The famously eccentric Pekar is the creator and writer of the autobiographical comics and graphic novel series "American Splendor," whose subjects include Jewish life in Cleveland from the 1930s to the present. By the 1980s, Pekar had attracted a cult following so large that it led to some memorable appearances by him on Late Show with David Letterman. In 2003 the film based on Pekar's life and work, American Splendor, gained for him a measure of national recognition. Two years later Pekar collaborated with artist Dean Haspiel to produce The Quitter, a graphic novel, and he continues to produce his "American Splendor" series (both DC Comics/Vertigo).

About the Series

Comic books were invented by American Jews in the 1930's and 1940's. Did this come about, as some maintain, because anti-Semitism kept Jewish artists, writers and entrepreneurs out of more "reputable" areas of publishing? And did comics in any way reflect the Jewish background of its original exponents?

In this series three giants in the field, Al Jaffee, Jules Feiffer and Harvey Pekar, will join moderator Danny Fingeroth to discuss their careers and reflect on how their work has been influenced by their Jewish heritage.

Series curator and moderator Danny Fingeroth, a former editor of Spider-Man, has lectured and taught about comics at the Smithsonian Institution and the New School. He is the author of the pop-culture study Disguised as Clark Kent: Jews, Comics, and the Creation of the Superhero (Continuum) and The Rough Guide to Graphic Novels (Penguin).

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