The loss of Harvey Pekar in 2010 was an enormous blow to the comic community. Not the mainstream (i.e superhero) community, but the self-publishing and independent scene. Pekar was one of the grandfathers of the self-published, biographical comic industry (and there have been many, many followers in that path) and his loss was profound. Since Pekar never really retired from comics, there were several books in flight when he died. The first posthumous book released was Harvey Pekar’s Cleveland. Part biography, part history Harvey Pekar waxes on about the city he lived in and loved and does it in a way that only Harvey Pekar could have.

Pekar mixes in the history of Cleveland (going back to the first European settlers) with his own biography of living in Cleveland. The biography piece isn’t new and runs over a lot of the same terrain as The Quitter. As for the rest of the book, I wasn’t very familiar with the Cleveland area history previously, so it was an interesting background. Pekar spent many pages on the slow growth of Cleveland in the 1800s until the annexation of Ohio City. The rapid industrialization at the end of the 19th century (led by J.D. Rockefeller’s founding of Standard Oil in Cleveland) built Cleveland up to a world-class city. It’s population, easy access to waterways and proximity to raw materials made it a perfect location for the burgeoning industrial age.

One of the big turning points for Cleveland (and Pekar) is the Cleveland Indians winning the 1948 World Series. It was a high point for the city in a sport they were normally not competitive in. The good times seemed to last until the Indians lost the 1954 World Series (highlighted by Willie Mays spectacular catch on a Vic Wertz fly ball) and the fun was over and it seemed to be over for the city as well. People (especially whites) started moving out of the city center and into the suburbs. Industries that had led Cleveland started to leave or close down. Race relations (which were never good in the city) got much worse and led to several race riots. And pollution led to the Cuyahoga River catching fire in 1969. The loss of industry, flight to the suburbs and racial issues led Cleveland to declare bankruptcy in 1978.

One of the other things that Pekar goes into details about is the rise of Zubal’s bookstore in Cleveland. Zubal’s is one of the largest (if not THE largest) bookstores in the country and has taken over a building that used to be a Twinkie factory (complete with pipes that still hold well preserved Twinkie filling). Pekar took Anthony Bourdain to the bookstore during Bourdain’s Cleveland episode of No Reservations. You can see the visit on the Zubal’s website.

Overall, it’s another winner from the hand of Harvey Pekar. The book not only does a great job of showing a short history of Cleveland (as well as many reasons why it’s still a great city), but points out in more detail what a hole Harvey Pekar’s death has left in the comic book world. Highly Recommended.