Pekar returns to form in this gathering of four recent issues of his long-running merican Splendor. His last several books have been long stories, two of them--nsung Hero (2003) and Ego and Hubris (2006)--not even autobiographical. This one contains mostly two- to six-pagers about his daily doings as a civil-service retiree now just writing comics and jazz commentary. A few are memoirs, and one is about a public-health physician, his friend, seeking a new job, which she finds with an extraordinarily busy doctor serving the uninsured at prices they can afford; this piece is a genuine day brightener. As usual in his autobiographical stuff, Pekar's anxiety and compulsiveness get him into minuscule scrapes that keeping his cool, or just waiting, soothes or dissipates. Now more than before, and maybe to greater comedic effect, cool is achieved (in the piece about fixing the toilet, downright triumph is achieved). Thanks to DC, Pekar here collaborates with several distinctive star artists (e.g., Gilbert Hernandez, Eddie Campbell) as well as established partners Gary Dumm and Dean Haspiel. - Ray Olson (From Booklist)