Harvey Pekar, a file clerk at a VA hospital, finds solace in his mundane job through conversations with coworkers about various topics. At home, he spends his days reading, writing, and listening to jazz, surrounded by thousands of books and LPs. He meets Robert Crumb, a greeting card artist and music enthusiast, at a thrift store and is inspired to create his own comic book after Crumb's underground comics gain international success. Harvey's comic, American Splendor, is a truthful and unsentimental record of his working-class life, earning him cult fame and leading him to his true soul mate, Joyce Barber, a partner in a comic book store.

American Splendor
The film is a biographical drama that explores the life of Harvey Pekar, a pioneering figure in the world of comic books, blending factual events with fictional elements.