FANTAGRAPHICS AT 50! Heading into the weekend with our penultimate exclusive preview of our celebratory Fantagraphics month and this time it’s from The Mess, the much anticipated new graphic novel from Noah Van Sciver!
THE MESS
by Noah Van Sciver
A family death and a missing Picasso send a mother and son on an unexpected spring break that threatens to permanently damage their relationship — if they survive the trip!
When her semi-estranged and penniless hoarder father dies, Erin Messina is tasked with cleaning out his house before the bank forecloses on it. This otherwise thankless task is given a purpose, however, when she remembers the original Picasso drawing her father was gifted in 1964. She enlists her teenage son, Jackson, to spend spring break looking for their possible ticket to long-term financial stability. Jackson, resentful and eager to shirk responsibility, befriends twin skateboarders who live in the hood, and tell him about the violent murder that happened directly across the street from his grandfather’s home — and the murderer who still lives there. Emotional baggage, paranoia, and frayed nerves stretch the Messina’s relationship to the brink, as The Mess careens to a thrilling final act that includes… two-way radio communication with the dead?
Over the past decade, Noah Van Sciver has established himself as the most versatile graphic novelist working today. Van Sciver’s singular voice and style has proven remarkably malleable to the needs of each project. The Mess is a brilliant, original graphic novel infused with drama, laughs, pathos, and suspense, beautifully drawn and colored in Van Sciver’s immersive and intimate style.
Fantagraphics at 50 Month runs through August at Broken Frontier. You can see articles as they’re published in one tagged list here.
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