Best of American Splendor #[nn]

Harvey Pekar's *Best of American Splendor* collects standout work from his celebrated autobiographical series, and Robert Crumb's cover sets the tone perfectly — a sweating, exasperated everyman hunched over a desktop computer, muttering expletive-laced frustration about still not understanding how to use the thing after ten months, resignedly concluding he must be "ready for th' scrapheap." It's the kind of relatable, down-to-earth comedy and pathos that made *American Splendor* feel unlike anything else in comics, and Crumb's deeply expressive linework captures it with warmth and wit. A fine starting point for anyone curious about Pekar's singular vision of working-class American life.