Graphic Novel Review: One Dirty Tree
Posted on March 26, 2019 at 10:27 am by Gene Ambaum
One Dirty Tree by Noah Van Sciver. Uncivilized Books, 2018. 9781941250273. 116pp.
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This is cartoonist Van Sciver’s graphic memoir about growing up poor, the eighth of nine kids, in a house with a twisted dead oak tree in the front yard. His family’s Mormon household seems to have centered around religion and comics. His older siblings took time to torture him a bit (ghost stories!), and his father’s struggles with bipolar disorder affected everyone. Half of the book takes place in present day, contrasting Van Sciver’s early life with his current girlfriend, a woman who is clearly not cut out to date a working cartoonist. My favorite parts are the unexpected appearances of non-comic art, both the bits Van Sciver drew as a kid and two beautiful, more realistic drawings of his girlfriend that really made me feel his love for her.