Calamity Before Jane: A Toon Graphic -- Noah Van Sciver, Hardcover

Calamity Jane and the stories surrounding her are famous, but this graphic novel for young readers 8 and up is here to tell the story of Martha Jane Canary--the real-life survivor, orphan, and storyteller behind the legend.

In 1901, the Pan-American Exposition World's Fair was held in Buffalo, New York. Amongst spectacles like advancements in electricity and new inventions like the X-ray machine is a woman with a story--but not the one you've heard. Calamity Jane's life is shrouded in exaggerations and lies told to sell a more marketable version of reality, but cartoonist Noah Van Sciver is here to tell the truth: Martha Jane Cannary struggled throughout her life, from her childhood as a destitute orphan to her bitter adulthood as she watched the West she loved disappear before her eyes.

Author: Noah Van Sciver
Publisher: Toon Books
Published: 12/23/2025
Pages: 56
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
ISBN: 9781662665400
Audience: Ages 9-12

Review Citation(s):
School Library Journal 08/02/2025 pg. 1
Publishers Weekly 09/29/2025
Kirkus Reviews 10/01/2025

About the Author
Noah Van Sciver is a multiple award-winning cartoonist who first came to comic readers' attention with his critically acclaimed, Eisner-nominated comic book series Blammo. His work has appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Best American Comics, Kramers Ergot, as well as countless graphic anthologies. Van Sciver was a regular contributor to MAD Magazine and has written and drawn numerous bestselling graphic novels including Joseph Smith and the Mormons, One Dirty Tree, Saint Cole and the Fante Bukowski: Struggling Writer series for Fantagraphics books. In 2015 he was the Artist in Residence/fellow at The Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont. His books and comics are translated into more than 6 different languages around the world.