comic book
s written by the late Harvey Pekar
and drawn by a variety of artists. The first issue was published in 1976 and the most recent in September 2008, with publication occurring at irregular intervals. Publishers have been, at various times, Harvey Pekar himself, Dark Horse Comics
, and DC Comics
.
The comics have been adapted into a film of the same name
and a number of theatrical productions.
Despite comic books in the United States being traditionally the province of fantasy-adventure and other genre stories, Pekar felt that the medium could be put to wider use:
When I was a little kid, and I was reading these comics in the '40s, I kind of got sick of them because after a while, they were just formulaic.
I've had enough bad experiences and growth to last me plenty...Right now, I'd be glad to trade some growth for happiness.
Man, she's got good looking handwriting.
Look Toby, the guys in that movie are not 28 year-old file clerks who live with their grandmothers in an ethnic ghetto...They didn't get their computers like you did, by trading in a bunch of box tops and $49.50 at the supermarket...Sure, go to the movies and daydream, but Revenge of the Nerds ain't reality. It's just Hollywood bullsht.
Yeah, I know I'm not as interesting as The Little Mermaid and all that magical crap.
Why does everything in my life have to be such a complicated disaster?!
Harvey, we better skip this whole courtship thing and just get married.
I guess I have a lot of borderline health disorders that limit me politically when it comes to eating.
I'll have you know that I come from a very dysfunctional family. I can spot personality disorders a mile away.
[referring to David Letterman] Megalomaniac.
I find most of American cities to be depressing in the same way.