All throughout April, we’re crowdsourcing a coronavirus quarantine comics reading list. Each weekday for a month, we’ll post a new recommendation from someone in the comics industry to help folks get through the isolation. This includes writers, artists, letterers, editors, comics journalists, publicists, and more…all paired with a local shop that’s currently selling the books via mail order.

Today’s pick comes from publicist Melissa Meszaros…enjoy!

High school ended. Watching my friends crop off into relationships or go off to college, kind of left me in a weird headspace. At the time, it just seemed better to sit and figure things out until I had a plan. In the winter of 2001, the highlight of my life was two chili dogs for $3.50 and a trip to the flea market every Wednesday. What began as a way to score Johnny Cash records transpired into sifting through bins of sallow comics, which is where I picked up American Splendor #4, which I still own. What attracted me to the comic was initially the record exchange on the cover. I was also familiar with R. Crumb’s illustration from his record cover for Big Brother and the Holding Company, which I had picked up from the same flea market prior.

Though not as prolific as other comics in my collection, I found Harvey Pekar’s incessant commentary on all the inanities of life refreshing. Wow. Someone else is as pissed off as me at everything that seems to be falling down around them even if it’s only for a second? I was an angry teenager, but kept complaints to myself. Harvey Pekar was so grim, such a sarcastic, closeted egotist and loner, it really made me laugh because I felt somewhat of a kinship with the work. After all, I was pretty miffed that I had zero direction where all of my high school buddies just picked up and left as if all those years we’d spent growing up together meant absolutely nothing.

While Crumb illustrated most of the issue, my favorite short overall is “Out of the Past” illustrated by Gerry Shamray, which has more thought bubbles than word bubbles. I won’t give away the plot in case you choose to pick it up. -Melissa Meszaros

Melissa Meszaros is a publicist within the comics industry with Don’t Hide PR. Don’t Hide PR is currently doing a campaign called #WEALLHIDE, which is a free PR service to creators who have lost money due to convention cancellations. You can sign up on their website. The deadline for the second run is May 8th. 

American Splendor #4
Writer: Harvey Pekar
Artist: R. Crumb, Gerry Shamray, others
Initial Publication Date: 1979
Stories by Harvey Pekar. Art by Gerry Shwmray, Michael Gilbert, R. Crumb, and Gary Dumm. The short comics on the covers are Visualize, Actualize, Realize; Library Story; and Disc Topics. The issue contains the stories: The Young Crumb Story; How I Quit Collecting Records; An Argument at Work; Out of the Past; Ridin' the Dog; Jack the Bellboy Meets Stewboy; Walkin' and Talkin'; Lunch With Carmella; Sid's Detroit Job Interview; and, The Kissinger Letter.

Search for it at a local comic shop with this directory from the Comics Industry Collective of stores open and doing mail order!

Click here for the full coronavirus reading list!