Noah Van Sciver (born July 7, 1984) is an independent American cartoonist who resides in Columbia, South Carolina.
Early life Van Sciver grew up in a large family in New Jersey. A self-taught artist, he was influenced by many comics, including Ralph Snart Adventures and comics by Joe Matt and R. Crumb. 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. His brother EthanVan Sciver entry, Lambiek's Comiclopedia. 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, 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 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,Mad issue #512 (Dec. 2012). 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),MTV Geek – MTV Geek's Best Graphic Novels Of 2012 Boing Boing (tied #3),The Return of the Best Damn Comics of the Year - Boing Boing Edition - Boing Boing Publishers Weekly Critic's Poll (#4),Ware's 'Building Stories' Tops PW Comics World's 2012 Graphic Novel Critics' Poll 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, Saint 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 and Charles Bukowski. 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 at the Small Press Expo.
For the 2015–2016 school year, Van Sciver was a fellow at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, VT. He stopped publishing 4 Questions in 2015.
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. John Wenzel at The Know described the comic's imagery as "uncanny, [and] deceptively 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 was published by Z2 Comics in 2020.
Van Sciver uses Photoshop along with traditional media like rapidograph 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 from the Association for Mormon Letters: in 2015 for My Hot Date and 2018 for One Dirty Tree."2018 AML Award Finalists #4: Comics and Film." Dawning of a Brighter Day. Association for Mormon Letters. 14 February 2019. Accessed 19 February 2019. 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. COMIC YEAR PUBLISHER NOTES The War 1989 Self-published Features Spider-Man, Ziggy, and Gumby. Blammo Funnies 2006-2007 Self-published 1 (2006) & 2 (2007). Forerunner to Blammo. Blammo 2007-2018 Self-published & Kilgore Books Comics Self-published: 1 (2007), 2 (2008), 3 (2009), 4 (2009), 7.5 (2011). Kilgore Books & Comics: 5 (2009), 6 (2010), 7 (2011), 8 (2013),8 1/2 (2014), 9 (2016), 10 (2018). Various Self-Published one-shot mini-comics 2007-2019 Self-published Chicken Strips (2007), Hep (2007), The Work of Young, Unfed, and Unknown Cartoonist (2008), More Work from an Unknown Cartoonist (2008), The Limited and Very Rare Noah Van Sciver mini-comic (2009), Chapbook (2009), Judgments (2009), I want to be special to you (2010), Dueling (2011), The Hypo mini promo (2011), More Mundane (2013), In the Thick of It (2019) Complaints 2010 Poopsheet Foundation Included in Treasury of Mini Comics Vol. 1. According to the Poopsheet foundation website: "Print run is 50 even though it says 100 on back cover." Noah novella 2010 Grimalkin Press "The People's History of Noah Van Sciver. A selection of autobiographical comics" Includes stories Pair of Pants, My First Date, Being Skinny, My Life in Quotations, I am a Rotten Hateful Bastard, The Worst Winter, Process, The Incident, Fame, Complaints, Christmas as a Third Wheel, and Eight Things I Hate. The Death of Elijah Lovejoy 2011 2dcloud B&W. Deleted chapter from The Hypo. Reprinted in color in Disquiet. 1999 2012 Retrofit Comics Self-published bootleg in 2013, and Re-published in Youth is Wasted 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 promo mini 2013 Kilgore Books & Comics Weekend Alone 2013 Tinto Press LLC Sketchbook Weekend For Two 2014 Tinto Press LLC Sketchbook Youth Is Wasted 2014 Adhouse Books Contains unpublished and previous published work. Excerpts from BLAMMO #s 6, 7, & 8 as well as 1999 minicomic, and stories originally published in Illustrated Journal of Humor Vol. 1, Alternative Comics #4, and MOME #22. I Don't Hate Your Guts 2014 2D Cloud The Lizard Laughed 2014 Oily Comics Reprinted in Disquiet, self-published and reprinted as stand-alone one shot in 2021 Cheer Up 2014 Hic & Hoc Publications 500 copies printed, rarest fully produced Van Sciver book Slow Graffiti 2014-2017 Alternative Comics (#1 only) & Self-published 1 (2014), 2 (2016), 3 (2017) Saint Cole 2015 Fantagraphics My Hot Date 2015 Kilgore Books & Comics Reprinted in 2021 as My Hot Date (and other embarrassments). Includes new intro strip "The Power of the Force" and bonus strip "Holly Hill" Fante Bukowski 2015 Fantagraphics Disquiet 2016 Fantagraphics Contains unpublished and previous published work. Includes The Lizard Laughed, The Cow's Head, Down in a Hole, Punks V. Lizards, Death of Elijah Lovejoy (in color), previously published Christmas story from unnamed mini-comic, and previously unpublished art & stories. Fante Bukowski Two 2017 Fantagraphics His Last Comic (mini-kuš #60) 2017 kuš! One Dirty Tree 2018 Uncivilized Books Fante Bukowski 3: A Perfect Failure 2018 Fantagraphics Constant Companion 2018 FantagraphicsSketchbook, part of "Fantagraphics Underground Series" For Art's Sake 2020 self-publishedIncludes a broader story around some strips published in The Introvert's Club weekly strip The Complete Works of Fante Bukowski 2020 Fantagraphics Collects Fante Bukowski 1–3 with bonus material Please Don't Step on my JNCO Jeans 2020 FantagraphicsReprints from weekly strip "The Introvert's Club" as published in Columbus Alive. Boring 2021 Self-publishedAutobiographical one-shot floppy Blammo Issues 1-5 2021 Kilgore Books & ComicsCollection of Blammo Issues 1-5 plus bonus strips: Process, Christmas as a 3rd Wheel, Dueling, Day in the Life of My Father, The Van Sciver Factory, Pair of Pants, My First Date, Embarrassing Story, This Comic Should Be Read in Slow Motion, My Life in Quotations, Winter is a Time to..., Fontano the Chicago Sub, Cowtown Comix Fest, and assorted sketches and notes. Joseph Smith and the Mormons 2022 Abrams ComicArts Maple Terrace 1-3 2023 Uncivilized ComicsAutobiographical three issue floppy Beat It, Rufus 2025 Fantagraphics Hardcover Graphic Novel Vibe Shift 2026 Kuš New and old work The Mess 2026 Fantagraphics Hardcover Graphic Novel
The following is a list of collaborations, anthologies, and collections that feature Van Sciver's work.