American Splendor: Another Dollar

Rating: 4/5

Synopsis: American Splendor: Another Dollar collects 4 issues from the 2006 Vertigo run of the autobiographical comic American Splendour revolving the quotidian life of Cleveland native Harvey Pekar.

My Thoughts: After my perusal through Ego & Hubris and On the Fly, Harvey Pekar has earned my respect as an integral post-modernist writer with an aptitude for making the utterly mundane utterly intriguing and relatable. Likewise, this book continues the tradition with several short stories illustrated by a diverse range of artists in the comic industry. The stories themselves were sufficiently amusing in their observational humor and meta elements. The art, on the other hand, was very hit or miss depending on the comic. Some of the cartoonists (including Zachary Baldus, Dean Haspiel, and longtime collaborator Gary Dumm) were vivid in the depiction of the characters' facial expressions and body language along with the backgrounds. Others (such as John Lucas and John Cebollero) seemed to be trying too hard to be grotesque which detracted from the story quite a bit hence the subtracted star from my rating.

Final Thoughts: Overall, Another Dollar is another solid collection worth picking up for any American Splendor fan or anyone in the mood for something more down-to-earth.