American Splendor #3 - 'Standing Behind Old Jewish Ladies in Supermarket Lines', pg 3 by Robert Crumb (1978)

Long ago I got a gig as a Production Assistant on a movie shooting in Cleveland. Office work, errands, copying scripts, etc.

The movie was about a comic I'd never heard of called "American Splendor", some indie thing from the 70s that was big in Cleveland. The writer got on Letterman. Crumb did some art for it. The movie was gonna star Pig-Vomit from the Howard Stern movie.

For a month of preproduction I did PA work, running errands, picking people up, and making photocopies. Mixed in, I doodled, constantly aping more of the Crumb art surrounding me. I drew office jokes. I added Crumbish Harvey art to dry erase boards and notices. It was like a theme office. I fell in love with the books.

We began to shoot but hadn't worked out the legal stuff with Crumb and his art, so they had to hire someone to do props. Because everyone knew me and saw my Crumb-like scrawls everywhere, I got the gig.

I ended up creating the sketchbook Crumb (James Urbaniak) draws in, the 'Big Yum Yum Book', and a bunch of Frank Stack's art. If the actor is holding a sketchbook or drawing, it's my art you're looking at. Looking back it's not all that great, but for the brief moments of screen time I think it seems passable.

It was a very cool experience for a young kid, my little scrawls ending up in the trailer, the movie, and even earning me a mention in the commentary. It was a cool moment in my life.

Ever since, I've wanted a Robert Crumb original from American Splendor. Not only wanted, but almost needed. How many people can share this weird credit of doing fake Crumb art for an Oscar nominated film? (Best Adapted Screenplay, lost to LOTR)

So for 15 years I kept an eye out. There weren't a lot of solo pages, most stories traveling in packs. In 2016/2017 a few Crumb collections came out, and while some art set records, Splendor stayed within mortal reach.

This is a page from "Standing Behind Old Jewish Ladies in Supermarket Lines", my single favorite American Splendor story and featured prominently in the film. It's one of those great everyday experiences about Harvey picking the right line at the supermarket. It's a short 5-page story, so finding any page is a miracle in itself, but on top of that it's a great well-rounded page! You get a few panels of Harvey, the Old Jewish Lady in a few, plus a great variety of everyday people mixed in everywhere. Crumb also threw a lot of fun little details in, like Corn Flakes, Coca Cola, Armour Franks, etc.

I loved seeing a Crumb original too - a spiral bound page of bristol board with the full title handwritten at the top of the page. It's so quirky and cool and awesome, I can't even begin to explain:) Let's be palsy-walsies!