Coventry Hosts 2nd Annual Pekar Park Comic Book Festival & Storytelling Evening

More than a 1,000 people took in 2016’s inaugural Pekar Park Comic Book Festival & Storytelling Evening held at Pekar Park Courtyard.

Sat 7/15 @ noon – 7:30PM

Whether it was in comic book form or to a live audience, the internationally renowned Harvey Pekar loved nothing more than telling a good story. Today, the legacy of the “American Splendor” Cleveland native, who passed away in 2010, lives on in the most apropos fashion.

The Pekar Park Comic Book Festival & Storytelling Evening takes place Sat 7/15 at Pekar Park Courtyard (located outside of the Grog Shop) in Coventry. The event is one of many sponsored by the Coventry Village Special Improvement District.

CoolCleveland talked to Coventry Village Special Improvement District executive director Angie Hetrick about the Harvey-centric event.

Tell us about the Pekar Park Comic Book Festival.

The courtyard outside of the Grog Shop in 2015 was rededicated as Pekar Park Courtyard. The first year we just did a park dedication with the city and (Pekar’s widow) Joyce Brabner. We hung some banners that are permanent installations — Harvey through the seasons. Then last year was our very first Pekar Park Comic Book Festival, because he was a comic book writer and a big part of our community. He made Coventry such a big part of his work. The idea is that Harvey isn’t with us anymore, but there’s so many talented writers and artists in Cleveland that do amazing work. We should spotlight the people that are writing comic books and illustrating them.

How was the inaugural comic festival received last year?

It was great. We had a tremendous turnout. We had not only traditional comic book shops, but we our own Mac’s Backs-Books on Coventry there with comics and graphic novels that they sell in their store. We also had Cedar-Lee Imaginary World Comics. It was very successful, and thousands of people came out throughout the day. We have a kids’ tent with activities ranging from coloring to creating your own comics. There are also artists that are spotlighting their work. We work with Jakprints, one of our Summer Series sponsors. They produce comics locally for artists and comic book producers throughout the entire county.

The other aspect of the Pekar Park Comic Book Festival is its storytelling element. Can you elaborate?

Harvey was a storyteller. What he did was told stories. So we took not only the written story, but we also finished the evening with a storytelling day, which immediately follows the comic festival. That’s in the Grog Shop from 6-7:30pm, hosted by Dana Norris of Story Club Cleveland. It’s just local celebrities and Clevelanders sharing their unique true-to-life stories. This year’s theme is “America, the Melting Pot.” People will share their stories about coming to this country and incorporating their traditions into living in America.

Invariably, that’s a theme Pekar would have loved.

Absolutely, I think that would be a conversation he’d have right on the steps in the now Pekar Park Courtyard.

Finally, what do you think Pekar would have to say about a comic book festival named after him taking place in a park also named after him?

I never met Harvey, but I know that Harvey is very important in the neighborhood. From what I gathered, Harvey was the sweetest curmudgeon you’ll ever meet. I think he would be honored and cranky about it all at the same time.

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