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Jul 12, 2010 By Jeremy Nisen

Harvey Pekar, an underground comics legend who improbably cracked the mainstream media, died today at the age of 70, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

"Improbable" is a pretty good description of Pekar's comics career. For one thing, the Cleveland, Ohio native did not illustrate his own material, which for his highly autobiographical slice-of-life brand of comics is an oddity. His friendship with Robert Crumb led to that legend doing pencil work on Pekar's American Splendor. By the time all was said and done, Pekar worked with many of the most talented artists in the business, including underground artist Frank Stack, who illustrated Pekar's "Our Cancer Year," which chronicled the author's mid-90s battle with disease; Dean Haspiel, who illustrated "The Quitter"; and a host of others including Spain Rodriguez, Joe Sacco, Alison Bechdel, and Gilbert Hernandez.

Pekar was for a time a regular guest on Late Night with David Letterman, but he was launched into the mainstream media with the theatrical release of American Splendor in 2003. The movie, directed by Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman, was  based on Pekar's comics and starred Paul Giamatti; the movie's framing sequences featured Pekar himself. This inevitably led to comics based on this time in Pekar's life, chronicled as American Splendor: Our Movie Year.

Pekar is survived by wife Joyce Brabner and daughter Danielle. Our condolences to his friends and family.