Noah Van Sciver
Noah Van Sciver (born July 7, 1984) is an independent American cartoonist. He currently resides in Columbia, South Carolina.
| Noah Van Sciver | |
|---|---|
 Noah Van Sciver (l) with one of his publishers (Kilgore Books & Comics), 13th Ave., Denver, CO Summer, 2010 | |
| Born | July 7, 1984 New Jersey |
| Nationality | American |
Notable works | Blammo 4 Questions The Hypo St. Cole Fante Bukowski My Hot Date |
| http://www.nvansciver.wordpress.com or http://www.noahvansciver.tumblr.com | |
Early life
Van Sciver grew up in a large family in New Jersey.[1] A self-taught artist,[2] he was influenced by many comics, including Ralph Snart Adventures and comics by Joe Matt and R. Crumb.[3] He and his family were members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), but he is no longer a member.[4][5] His brother Ethan[6] is a comic book artist and an internet personality.
Comics
Van Sciver began producing his one-person anthology Blammo in 2006, originally selling them for one dollar.[4] His 4 Questions strip in Denver's alternative weekly, Westword, helped publicize his work when he started publishing it in 2007.[7][4] After four issues, Kilgore Books & Comics published subsequent issues.[4] His short story "Abby's Road," which originally appeared in Blammo #6, was selected for the Best American Comics 2012 anthology. He stopped publishing 4 Questions in 2015.[7] Since December 2011, Van Sciver's work has appeared in Mad magazine,[8] and has been featured in The Comics Journal, Mome, and Mineshaft.
In October 2012, Fantagraphics Books published The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln, a narrative biography of Abraham Lincoln that spans the years 1837–1842. The Hypo, Van Sciver's first full-length graphic novel, earned positive critical praise, and made it onto several "best-of" lists for 2012, including MTV Geek (#3),[9] Boing Boing (tied #3),[10] Publishers Weekly Critic's Poll (#4),[11] and was ranked as one of the Best Graphic Novels of 2012 by the Library Journal.[12] In 2015, Fantagraphics released two Van Sciver graphic novels, St. Cole and Fante Bukowski. [13] Van Sciver stated in an interview that he based the character Fante Bukowski's experiences partially on his own experiences.[5] The character Fante Bukowski is an aspiring writer hungry for recognition, and his name is a combination of the surnames of John Fante and Charles Bukowski.[14] In a 2018 interview, Van Sciver said that he did not have plans to draw more Fante Bukowski books.[3]
Also in 2015, Kilgore Books released Van Sciver's autobiographical mini comic My Hot Date, which won the 'Best Story' Ignatz Award at the Small Press Expo.[13] For the 2015–2016 school year, Van Sciver was a fellow at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, VT.[15] In Van Sciver's autobiographical comic, One Dirty Tree (2018), he examined his childhood. He reported that his family was not happy with the comic, and Van Sciver felt bad for making his father a villain, when his father suffers from mental illness.[3] John Wenzel at The Know described the comic's imagery as "uncanny, [and] deceptively casual."[16]
Van Scriver drew the artwork for the graphic novel Grateful Dead Origins, which was written by Chris Miskiewicz. The book tells the story of the early days of the rock band the Grateful Dead. It is scheduled to be published by Z2 Comics in 2020.[17]
Van Sciver uses Photoshop along with traditional media like radiograph pens, Higgins inks, colored pencils and watercolors.[2] He keeps regular hours drawing, working each day from 9am until 5pm. He has used social media like Patreon and Twitter in the past to get immediate feedback on his work.[3] He moved to Columbia, South Carolina, in 2018.[3]
Awards
In addition to his Ignatz win, Noah had been nominated for the award seven times:
- 2010 Outstanding Comic - Blammo #6 (Kilgore)
- 2012 Outstanding Minicomic - The Death of Elijah Lovejoy (2D Cloud)
- 2014 Outstanding Comic - Blammo #8 (Kilgore), 2015 Outstanding Graphic Novel - Saint Cole (Fantagraphics)
- 2015 Outstanding Artist - Saint Cole (Fantagraphics)
- 2015 Outstanding Graphic Novel - Saint Cole (Fantagraphics)
- 2016 Outstanding Artist - Disquiet (Fantagraphics)
- 2016 Outstanding Story - My Hot Date (Kilgore)
In 2016, his graphic novel Fante Bukowski was nominee for a Best Writer/Artis Eisner Award.[18]
Van Sciver has been nominated for two Association for Mormon Letters: in 2015 for My Hot Date and 2018 for One Dirty Tree.[19][20] He received the AML Award for One Dirty Tree.[21]
Bibliography
The following is a mostly complete list of comics which contain solely content by Van Sciver. Collections, anthologies, and group online work has not been included.
| COMIC | YEAR | PUBLISHER | COVER |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blammo Funnies #1 | 2006 | Self-published | |
| Blammo Funnies #2 | 2007 | Self-published | |
| 4 Questions | 2007-2015 | The Denver Westword | |
| Blammo #1 | 2007 | Self-published | |
| Blammo #2 | 2008 | Self-published | |
| The Work of a Young, Unfed and Unknown Cartoonist | 2008 | Self-published | |
| More Work from an Unknown Cartoonist | 2008 | Self-published | |
| Blammo #3 | 2009 | Self-published | |
| The Limited and Very Rare Noah Van Sciver mini-comic | 2009 | Self-published | |
| Blammo #4 | 2009 | Self-published | |
| Blammo #5 | 2009 | Kilgore Books & Comics | |
| Chapbook | 2009? | Self-published | |
| Judgments | 2009 | Self-published | |
| Complaints | 2010 | Poopsheet Foundation | |
| Blammo #6 | 2010 | Kilgore Books & Comics | |
| I Want to Be Special to You | 2010 | Self-published | |
| Noah novella | 2010 | Grimalkin Press | |
| Blammo #7 | 2011 | Kilgore Books & Comics | |
| Dueling | 2011 | Self-published | |
| Blammo #7.5 | 2011 | Self-published | |
| The Hypo mini promo | 2011? | Self-published | |
| The Death of Elijah Lovejoy | 2011 | 2dcloud | |
| 1999 | 2012 | Retrofit Comics | |
| Noah Van Sciver in Conversation With Charles Forsman | 2012 | Oily Comics | |
| The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln | 2012 | Fantagraphics | |
| Who Is Dead in the White House? mini | 2012 | Fantagraphics | |
| St. Cole webcomic | 2012-2014 | The Expositor Comics | |
| 1999 | 2013 | Self-published bootleg of Retrofit comic | |
| Blammo #8 | 2013 | Kilgore Books & Comics | |
| St. Cole promo mini | 2013 | Kilgore Books & Comics | |
| Weekend Alone | 2013 | Tinto Press LLC | |
| More Mundane | 2013 | Self-published, numbered edition of 100 | |
| Youth Is Wasted | 2014 | Adhouse Books | |
| Blammo #8 1/2 | 2014 | Kilgore Books & Comics | |
| St. Cole | 2015 | Fantagraphics | |
| My Hot Date | 2015 | Kilgore Books & Comics | |
| Fante Bukowski | 2015 | Fantagraphics | |
| Disquiet | 2016 | Fantagraphics | |
| Blammo #9 | 2016 | Kilgore Books & Comics | |
| Fante Bukowski Two | 2017 | Fantagraphics | |
| Johnny Appleseed (written by Paul Buhle) | 2017 | Fantagraphics | |
| Blammo #10 | 2018 | Kilgore Books & Comics | |
| One Dirty Tree | 2018 | Uncivilized Books | |
| Fante Bukowski 3: A Perfect Failure | 2018 | Fantagraphics | |
| Eugene V. Debs: A Graphic Biography (written by Paul Buhle & Steve Max) | 2019 | Fantagraphics | |
| Grateful Dead Origins | 2020 | Z2 Comics |
References
- Enrico, Robin (3 September 2018). "One Dirty Tree - Noah Van Sciver's Family Saga Cements His Status as One of the Foremost Cartoonists Working Today". Broken Frontier.
- McDonnell, Chris (6 September 2017). "Artist of the Day: Noah Van Sciver". Cartoon Brew.
- Botzakis, Stergios; Royal, Derek (11 December 2018). "Comics Alternative Interviews: Back with Noah Van Sciver".
- Casciato, Cory. "Noah Van Sciver". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- McGurk, Caitlin. "An Interview with Noah Van Sciver | The Comics Journal". The Comics Journal.
- Van Sciver entry, Lambiek's Comiclopedia.
- "Noah Van Sciver". DINK. Archived from the original on 2 June 2017.
- Mad issue #512 (Dec. 2012).
- MTV Geek – MTV Geek's Best Graphic Novels Of 2012
- The Return of the Best Damn Comics of the Year - Boing Boing Edition - Boing Boing
- Ware's 'Building Stories' Tops PW Comics World's 2012 Graphic Novel Critics' Poll
- "Best Books 2012: Graphic Novels". Archived from the original on 2017-07-07. Retrieved 2013-07-23.
- "2016 IGNATZ AWARD Winners (Full List)". Newsarama. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
- Kane, Tyler R. "Noah Van Sciver Gets Laughs at Expense of Drunk Writers in Fante Bukowski". pastemagazine.com. Paste Magazine.
- "Noah Van Sciver Named CCS Ten Year Anniversary Fellow". The Center for Cartoon Studies. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- Wenzel, John (23 October 2018). "Review: Noah Van Sciver's "One Dirty Tree" a masterful, bittersweet comics memoir". The Know. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
- Klaehn, Jeffery (May 22, 2020). "Talking Comics with Ignatz Award-Winning Cartoonist Noah Van Sciver". Boing Boing. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
- "2016 Eisner Award Nominees". Comic-Con International: San Diego. 2016-04-18. Archived from the original on 2016-04-19. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
- Hall, Andrew (5 Feb 2016). "2015 AML Awards Finalists #5: Drama, Comics, and Criticism". Dawning of a Brighter Day. Association for Mormon Letters. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- "2018 AML Award Finalists #4: Comics and Film." Dawning of a Brighter Day. Association for Mormon Letters. 14 February 2019. Accessed 19 February 2019.
- "2018 AML Award Winners". Dawning of a Brighter Day. 31 March 2019.
Sources consulted
- Anthony, Davies. "A Short Chat with a Young Chap," Midnight Fiction (2008). Accessed May 27, 2013.
- Van Sciver entry, Fantagraphics website. Accessed May 27, 2013.
External links
- Official website
- Noah Van Sciver's Tumblr
- Review of The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln at Comic Book Resources
- Blammo #8 review at The Comics Beat
- Slate's review of The Hypo
Interviews
- Interview with Noah Van Sciver at The Daily Crosshatch