American Splendor Page #7

l don't know how to be positive.

l can't do that. l can't do it.

-Yes, you can.

-No, l can't.

l'll tell you how.

You'll make a comic book

of the whole thing.

You'll document every detail.

And that way, you'll remove yourself

from the experience until it's over.

l can't do that. l'm Just not strong enough.

Man, l Just wanna die.

That's fine. l'll do it without you.

l'm Fred.

You called me about the comic book.

Right, the artist. Come in.

This is my daughter, Danielle.

l had to bring her along.

l hope you don't mind.

Hi, Danielle. What's that you're holding?

A pony.

A pony? What's his name?

She's a girl. Clarissa.

Oh, l see.

l'm joyce, and l'm very pleased

to meet both you and Clarissa.

l'm real sorry to hear about Harvey.

ls he here?

He's going to work till next week

when he starts the chemo.

That's why l want this proJect started...

because once he's stuck here,

l know he'll take over.

Sh*t.

F***ing idiot.

Hey, joyce, open the door.

l forgot my keys again.

Hold the door.

Open the f***ing door, man!

-Hey, Harvey.

-Fred.

What's going on, man?

You see, l thought it was a great idea.

joyce said if we try to Just follow you

through your treatments....

She thought it was a good idea, too,

didn't she?

Here's some of the ideas

we've been batting around.

All right.

jesus.

joyce has no idea what she's doing, man.

There's too many words in these frames.

When are you coming back, Fred?

She said something about next Tuesday,

which is fine with me. lt's Just....

The only thing is,

l might have the kid again.

My ex-wife is supposed to take her, but

l don't have much faith in her showing up.

She's in worse shape than me these days.

Next week...

my treatment begins.

Do me a favor, man. Bring the kid, will you?

Thanks.

l wanna die.

-joyce.

-What?

What's wrong, Harvey?

What are you doing up? What is it?

Tell me the truth.

Am l a guy who writes about himself...

in a comic book?

Or am l Just a character in that book?

What are you talking about?

What are you saying?

lf l die, will that character keep going?

Or will he Just fade away?

Oh, my God. Harvey, wake up.

Wake up, Harvey. Come on.

Oh, no. Come on, wake up.

Can you hear me?

My name is Harvey Pekar.

That's an unusual name: Harvey Pekar.

1960 was the year l got my first apartment

and my first phone book.

Now, imagine my surprise

when l looked up my name...

and saw that in addition to me,

another Harvey Pekar was listed.

You know, l was listed as Harvey L. Pekar.

My middle name is Lawrence.

He was listed as Harvey Pekar.

Therefore, his was a pure listing.

Then in the '70s...

l noticed that a third Harvey Pekar

was listed in the phone book.

Now, this filled me with curiosity.

How can there be three people

with such an unusual name in the world...

let alone in one city?

Then one day...

a person l work with

expressed her sympathy to me...

concerning what she thought

was the death of my father.

She pointed out an obituary notice

in the newspaper...

for a man named Harvey Pekar.

And one of his sons was named Harvey.

These were the other Harvey Pekars.

And six months later, Harvey Pekar, jr. died.

Although l'd met neither man...

l was filled with sadness.

''What were they like?'' l thought.

lt seemed our lives had been linked

in some indefinable way.

But the story does not end there.

For two years later, another Harvey Pekar

appeared in the phone book.

Who are these people?

Where do they come from?

What do they do?

What's in a name?

Who is Harvey Pekar?

We've got T-shirts for sale upstairs,

if you're interested.

Here's our man, a year later.

Somehow I made it through the treatments,

and the doctors are optimistic.

I guess Joyce was right

about doing a big comic book.

We published the thing as a graphic novel,

our first collaboration...

and ended up with rave reviews.

We even won

a couple of National Book Awards.

Go figure.

Those are beautiful.

Did you find this in there?

l didn't even see those.

Ever seen one of these flowers?

Are you finished?

Danielle, l love it. Very expressive colors.

What is it, Harvey?

That was the doctor.

He says l'm all clear.

The weirdest thing

that came out of my illness was Danielle.

With her real mother running around

who knows where...

and seeing how well her and Joyce got on...

Fred decided

she'd have a better life with us.

I was scared at first, but then I thought,

what the hell. She's a good kid.

Hi, Harvey.

So we ended up taking her

and raising her as our own.

-You keep reading them backwards.

-l like reading them backwards.

ls that one you?

l keep telling you, all of them's me, man.

You look like a monster.

Wait till you see

what you're gonna look like.

-Me?

-Yeah, you're part of the story, too, now.

What story?

The story of my life.

l know l'm not as interesting as The Little

Mermaid and all that magical crap--

l think l'm gonna write my own comic.

-Yeah? What about?

-l'm not sure yet.

But not about you.

l think you have enough already.

You should write about

things in your own life.

You know, like school...

and ponies. l don't know. Girl stuff.

Do you have to hold my hand?

What are you, embarrassed of me?

l know, l'm embarrassing.

l felt the same way about my father.

No. lt's Just, when you hold my hand,

you squeeze it too hard.

Go on.

joyce is right.

You are obsessive-compulsive.

Go on.

Yeah, so I guess comics brought me to life.

But don't think

this is some sunny, happy ending.

Every day is still a major struggle.

Joyce and I fight like crazy.

And she barely works.

The kid's got ADD and is a real handful.

My life is total chaos.

With a little luck, I'll get a window

of good health between retiring and dying.

The golden years, right? Who knows?

Between my pension

and the chunk of change I get for this film...

I should be able to swing something.

Sure, I'll lose the war eventually.

But the goal is to win a few skirmishes

along the way, right?

Surprise!

For he's a jolly good fellow

Which nobody can deny

Surprise.

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