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  • Calamity Before Jane (A Toon Graphic)

Calamity Before Jane
(A Toon Graphic)

Publication Date
December 23, 2025
Genre / Grade Band
Non-fiction /  4th − 5th
Language
English
Format
Graphic Novel
Calamity Before Jane (A Toon Graphic)

Description

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.

Publication date
December 23, 2025
Genre
Non-fiction
Page Count
56
ISBN-13
9781662665400
Publisher
Toon Books
Series
A Toon Graphic
BISAC categories
JNF025200 - Juvenile Nonfiction | History | United States/19th Century
JNF007020 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Biography & Autobiography | Historical
JNF062020 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Comics & Graphic Novels | History
Library of Congress categories
Graphic novels
West (U.S.)
Cartoons and comics
Historical comics
Nonfiction comics
Calamity Jane
Women pioneers
Biographical comics

School Library Journal

Gr 5 Up--This aims to reveal the woman behind the famous Wild West legend of Calamity Jane, Martha Jane Canary, by highlighting the impact of storytelling on her life. The book skillfully interweaves Calamity Jane's own exaggerated tales of adventure as a Pony Express rider or a scout for General Custer with glimpses into her struggling childhood as a destitute orphan and early life experiences as a bullwhacker. Van Sciver's artwork, drawn in India ink and colored digitally, is well illustrated and brings the narrative to life visually, reflecting the "comics even teachers can love" approach of TOON Graphics. However, while attempting to debunk the legend and present the harsher truth, the graphic novel shifts its focus. Extensive detailing of political history, rather than solely focusing on Jane's biography, means that Calamity Jane's individual historical journey can sometimes feel overshadowed by the larger sociopolitical narrative in this short book. Dr. Susana Geliga's postscript delves deeply into broader political issues and historical context, such as the illegal encroachment on Lakota Sioux lands in the Black Hills and the violation of the 1868 Fort Laramie treaty. VERDICT While well illustrated, the graphic novel struggles with narrative balance, often diverting from Calamity Jane's personal history to focus on the political issues of the historical period, making this ultimately not a great biography of the person; nor a needed addition to the library.--Richard Winters

Copyright 2025 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Kirkus

 Photographs add authenticity to the lore, while Jane’s unreliability as a narrator and figure is brought into question and deliciously muddies the truth. Engaging and eye-opening

ALA/Booklist

Van Sciver's full-color, expressive artwork folds in plenty of period detail, from clothing to gun use to routine smoking and drinking. This smooth introduction to one component of the U.S. government's betrayal of Native Americans will also remind readers that a myth's entertainment value is by no means an indication of its validity.

Noah Van Sciver
Noah Van Sciver is a multiple award-winning cartoonist who first came to comic readers' attention with his Eisner-nominated comic book series Blammo. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Wired, The Believer, the Best American Comics, 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 One Dirty Tree, the Fante Bukowski: Struggling Writer series for Fantagraphics books and Joseph Smith And The Mormons for Abrams in 2022. 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.

Marlena Myles is a self-taught Native American (Spirit Lake Dakota/Mohegan/Muscogee) artist who grew up on her traditional Dakota homelands. Her work includes children's books, murals, fabrics, and augmented reality. Her fine art has been shown in places like
the Minneapolis Institute of Art, The Red Cloud Heritage Center, and the Minnesota Museum of American Art, to name a few. She enjoys using the land as a teacher to share with Minnesotans of all backgrounds the Indigenous history of this place we all call home. She runs her own Dakota publishing company, Wíyouŋkihipi (We Are Capable) Productions, to create a wider platform that educates and honors the culture, language, and history of Dakota people. She currently lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Lee Francis IV is the Executive Director of Native Realities, an Indigenous Imagination organization that seeks to engage and inspire Indigenous youth and communities through pop culture media and culturally dynamic programming. Dr. Francis also founded the Indigenous Comic Con (now IndigiPop Expo) and opened Red Planet Books and Comics, the first Native comic shop in the world, in 2017. He received his Ph.D. in Education from Texas State University and currently resides in North Carolina with his family.

Dr. Deondre Smiles is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Victoria, BC, Canada. He is of Ojibwe, Black, and Swedish descent and is a proud citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. Dr. Smiles's interests are many and include Indigenous geographies, human-environment interactions, and Indigenous cultural resource management and preservation. He serves as the principal investigator for the Geographic Indigenous Futures Collaboratory, one of Western Canada's first Indigenous geographies-focused labs.
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