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. Whether it be in the service of straight-up satire (Fante Bukowski¸ Beat It¸ Rufus!)¸ serious historical nonfiction (Joseph Smith and the Mormons¸ The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln)¸ autobiography (As a Cartoonist¸ One Dirty Tree)¸ or books for younger readers (Calamity Before Jane¸ Johnny Appleseed)¸ Van Sciver’s singular voice and style has proven remarkably malleable to the needs of each project. With The Mess¸ Van Sciver stakes yet new creative ground as a fiction writer¸ crafting the most magnetic and literary work of his career. 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.
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