{"product_id":"the-mess","title":"The Mess","description":"\u003cp\u003eBy Noah Van Sciver. Published by Fantagraphics. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHardcover, 168 pages, Colour, 2026. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"grid-x\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"small-12 large-auto cell large-order-2\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"product-single__description rte\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA 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!\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\nWhen 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 \u003cem\u003eThe Mess\u003c\/em\u003e careens to a thrilling final act that includes… two-way radio communication with the dead?\n\u003cp\u003eOver 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 (\u003cem\u003eFante Bukowski, Beat It, Rufus!\u003c\/em\u003e), serious historical nonfiction (\u003cem\u003eJoseph Smith and the Mormons, The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln\u003c\/em\u003e), autobiography (\u003cem\u003eAs a Cartoonist, One Dirty Tree\u003c\/em\u003e), or books for younger readers (\u003cem\u003eCalamity Before Jane, Johnny Appleseed\u003c\/em\u003e), Van Sciver's singular voice and style has proven remarkably malleable to the needs of each project. With \u003cem\u003eThe Mess\u003c\/em\u003e, Van Sciver stakes yet new creative ground as a fiction writer, crafting the most magnetic and literary work of his career. \u003cem\u003eThe Mess\u003c\/em\u003e 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"product-info-side small-12 large-2 cell large-order-1 show-for-large\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"grid-x\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"small-12 large-auto cell large-order-2\"\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"small-header\"\u003ePRAISE\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"product-single__reviews\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Van Sciver has established himself as a thoughtful cartoonist with a talent for exploring the complexities of the human condition with a pointed sense of humor.\" — The AV Club\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"The cartoony art is trademark Van Sciver, but here he layers in more depth, drawing out facial expressions with shadows. Fans of Nick Drnaso's comics and the films of Gus Van Sant will want to check this out.\" — Publishers Weekly\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"So often, people's traumas heavily affect their lives (and their deaths), and that is clear in this well-written and well-drawn graphic novel, which also makes it clear that those traumas haunt the survivors well after death comes, making clear that death is NOT the end.\" — CBR\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"...one of the contemporary greats in comics...\" — Taylor Talks Comics\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Van Sciver knows how to tell a compelling story.\" — The Book Beat\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Fantagraphics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":63764502708554,"sku":"mess","price":21.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0592\/8894\/4822\/files\/IMG_1464_ea891f23-6a5c-48e1-a369-40566c18952a.jpg?v=1790859941","url":"https:\/\/littledeercomics.ie\/products\/the-mess","provider":"Little Deer Comics","version":"1.0","type":"link"}