Finally Saw "The Watchmen"...

I just caught "The Watchmen" yesterday afternoon. I walked into this movie more than a little skeptical, knowing that it would be next to impossible to translate the complexities of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's masterpiece of a comic book to film. To me, the strong point of "The Watchmen" comic was that it showed just exactly what comic books can do that no other form of media can. I was more than pleasantly surprised by this movie. I was floored. Director Zack Snyder did an excellent job at translating this comic book to film. The look, feel and pacing of this movie...everything was breathtaking. The characters were portrayed very faithfully. It is a long movie, but it didn't feel like it. Even at the almost two hours and forty five minutes running time, there was still no way to include all of the complexities of the twelve issue comic book series into the movie, but don't let this bother you. It in no way distracts form the power of the story. If you were a fan of the comic book, or even if you're just curious, run out and see this one now while it's still playing. It's well worth the price of admission.

AMERICAN SPLENDOR: THE MOVIE

"American Splendor" (2003) is a movie based on Harvey Pekar's extremely realistic but entertaining slice-of-life, auoto-biographical comic book of the same name. This is a movie that can be appreciated whether you have read his comics or not. I personally have read all the "American Splendor" comics that pertain to this movie and I must say that this is a surprisingly faithful cinematic adaptation of Harvey Pekar's work. The script was not written by Harvey Pekar but you can't tell. Watching this movie is just like reading his comics. What this movie does is take samplings from all of Pekar's work and blend them into a cohesive story about the life and times of this great writer. Of course Harvey's stories are very realistic, so realistic in fact that is hard to distinguish where the comic book ends and his real life begins. They are as one.

In a nutshell, "American Splendor" covers the life of Harvey Pekar ( perfectly played by Paul Giamatti) from the days of his pre-comic book career to the time he met Robert Crumb and began making his own comics, to his third and final marriage and surviving his ordeal with cancer. Along the way we meet several interesting characters. You have of course the brilliant underground comics artist/writer Robert Crumb, who agreed to illustrate Harvey's first comics. Crumb's character is played dead on by James Uburniak. Another great character is Toby, who works with Pekar at his file clerk job at the V.A. hospital. Toby (played by Judah Friedlander) is an eccentric character, a true nerd, and his presence and personality are heartfelt throughout the movie. Mr. Boats is another great character. Mr. Boats is a funny and eccentric older black man who also works with Pekar at the hospital. His character is well interpreted by Earl Billings. All of the acting performances in this movie are well done and the way these actors portray their characters is completely faithful to the comic.

There are several unique things about this movie that I like. It uses the form of a comic book to frame the movie. A panel taken from the comic will suddenly turn to live action, zoom in, and this is where a new scene starts. This movie is constantly juxtaposing illustraions from the comic with the live action. A good example of this would be when Joyce Brabner, Pekar's new wife to be, flies in for the first time to meet Harvey. She is at the airport looking for Harvey, going through her head thinking about all the different ways he is portrayed in his comics. With every person she sees, a diffferent image of Harvey pops up on the screen, and she wonders if this is the one.

Something I really love about this movie is the fact that the real people "American Splendor" is based on play an active role in the story. The movie constantly cuts in to the real Harvey Pekar, as he adds his own narration and viewpoints to the several mini stories that unfold inside this movie. You also get to see the real Toby and the real Joyce Brabner giving their take on things.

Another great moment is all the David Letterman appearances made by Harvey. Each one is presented very faithfully. Most of the time they showed the original vintage David Letterman episode. I remember staying up late at night as a teenager to make sure I caught the shows with Harvey, and let me tell you, his appearances were always eventful, high strung, and controversial.

I don't want to give away too much of what happens in this movie, so let me close by saying that "American Splendor" is packed with emotion. It is an intense, heartwarming yet gut wrenching account of the life and times of one man. His story is not exciting all of the time, but it is always entertaining, and you will want to come back to it again and again.

HARVEY PEKAR'S "AMERICAN SPLENDOR"

Harvey Pekar's excellent comic book 'American Splendor" was responsible for getting me out of superhero comics when I was a teenager and into the more experimental comics that were out there, waiting for me to devour them. This comic book also turned me on to a lot of great books and authors that I never would have thought about reading otherwise such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, James Joyce's "Ulysses" and Eugene Zamiatin's incredible dystopian novel "We".

"American Splendor" is an autobiographical comic book about the life of Harvey Pekar. The first issue was published in 1976. Harvey writes about the mundane, day to day activities of life, but treats them with drama and makes them significant. He has an uncanny talent for unearthing the unseen beauty of day to day existence. Pekar is well founded in realism(psychological and physical). His stories can be a sort of an elaborate stream of consciousness monologue about his innermost thoughts or something so simple as walking to the store to buy a loaf of bread. You walk away from his work with a greater appreciation for life and with your eyes open to things in your own life that you've never really paid attention to before. He does not idealize himself or any of his characters. All of these stories and characters come from his real life. Harvey only writes the stories. He gives his artists photos and rough thumbnails of how he wants the images to flow.

Harvey Pekar got into comics when he started hanging out in the 1960's with underground comics artist Robert Crumb, who would illustrate many of his stories. He has survived numerous bouts with David Letterman on TV, cancer, and even having an excellent, surprisingly faithful movie made about his life and comics. I will review this movie soon. I just have to watch it again to refresh my memory of it. He is still writing "American Splendor". Currently it is being published by Vertigo, a DC Comics imprint.

His comics, especially his earlier ones, can be hard to find at times. Many of them had small pressings. The best place to start would be any of the numerous paperback collections that are out there.

CHICK TRACTS

Anybody remember those unintentionally funny, bizarre comic book religious tracts that you would find (and still do) in odd places that someone left laying around just for you? They would turn up in public restrooms, restaurants, and other places. They are called Chick Tracts. They began being published in 1961 by Jack T. Chick and are still being published today. I always get a kick out of reading these. I love the gruesome color art work on the covers. And the artwork inside! Most of it looks like the art in the old EC horror comics from the 1950's...somewhat cartoonish yet grotesque and horrific at the same time. Some of the artwork has a grim, photo-realistic quality, not as impressive to the eye, but equally effective. And the stories! Highly preachy, loaded with fear and paranoia, and grim, depressing plots....that is, until the end, when someone accepts Jesus as their saviour and all is well. Still, this doesn't come until the main character has hit rock bottom and has suffered enormously.

The ironic thing about these tracks is that they unintentionally glorify what they are preaching against by revelling in it's excess and making everything so laughably melodramatic. Also the beliefs and morals held in these tracks are so stilted that you cannot take them seriously.

I got a boxed assortment of a hundred of these several years ago for my birthday and I love it. You can order them here.

There is an incredible website that catalogs every Chick Tract ever made. You can click on and read just about every one, and it's free. Click here and kickback, enjoy, and have a few good laughs.