Jessica Kerman

Harvey Pekar spent 45 minutes tonight telling a group of about 200 how he got where he is today.

“I may not have had a lot of lucky breaks, but I’ve had some big ones.”

I can’t honestly say I was inspired by Pekar’s speech, but I can say that it was entertaining. Unfortunately, all he could tell us was that he knew the right people, and that’s how he got into the industry. That’s how he got to do what he loves to do.

However, his inspiration for American Splendor was quite something. He said that he read “formulaic” comics when he was young, and he was bored with them. When MAD comics came out, he found them more amusing, but wanted them to satire living people. “I wanted them to go for the juggular.”

After several years and meeting the right people (mostly R. Crumb), Pekar worked on his own stories with artists who then sent them on to underground comic anthologies. It wasn’t until after the movie American Splendor was made that Pekar’s comic books started taking off. For Pekar, a lot of motivation came from the monetary aspect of the job. However, he said that he had hoped to see a movement in the comic industry that moved toward more intellectual, deeper stories that presented real moral, complex issues to readers.

“Then I realized that there is nothing wrong with comics. There is something wrong with the way they are used. They’re underutilized.”

Pekar said he wanted to see comics become more than just a leisure read.

“Comics are as an effective medium as any other. I was trying to elevate comics in the mindsets of readers. Maybe I made a small dent in it, but I don’t think I started a revolution.”

The question and answer session really showed the true, down-to-earth Harvey Pekar. When asked about Web comics, Pekar said he knew that the Internet was the future for comics.

“Comics have a bright future on the Web. Brighter than anything else.”

He also was asked about his character in the movie American Splendor as a common man. “I don’t think common exists, although a lot of men have a lot of things in common.”

Finally, the most exciting part of the evening was when Pekar was asked about his appearance on Letterman.

“I thought it’d be better to go out in a blaze of glory… I think (Letterman) is afraid of GE. He might be a tad more daring than the average spineless talk show host… He doesn’t know anything about anything…So for those reasons, I chose to go for the blaze.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0akXKxbflM&hl=en&fs=1&]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBr4NxujLvw&hl=en&fs=1&]

I was left uninspired after reading Seth Godin’s latest book “Tribes: We Need you to Lead Us” this weekend. I was expecting more from this marketing leader. The main point, which is repeated over and over in the book, is that the strongest form of marketing an idea is to lead a group to do something with that idea.I feel like the book was so repetitive that it lost its power by the end of page 20.

Godin could have done well if he had gone deeper into the subject of the need for leaders when marketing. He could have discussed more about how to become a leader and maintain that role. He could have discussed the drawbacks of micromanaging leaders in marketing. (If you do it all yourself, your customers find no attachment to the cause you’re trying to sell.) He could have also discuessed the consequences of the leadership role, and where that places you within your company.

Instead, I was left wanting more. I know that I can be a leader. I know we need people to challenge the normal thoughts of society for change. Please…Mr. Godin…tell me something new.