AS 20: What Kind of Girl Is Your New Bride?

American Splendor scene #20 (52:19 to 53:50) — the real Harvey and Joyce sit in a fake comic book store, with a pile of American Splendors on the table between them. Joyce talks about what it was like to become a character in Harvey’s stories. Tension is in the air. A machine gun sounds in the distance.

The scene’s cringe-factor. Doom & gloom — and finding the right balance between happy & sad moments. Creative partnerships and being each other’s toughest critic. Being willing — or not — to “bare it all” in autobiographical writing. Josh & Sari’s collaborations and how that worked, both on the page and emotionally. Dean & Jen’s “origin story.”

Shout-outs to Joe Sacco, Joe Zabel, Val Mayerik, Ivan Brunetti, Avengers: Endgame, Josh & Sari’s “The Cave of Fear,” Dino’s “Next Door Neighbor” project, Blue Ribbon restaurant, David Greenberger, Duplex Planet Illustrated, and “I Was Waiting For You, Daddy.”

Episode Notes

Apropos of this episode, here are the comics Dean and Josh did for the David Greenberger story, “I Was Waiting For You, Daddy,” originally published in Keyhole Mini-Comics #4…