This was great. During which show did this PFT conversation happen? I'm not sure I've heard it.
1/2/07.
Recap excerpt:
Tom also had an idea for a comic starring anti-superhero comic scribe Harvey Pekar. In a twist worthy of O. Henry, Pekar would be cursed with superpowers, forcing him out of his mundane, Midwestern existence. Tom's inspiration came from reading the dull new issues of “American Splendor”, which are clear evidence that Pekar's story ideas have completely dried up. One issue focused on his trip to the store to buy cookies for his wife, Joyce. He decided give the oatmeal ones a try. The end. In the past, Pekar could draw material from his job and quirky co-workers, but now he’s writing about the life of a guy who writes about his life. PFT wants to know how he liked the oatmeal cookies, but this was a cliffhanger for the next issue. Tom also read a story about Pekar's sleeping difficulties. He kept waking up, but then the cat came in the room and slept on his chest. It helped him relax and then he took his meds. The end. Tom paid $3 for the book, but wants $4 for reading its contents. PFT gives Tom the idea of doing doing FDR-style Fireside Chats with new issues of “American Splendor”. He wants Tom to throw down the gauntlet to Pekar and inspire him to step it up. Tom’s ultimate goal is to infuriate Pekar to the point where he drives from Cleveland on a Sunday night and meets him for an on-air fight on Tuesday. PFT thinks he might still be weak from cancer treatments, but according to one of the boring stories Tom read, he’s healthy again.
One epic tale involved Pekar desperately trying to get pizzaid by The New York Times for a story he did. After eight pages of back-and-forth, the artist on the piece called him to say he accidentally got paid double. He called it even because Pekar owed him for some previous illustration. The end. PFT and Tom lament that the glorious union of storytelling and visuals has, in this case, regressed to where an artist has to come up with a visually arresting way to present a bridge troll prowling for cookies in aisle 8 of Safeway. While Pekar was an influential figure in the comics world, Tom thinks it might be time for him to exit the stage a la Rocky Balboa. PFT has a fontasy comic where Pekar in his prime and circa-now Warren Ellis have to tell stories in five minutes. Tom says it’s kind of like a computer stimulation, and it reminds him of his favorite movie line of 2006: “That computer simulation’s got people talking.”, from
Rocky Balboa. Tom points out that the show would air at 2 p.m. on ESPN (my guess is that it would run on "The Ocho") and pull in 75,000 viewers if it was broadcast in the real world.
