PHOTO BLOG

you can’t read that of course, but it’s a magazine that I don’t subscribe to that came to my place addressed to Noah “the unknown cartoonist” Van Sciver. I just thought that was really funny. Fun fact: This is how everything looks if my glasses are not on my head!

Ben Snakepit is a cartoonist in Texas. He sent me his book and I really liked it! It makes me wish I was him. Actually, we’re pretty similar…

Yes.

Yes, indeed, this is a new year full of promise and the promise of a good time for all, but mostly me. Sorry.  It’s January and I don’t even need a coat to go outside today or for the past 3 days. Blammo 4 is at the printer, I’m unsure about how people will like it. It’s a little different then the others. A little comic zine I did last year has gotten a nice review from RazorCake magazine here:

http://www.razorcake.org/site/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=16297

 I have some pretty hefty coverage coming my way. 4 Questions is back in Westword after taking a month off from drawing it. Things are really going good. I’ve just begun work on Blammo 5 yesterday, trying to map it out and figure out what kind of comic book I want it to be. I’m illustrating my interview with Peter Bagge for the comics journal and doing some more illustrations for The Lab. Listening to the best of the beach boys and gary numan. I’m getting hungry and I must find some cheap food very close by…..

A short story without a home.

This is not a true story, although many things in it are from my childhood. It’s the way I wanted to do it. There are other parts to this story, but this is my favorite little piece of it.

eeegh.

A FIRST REVIEW OF BLAMMO #3:

http://www.opticalsloth.com/?p=3673

Man, if I were a publisher now an days, I would be fighting people to sign me to an exclusive deal. It just is too bad nobody in the biz has that foresight to snatch up my work. All the reviews that Blammo gets are great! Everybody praises my comic sensibilities and style! But, these are rough times and I must trudge on. The only thing that will defeat me, is the lack of funds to print enough of my work up. 

I hate that Blammo has to be such a precious object! It is the only reason I want a publisher. Just so that I could do more than a hundred copies of each. It’s a crying shame, man. I don’t draw Blammo for money. I work a job to live. Any/all money made from Blammo goes into printing the next issue. It’s a complete labor of love. A nice little place for me to hone my craft. To figure myself and my style out. But, at the same time I get a distinct feeling that what I’m doing here is worth something. I still really just want to draw my own Star Wars comic book. I wonder if I could hook that up sometime?    

TIME OUT

I don’t want to ever start a trend. I just want to sit in my room and listen to my Dave Brubeck record Time further out . It’s a sequel to Time out, a classic album. Time further out is an album that attempts to interpret the painting of Joan Miro by the same name. The cover features the albums namesake Miro painting from 1893. 

This Jazz expirement is incredibly beautiful. A masterpiece of it’s time (1961) that I luckily took a chance on one day, because I really liked Time out, (recorded a mere 2 years earlier)as well as Dave Brubeck. Many comic pages have been churned out to his Quartet’s tempos. By far my favorite track and one of the most heartbreaking songs on this album is the Chopin-influenced “Bluette”. A sensitive, melodic waltz that takes me by surprise every time the needle of my record player digs into the song’s opening groove. This particular song seems to color my entire world  a blueish hue. But, every once in awhile we all like to feel melancholic, me more than most I’d bet. The rest of this album is on a fun, easy going trip, with “Far more Blue” and “Far more Drums” hypnotizing the listener into a beatnik mode. Leaning back snapping his fingers, looking around for a pair of sunglasses. If you are somebody who works in a small room for hours, I’d strongly suggest checking this album out.

There is an interview with me up at midnight fiction.com right now. You must go read it, and let your opinion of me rise.

http://www.midnightfiction.com/about/sciver.htm

It’s funny when people think my last name is Sciver. Like my middle name is Van and I insist on writing out my full name on everything I touch….Get real.

two thousand nine.

How should I start this blog entry? How about I tell you all about this David Heatley interview comic strip that I’ve been working on for way too long? Okay. Sounds good. We’ll start there and move on to something else in a second, so, hang tight. 

David Heatley is a comic book artist with some fame and recognition due to his work that has appeared in Mcsweeney’s, The New Yorker, many other things and his book that I stumbled upon one night at Barnes&Noble. It’s called My brain is hanging upside down and it was shocking for me ( a young prudish lad ) but I think he has a good sense of what is fun to look at. And so, I decided to bring him in to my “Holy Circle” of cartoonists who I’ve interviewed. This “Holy Circle” is only for the best cartoonists working today. The honor of my pen drawing you is one that could be compared to the receiving of the Pulitzer prize. Tears flow over these things. You, the mangy cartoonist, slaving away for a measly few hundred dollars doing spot illustrations for paper publications should feel most accomplished upon my request for an interview. For I, Noah Van Sciver am one of the great people, touched on the shoulder, kissed on the cheek and given the thumbs up by god himself. I expect these interviews done by me to turn up on the cartoonist’s resume…If he’d like future work with big name companies, that is. 

Unfortunately, Most don’t realize the toll these interview comics take on my body. How I suffer for them. I am a Martyr. Constantly being engulfed in full body (and soul) pain so that these cartoonists may rise to different levels in their own careers, while my own  goes unnoticed by the reader. 

The model for these comic strip interviews for The Comics Journal has been 3 pages. Normally with strange incidences happening to the cartoonists being questioned. Tonight, I continue work on David Heatley’s. I’m staring at page two right now as page one sits off to the side covered in a personal record of white out. I’ve been very frustrated with it. I keep going back and working on other things to cheer me up, but it remains like a near dead body stuffed in my closet constantly moaning at me, reminding me of it’s unfinished state. Tonight, I put this comic to sleep. 

A few days ago, I was out for a walk. It was a sunny day. A nice breeze filtered through my wispy hair and over my hat. A favorite song was being sung inside my skull, when I looked down and noticed I was being followed. A little furry pest was trailing me, getting closer. A squirrel. He skittered faster until he was beside me, looking up at me, it’s potential recipient of rabies. I didn’t understand why an animal that could become a number of clothing articles for a human being, would be molesting me so. I stopped. The squirrel stopped. I stepped forward thinking I could freak it out. It only stepped backward a few steps. Brave in it’s little body, it’s black marble eyes reflected to me all the evils in the world. It wanted something from me. I couldn’t think of anything else to do but scream in an unrecognizable foreign language at it. Something like “Eebus shanigh nigh!” Which I think means “I’m not kidding!” This little  Sciurid was not swayed by this. I repeated my gibberish,sweat forming on my brow, momentarily feeling stuck in a disney animated feature where these little rodents are friends who only wish to help put your socks on. I looked around and noticed a few people staring at me. I tried to explain in more gibberish that this squirrel was attempting to accost me! Heads were shook. Finally, the solution came to me, and I ran as fast as I could! Faster than that little bushy tailed bastard could follow! As I reached the front door to my apartment building it hit me why that little squirrel was so interested in me. I’m Nuts. 

P.s. There is a nice new review of Blammo #2 on this site called neufutur.com

Here is what it says:

It has been a while since I have had the chance to review a comic zine, but Noah Van Sciver was gracious enough to go forth and send over a copy of Blammo #2 for review in NeuFutur. The style of the comic bounces back and forth between life stories, interviews with comic creators and band members, with all pieces linked together with the same neurotic, funny style.

The “Five things I hate.” piece is even more interesting when you read (incorrectly) that all the people in the article are wearing crocs, while the only thing that seems to drag on in the slightest would have to be the interview that is conducted with Joe Matt.

“When I Was in San Francisco”, while short, is humorous while imbuing some of the paranoia and distaste for humanity that is linked at various places through the entirety of Blammo. While there are a number of comics out now that may have lower price points, I would have to pick Blammo out each time because there is just so much to go through, with a replay value that is simply off of the charts. Blammo may just be the first magazine or comic I’ve ever paid to subscribe to, and you should look into doing the same.
Rating: 8.6/10