From Shlub to Shrub

(Props to Chris N)
Harvey Pekar, who decided his dead-end life as a file clerk at the Cleveland VA deserved the same star treatment as Superman and Batman, has died at the age of 70 of prostate cancer. Pekar collaborated with friend and artist Robert Crumb, and the resulting comic, American Splendor, made them stars of the independent comic set, which made him rich and famous enough to keep his job at the Veterans Administration hospital. Pekar’s fame did get him a series of guest spots on Late Night with David Letterman, where his antics and attacks on NBC got him banned.