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JewCE 2024: American (Jewish) Splendor: Celebrating Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner

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Check put the panel “American (Jewish) Splendor: Celebrating Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner” from JewCE 2024.

Harvey Pekar (1939-2010) created and wrote American Splendor comics, which inspired a whole branch of memoir comics (not to mention the 2003 American Splendor movie), which Harvey produced with Robert Crumb and other notable artists. With his wife and creative partner, Joyce Brabner, who passed away in August, Pekar created a singular body of work, much of it Jewish-themed. On her own, Joyce wrote significant graphic novels. Harvey would have been 85 years old this past October 8. His and Joyce’s influence on comics remains strong.

Talking about Harvey and Joyce at this panel are two of Harvey’s artistic partners, Dean Haspiel (The Quitter; Billy Dogma) and Josh Neufeld (A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge; The Influencing Machine) as well as Jeff Newelt (editor of The Pekar Project); JewCE award-winning cartoonist Peter Kuper (Stop Forgetting to Remember; Ruins), who knew Harvey in ‘70s Cleveland; historian Arie Kaplan (From Krakow to Krypton; Encyclopedia of Epic Myths and Legends), and writer Danny Fingeroth (author of Jack Ruby: The Many Faces of Oswald’s Assassin), who hosted Harvey at a 2009 event with YIVO.

Pre-order your copy of Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland

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Official Press Release

Top Shelf ProductsPre-order your copy of Harvey Pekar’s CLEVELAND!

Harvey Pekar was one of a kind — as Alan Moore says, “a pillar of the comics medium.” His work in autobiographical comics has affected millions deeply, and his influence can be seen everywhere today.

This winter, we’re honored to team up with new publisher Zip Comics to release one of his final projects: Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland, a heartfelt memoir as well as a bittersweet celebration of the city he loved.
This February release is now available for pre-order through your local comic shop, bookseller, or directly from us. Check out Joseph Remnant’s amazing art in the 8-page preview on our web site, and pre-order your copy today!

Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland
by Harvey Pekar and Joseph Remnant
• Introduction by Alan Moore
• Edited by Jeff Newelt
• Co-published by Top Shelf & Zip Comics
• 128-page deluxe hardcover graphic novel, 9.3” x 7.3”
• Older teens (16+) and adults
• ISBN: 978-1-60309-091-9, Diamond code: DEC11-1207
• $21.99 US

A lifelong resident of Cleveland, Ohio, Harvey Pekar (1939-2010) pioneered autobiographical comics, mining the mundane for magic since 1976 in his critically acclaimed series American Splendor.

Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland is sadly one of his last, but happily one of his most definitive graphic novels. It presents key moments and characters from the city’s history, intertwined with Harvey’s own ups and downs, as relayed to us by Our Man and meticulously researched and rendered by artist Joseph Remnant. At once a history of Cleveland and a portrait of Harvey, it’s a tribute to the ordinary greatness of both.

“One of the very greatest works by that unique and irreplaceable American voice, the truly splendorous Harvey Pekar… graced by the impeccable and poignant artistry of Joseph Remnant.” — From the introduction by Alan Moore

“America’s poet-comic-laureate of curmudgeonhood is sorely missed, but thankfully, this posthumous book, like Hamlet’s father, is here to remind us of the great man, the great Pekar.” — Jonathan Ames, author and creator of HBO’s Bored to Death