When Justin Greene put out Binky Brown in 1972 and Harvey Pekar published the seminal American Splendor in '76, autobiographical stories became a pivotal part of the underground comix scene. Writers realized that they needn't look anywhere else other than their own miserable lives for inspiration to pen down source material. Fast forward to the 90's when alternative comics (and pretty much everything alternative) were enjoying an unexpected rise to popularity - Canadian writers Seth, Chester Brown and Joe Matt each started writing their own autobiographical comics in which they made fun of each other and themselves and largely commented on how society was not at all suitable for them. The only catch was that these guys made sure that readers had a very generous peek into their lives. Peepshow is the one written by Joe Matt and the collected edition of the first arc, The Poor Bastard (6 issues) was put out by Drawn And Quarterly in 2002.

Joe Matt is an unthankful bastard (I like how this character sketch could probably be an accurate judgment of Matt himself) and a poor one at that. He lives in Toronto and has a turbulent relationship with girlfriend, Trish. Even though she's very thoughtful and understanding, trying to make the relationship work, Mr. Matt resists all her efforts and instead fantasizes about her friends and watches porn, while trying to string together a comic book about his life. He also has an elaborate View-Master reel collection (I used to love those things). Inevitably, Trish leaves him and Matt is on a quest to find the ideal girl for himself as he tries to cope with the breakup. The only constants in Matt's life are fellow writers Seth and Chet, whom he meets on a regular basis. The three have very trivial, pointless conversations and the other two make fun of Matt due to all his problems (though they still offer valuable advice from time to time).

Matt has a number of twisted day-to-day adventures, giving rise to a labyrinth of problems and does some really fucked up things out of sheer laziness (like taking a piss in a jar, for example) and his addiction to porn. Each issue is a rendezvous with a different girl and each issue sees Matt get turned down due to some reason or another. Along the line, Matt slowly learns that he can’t live like the way he does but he’s not one to accept change easily.

Do keep in mind that when you write an autobiography, you are revealing things about yourself and the people in and around your life that may not go down well. Further, when your preferred medium is the comic book, you get to paint a very detailed picture of your encounters and more importantly, your thoughts. It's as if your diary (which is filled with rabid and perverse opinions about everyone) was suddenly disclosed to the public. Well, this is exactly what Matt does for the sake of good comic book material. He repeatedly points out the troubles he has to endure as a result of this disclosure.

…But good comic book material it does make. The Poor Bastard made for a very amusing read and some of Matt’s antics had me in splits. The last word is that this is a comic about an average schumck going on about his average life - no superpowers, no second chances, no model relationships - and it was this simplicity that appealed to me. The dialogue between characters is genuinely engaging and entertaining – I don’t know how much of it is an exaggeration but it seems authentic enough (...enough for me to buy it). The black and white artwork is definitely influenced by Robert Crumb’s material (though more polished) and has a rather charming, earthy feel to it. Matt has a meticulousness that is rare in the alternative comic world where the usual mantra of less is more is employed. If you liked American Splendor, then this will definitely be of value to you. The Poor Bastard is an essential addition to fans of any offbeat comics and is a great place to start for newcomers. Recommended!