cover: $2.00
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Gary G. Dumm, Gerry Shamray, Robert Crumb, Greg Budgett
    No copies available
  • 6
    #6
    Cover: $2.25
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Gary G. Dumm, Gerry Shamray, Michael T. GIlbert, Greg Budgett
    ca. 1981
    No copies available
  • 7
    #7
    Cover: $2.50
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Gary G. Dumm, Gerry Shamray, Greg Budgett, Robert Crumb, Sue Cavey, Jack Millie, Kevin Brown, Rick Dahl, Sean Carroll
    ca. 1982
    No copies available
  • 8
    #8
    Cover: $2.50
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Gary G. Dumm, Gerry Shamray, Greg Budgett, Robert Crumb, Sue Cavey, Kevin Brown
    ca. 1983
    No copies available
  • 9
    #9
    Cover: $2.50
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Sean Carroll, Kevin Brown, May Midwest, Barry Hoffman, Gary G. Dumm, Val Mayerik, Philip Fried, Mitch Sonoda, Robert Crumb
    ca. 1984
    1 copy for $79.95
  • 10
    #10
    Cover: $3.00
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Joyce Brabner, Val Mayerik, Bill Knapp, Mitch Sonoda, Joe Zabel, Gary G. Dumm, Bill Crook
    No copies available
  • 11
    #11
    Cover: $3.00
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Spain Rodriguez, Val Mayerik, Greg Budgett, Gary G. Dumm, Bill Knapp, Ed Wesolowski, Joe Lintner, Joe Zabel, Joyce Brabner
    No copies available
  • 12
    #12
    David Letterman cover/appearance
    Cover: $3.00
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Ed Wesolowski, Robert Crumb, Frank Stack, Spain Rodgriguez, Val Mayerik, Joe Zabel, Gerry Shamray, Drew Friedman, Gilbert Clark, Gary Budgett
    ca. 1987
    No copies available
  • 13
    #13
    Cover: $3.25
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Gary G. Dumm, Drew Friedman, Frank Stack, Joe Zabel, Paul Mavrides, Val Mayerik, Donald Simpson, Rebecca Huntington, Ed Wesolowski, Greg Budget
    B&W
    2 copies from $29.95
  • 14
    #14
    Cover: $3.50
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Gary G. Dumm, Joe Zabel, Drew Friedman, Paul Mavrides, Frank Stack, Allison Bechdel, Donald Simpson, Laura Dumm, William Fogg, Ed Wesolowski, Rebecca Huntington, Stephen Destefano
    David Letterman exploitation issue; ca. 1989
    1 copy for $149.95
  • 15
    #15
    Cover: $3.50
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Gary G. Dumm, Joe Zabel, Alan Moore, Carole Sobocinski, Chester Brown, Bill Knapp, Mark A. Zingarelli, Spain Rodriguez, Frank Stack, Robert Stack, Ed Wesolowski, Richard G. Taylor
    2 copies from $24.95
  • 16
    #16
    Nov 1991
    Cover: $3.95
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Gary G. Dumm, Joe Zabel, Jim Woodring, Spain Rodriguez, Frank Stack, Robert Stack, Carole Sobocinski
    No copies available
  • 17
    #17
    Jul 1993
    Cover: $4.95
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Gary G. Dumm, Joe Zabel, Joe Sacco, Jim Woodring, Frank Stack, Carole Sobocinski, Paul Mavrides, John R. Stats, Alex Wald, Gerry Shamray
    Published by Dark Horse Comics
    No copies available
  • Bk 1
    Book #1
    Mar 1986
    W: Harvey Pekar  ·  A: Robert Crumb, Kevin Brown, Greg Budgett, Gary G. Dumm, Gerry Shamray
    Collection published by Doubleday
    No copies available