Harvey Pekar and Co. @ Bookstore

Tonight we saw Harvey Pekar, Anne Elizabeth Moore, Jesse Reklaw, and David Lasky read at the UBookstore to promote the newest member of the 'The Best American..." series The Best American Comics 2006. The event was well attended drawing a large crowd of comic fans and based on a show of hands a surprising number of local cartoonists.

Moore, who agreed to edit the series despite her intial reaction that it would never sell, began the event by talking about her role in putting the book together. Basically she spent two months reading as many new comics as she could finally settling on about 150 of the best. Pekar then took that list, whittled it down to 30 of his favorites and voila a book was born.

After Moore and Pekar chatted about the concept behind the book, early sales (positive), and the state of the comic industry, local artists Reklaw and Lasky got a chance to speak a bit about their works and their contributions to this year's collection. The longest Q&A in reading history then followed with the panel taking questions for nearly an hour. The highlight of the night was definitely Pekar. His quirky wit and experienced observations were only highlighted by his aloof demeanor.

The Stranger has a bit more about Pekar in their suggestion that you attend the event, while Seattlest suggested avoiding it at all costs due to Moore's (apparently) controversial past. Man do I love a good nerd fight!

BTW, in somewhat relatedish news if you haven't already heard Fantagraphics opened a new store here in Seattle. Sa-weet!