Noah Van Sciver (born July 7, 1984) is an independent
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-largest ...
.
Early life
Van Sciver grew up in a large family in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. A self-taught artist, he was influenced by many comics, including '' Ralph Snart Adventures'' and comics by
Joe Matt
Joe Matt (born September 3, 1963) is an American cartoonist, best known for his autobiographical work, '' Peepshow''.
Early life
Matt was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He started drawing comics in 1987.
Career
In his autobiographical c ...
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
(LDS Church), but he is no longer a member. His brother Ethan 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. His ''4 Questions'' strip in Denver's alternative weekly, ''
Westword
''Westword'' is a free digital and print media publication based in Denver, Colorado. ''Westword'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue cir ...
'', helped publicize his work when he started publishing it in 2007. After four issues of Blammo, Kilgore Books & Comics published subsequent issues.
In 2010, he briefly campaigned to write and draw
Howard the Duck
Howard the Duck is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerik. Howard the Duck first appeared in ''Adventure into F ...
as part of Marvel's Strange Tales series, but was turned down.
His short story "Abby's Road," which originally appeared in ''Blammo #6'', was selected for the '' Best American Comics'' 2012 anthology. Van Sciver's work has appeared in '' Mad'' magazine, and has been featured in ''
The Comics Journal
''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...
'', '' Mome'', and '' Mineshaft''.
In October 2012, Fantagraphics Books published ''The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln'', a narrative biography of
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
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), ''Boing Boing'' (tied #3), ''Publishers Weekly'' Critic's Poll (#4), and was ranked as one of the Best Graphic Novels of 2012 by the ''Library Journal''.
In 2015, Fantagraphics released two Van Sciver graphic novels, ''St. Cole'' and ''Fante Bukowski.'' Van Sciver stated in an interview that he based the character Fante Bukowski's experiences partially on his own experiences. The character Fante Bukowski is an aspiring writer hungry for recognition, and his name is a combination of the surnames of
John Fante
John Fante (April 8, 1909 – May 8, 1983) was an American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his semi-autobiographical novel ''Ask the Dust'' (1939) about the life of Arturo Bandini, a struggling writer in Depre ...
and
Charles Bukowski
Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambience of his adopted ...
. In a 2018 interview, Van Sciver said that he did not have plans to draw more ''Fante Bukowski'' books.
Also in 2015, Kilgore Books released Van Sciver's autobiographical mini comic ''My Hot Date'', which won the 'Best Story'
Ignatz Award
The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping ...
at the
Small Press Expo
The Small Press Expo (SPX) is an American alternative comics convention. A registered 501(c)(3) that was created in 1994, every year since its inception, SPX has put on a festival, known as The Expo, that provides a forum for artists, writers an ...
.
For the 2015–2016 school year, Van Sciver was a fellow at the
Center for Cartoon Studies
The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS) is a two-year institution focusing on sequential art, specifically comics and graphic novelsnddeceptively casual."
Van Sciver 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.
Van Sciver uses Photoshop along with traditional media like
radiograph
Radiography is an imaging technique using X-rays, gamma rays, or similar ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation to view the internal form of an object. Applications of radiography include medical radiography ("diagnostic" and "therapeut ...
pens, Higgins inks, colored pencils and watercolors. 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. He moved to Columbia, South Carolina, in 2018.
Awards
Van Sciver won the 2016 Ignatz award for Outstanding Story with the one-shot stand alone comic ''My Hot Date''. He has been nominated for an Ignatz award many 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)
:2020 Outstanding Collection - ''The Complete Works of Fante Bukowski'' (Fantagraphics)
In 2016, his graphic novel ''Fante Bukowski'' was nominee for a Best Writer/Artist Eisner Award.
Van Sciver has been shortlisted for two
AML Awards
The AML Awards are given annually by the Association for Mormon Letters (AML) to the best work "by, for, and about Mormons." They are juried awards, chosen by a panel of judges. Citations for many of the awards can be found on the AML website.
T ...
from the
Association for Mormon Letters
The Association for Mormon Letters (AML) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 to "foster scholarly and creative work in Mormon letters and to promote fellowship among scholars and writers of Mormon literature." Other stated purposes have inc ...
: in 2015 for ''My Hot Date'' and 2018 for ''One Dirty Tree''. He received the AML Award for ''One Dirty Tree''.
Bibliography
The following is a mostly complete list of comics which contain solely content by Van Sciver. Collaborations, anthologies, and collections are listed in the table that follows.
The following is a list of collaborations, anthologies, and collections that feature Van Sciver's work.
The following is a list of webcomics and illustrations published online.