Constant Companion

by Noah Van Sciver

Noah Van Sciver's private sketchbooks created between 2013 and 2017. Acclaimed cartoonist Noah Van Sciver grants us exclusive access to the Artist's process through this collection of his private sketchbooks created between 2013 and 2017. Covering Noah's life, thoughts, and time in Denver, White River Junction (as a Fellow of the Center For Cartoon Studies), and Columbus, Ohio, the artist documents failed relationships, sketches of his surroundings, strange recollections from life and portraits of fellow artists. A candid look at the years in which Van Sciver climbed to the top of his game. Black & white illustrations throughout.

Genres: Comics

156 pages, Paperback

First published July 3, 2018

About the author

[copied from: http://nvansciver.wordpress.com/about/]

I am THE one and only Noah Van Sciver, cartoonist/comic strip artist and illustrator. I’m best known for my alternative comic book series Blammo and my weekly comic strip 4 Questions which appears every week in the alternative newspaper Westword. My work has appeared in The Best American comics 2011, Mad magazine, Sunstone, The Comics Journal, MOME and numerous comics anthologies. I’m currently hard at work on my first graphic novel The Hypo which will be published by Fantagraphics books upon its completion. I’m a cancer and I hate seafood, and adventure.

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Careful you don’t fall off the edge of your seat when reading Noah Van Sciver’s Constant Companion! Contained within are short, scratchy diary strips of everyday mundanity and quiet sketches of ordinary people and objects. I feel tense all over again just recalling the comic where Noah had a nap, woke up and did some drawing!

I do like my slice-of-life comics and Constant Companion serves up just that to nom on. Some of the diary strips are amusing – the annoying baby boomer who talks to Noah at a con and juggling his surprisingly immense workload – some are instantly forgettable – travel problems and a whole bunch that I have actually forgotten! – with many being middle-of the-road stuff about Noah trying to get some and mostly failing!

I admire Noah’s honesty, not just because it’s brave to make yourself so vulnerable but there’s a healthy lack of ego to many of the strips. If you’re a Noah fan like me you’ll appreciate some of the behind-the-scenes stuff from books like Saint Cole, Fante Bukowski and the Johnny Appleseed book he illustrated, and I recognised some of his girlfriend’s sketches which were reused in One Dirty Tree.

I’m not a huge fan of sketchbooks though and this one would be a bust if not for the comics included. Like most of Noah Van Sciver’s books, Constant Companion will only appeal to fans of his, and even then this is more of a b-sides collection than one of his better efforts.

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Van Sciver is the undisputed king of underground indies in my opinion. I’ve read most of his books including his incredible Blammo comics series from Kilgore.

For those unfamiliar with him I would say the storytelling falls into the world of dry wit, autobiographical, slightly depressing and angst filled with a touch of Ed Brubaker’s Lowlife, the writing of Harvey Pekar and the work of Joe Ollmann in Mid Life.

This is a sketchbook but it’s filled with good work. If you like it afterwards seek out Saint Cole which is a great book or the aforementioned Blammo. #10 just came out !

[Denisse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este libro no es tan bueno, pero estoy segura de que este hueón es el mejor historietista actual (o uno de los mejores).

[Ian Carpenter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Described as a sketchbook this is primarily a collection of thumbnail style diary comics. Dug it, of course.

[Matt Graupman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Noah Van Sciver’s “Constant Companion” is so depressing. Not because this book of excerpts from his sketchbooks is chock full of heartbreak, anxiety, and self-loathing (it is), but because his sketches are better than my finished comics. Seriously, Van Sciver is too good. Known primarily for his technical R. Crumb-like pen-and-ink proficiency, these pieces show off Van Sciver’s more spontaneous - but no less talented - side. From observational studies to woodshedding doodles to diary comics, there’s a little something for everybody but what else would you expect from a man who seems to constantly have a pencil or pen (or ink wash brush or computer stylus) in his hand? Van Sciver makes it clear in “Constant Companion” that the life of a self-employed cartoonist isn’t an easy one but I’m so appreciative that he’s dedicated his life to art. He’s one of the greats.

[J.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Noah's sketchbook reproductions (also see Tinto Press' "Weekend Alone" and "Weekend For Two"). Unlike most artists' sketchbooks, Van Sciver's contain tons of fully-formed comics rather than the usual life-drawings (although there are some of those as well). This collection largely reads as a comics diary documenting some emotional lows during and after a break-up as well as some upheaval in the form of moving from Denver to Columbus (and also time at his fellowhip in White River Junction, VT at CCS). It's also sprinkled throughout with some random fictional comics experiments.

I think this is a very limited release on Fantagraphics' Underground press, so get it while you can!

[Comics Alternative · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://comicsalternative.com/comics-a...

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had all this work to do, over deadline, and so I found this sketchbook from one of my favorite artists on Hoopla and read it for a couple hours. It's a sketchbook! So it has sketches in it, some memoir or diary strips, some pieces connected to various books, some failed projects, 2013-2017. But hey I was never bored by any of it, just paged through it and enjoyed it. There is one strip abot how he has so much to do and is overwhelmed. . . . wait, that's me! Noah, my twin!

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a sketchbook, which I normally wouldn't pick up but I really enjoy Van Sciver's work. There's some interesting work here in the completed comics. Probably not a lot of re-read value but still worth checking it out to see the one-off strips and behind the scenes sort of work.

[Mateen Mahboubi · Rating 3 out of 5]

NVS always a legend.