Comic author Harvey Pekar dead at 70

Harvey Pekar, creator of the American Splendor comic, has been found dead in his home.

Police responded to a call from Pekar’s wife at around 1am, and found his body “between a bed and a dresser.” Pekar’s wife said he was in “good spirits” when he retired to bed at around 4:30pm on Sunday. Cause of death was not immediately apparent, but the artist was suffering from prostate cancer, high blood pressure, depression and asthma in the years leading up to his death.

Pekar’s American Splendor comic chronicled his everyday life in a series of mundane jobs, and was adapted to become the 2003 film of the same name, starring Paul Giamatti. Pekar chronicled both his cancer diagnosis and his movie adaptation in two works titled Our Cancer Year and Our Movie Year, respectively.

An autopsy is planned, but no plans have yet been announced for a funeral or memorial services. Pekar was 70.