American Splendor #15
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeIn "Bob Wachsman Tummler," Harvey Pekar recounts a raw, pivotal moment from his college years, capturing the suffocating weight of expectation and personal breakdown. Drawn with unflinching honesty by Joe Zabel and inked by Gary Dumm, the story unfolds as Harvey confronts his escalating anxiety, culminating in a volatile clash with his father that forces him to leave home. The cover, also by Zabel with inks by Dumm, mirrors the story’s tense intimacy.
In "Weekend," Harvey enjoys a surprisingly smooth stretch of time—until an aggressive motorcyclist cuts him off, and the next day, a routine trip to a book dealer with Joe takes a turn when a cop pulls him over for speeding.
In "Disjunctions," Harvey navigates a quiet but charged day after dropping off Joyce, settling into the rhythm of small routines—cooking toast, reading a heartfelt letter from an art school student, and making a travel agency visit to secure an airline reservation. But as he moves through these ordinary moments, a growing unease creeps in when he realizes he may have left the oven on.
In "Festering," a raw and intimate chapter from Harvey’s college years, the weight of expectation cracks under the strain of anxiety. When a moment of frustration erupts into breaking a chair, his father’s reaction escalates—ordering him out and pulling a knife—leaving Harvey at a breaking point.
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Reprints
Reprinted in The New American Splendor Anthology #[nn] (1991), The Comics Journal #213 (1999), The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore #[nn] (2003), Jewish Comix Anthology #[1] (2014)
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