what's wrong, harvey? what are you doing up?
what is it?
harvey.
omigod, harvey! harvey, wake up!
what happened to the new american splendor?
all of them?
damn it! i put one aside for myself, next to the register. i didn't even get a chance to read it.
maybe i'll call the publisher. but they take so damn long. shit! why does everything in my life have to be such a complicated disaster.
greetings from the second smallest state in the union, an endless plastics and nylon plantation controlled by giant chemical corporations.
to make matters more dismal, there are no decent comic book stores in my town, which is why my partner and i opened one ourselves.
despite our steadily faltering business, my partner managed to sell the last copy of american splendor #8 out from under me. i'm a big fan and i hate to wait for a new order. is there any way i can get it from you direct? sincerely, joyce brabner.
i'm a sometime activist and i teach writing to prisoners. i try to help them build an interior life and make art out of their monotonous, suffocating routine.
i'm divorced, thank god.
cleveland? you think that's a good idea?
i don't know. where would i stay?
i'm not worried about that.  hold on, i just spilled chamomile tea all over my bathrobe.
well, the way all those different artists draw you, i don't quite know what to expect. i mean sometimes you look like a younger brando, but then the way crumb draws you -- like a hairy ape with all those stinky, wavy lines radiating off your body -- it's kind of scary.
that's a dangerous offer. i'm a notorious reformer.
hi, harvey. we finally meet in person.
nothing.
i guess i never imagined you eating in a place like this.
it's fine. what difference does it make?
you're a vegetarian?
hmm. i support and identify with groups like peta, but unfortunately i'm a self-diagnosed anemic. also, i have all these food allergies to vegetables that give me serious intestinal distress. i guess i have a lot of borderline health disorders that limit me politically when it comes to eating.
not yet. but i expect to be. everyone in my family's got some kind of degenerative illness.
i've seen worse.
harvey, go get me water and a few aspirin.
no, but i want to avoid one.
i had a nice time with you, too.
don't make people repeat themselves. it's annoying.
c'mere.
harvey?
which door's the bathroom?
ugh! i don't know. i think that yuppie food did me in.
chamomile tea? what the hell's a guy like you doing with that? i thought you drink soda pop for breakfast.
harvey, we better skip this whole courtship thing and just get married.
me too.
not really. i find most american cities depressing in the same way.
i agree with toby. i think it's a story of hope and tolerance.
harvey, what did i say about loud talking? use your inside voice.
that's enough, harvey.
what about these 78's, harvey? can't you sell them to one of those collectors?
forget it then. i give up! how can i make more storage space, if you won't get rid of anything?
everything's your good stuff. how am i supposed to live here, if there's no room for me?
that's because you're obsessive compulsive harvey.
i don't care if you wanna hear it or not. you're the poster child for the dsm iii. i'll have you know that i come from a very dysfunctional family. i can spot personality disorders a mile away.
borderline autistic!
polymorphously perverse.
paranoid personality disorder.
delusions of grandeur.
y'know harvey, vasectomies are reversible.
are you listening to me? i said vasectomies are reversible.
i know but things have changed. i think we can be a family.
i'll take care of the kid and you.
i didn't touch it, harvey. would you let me sleep?
it happens to be saturday you selfish sonofabitch! and don't you go telling me what to do. i'm the one who moved into your city, into your home, into your vasectomy and into your screwed- up life. the least you could do is allow me to live here my way.
i'm not hungry.
merchandising.
people like this show?
wait a minute. where's the doll?
such brilliant repartee.
i'm beginning to wonder.
pandering is more like it.
damnit.
i'm trying to get some news. you know there's a big story about to break about the us selling arms to iran and the contras.
ugh. just forget it.
finally something good. watch this.
megalomaniac.
harvey, i've been reading about these kids who grew up in war zones.  palestinians, israelis, el salvadorians, cambodians.  these kids are amazing and they're --
anyway, i want to do a political comic book about these kids. there's a conference in jerusalem in a few weeks, and i can start by doing interviews there.
y'know why? 'cause i don't give a damn about the letterman show. i want to work on something important to me. something that matters.
harvey.  you're yelling.
harvey, you'll survive a few weeks alone.
i guess you did it this time.
if you met those kids over there and saw what they go through, you wouldn't ask that of me.
it's not open for discussion, harvey. i need this in my life right now.
but i do appreciate the fact that you missed me so much. c'mere.
harvey, what is that?
i don't understand, does "tumor" mean the same thing as "cancer"?
that's a positive thing.
stop it! you're not going to die, harvey. you're not.
harvey, look at me and focus. we are going to get through this. i understand illness. i know how to handle these things.
yes, you can. and i'll tell you how. you'll make a comic book out of the whole thing. you'll document every little detail. and that way you'll remove yourself from the experience until it's over.
fine. i'll do it without you.
right -- the artist. come on in.
hi, danielle. what's that you're holding?
a pony? what's his name?
oh, i see. well, i'm joyce. nice to meet both you and clarissa.
he's going to work until next week, when he starts the chemo. that's why i wanna get this project started now. once he's stuck here, i know he'll take over.
what's wrong, harvey? what are you doing up?
what is it?
harvey.
omigod, harvey! harvey, wake up!
what is it harvey?