Batman comics captured the youngster’s attention early and established a path: He wanted to draw. Superheroes! Several years later his mother, a somewhat alarmed English teacher who wanted her son to read more, gave him a copy of Maus, the groundbreaking 1991 graphic novel by Art Spiegelman that had elevated comic storytelling to a whole new level. “Wow,” recalls Carl Sciacchitano, who was in seventh grade by then. “It was the first time I realized comics could be about more than just superheroes.” 

He heard his calling, but at Dartmouth Sciacchitano majored in Asian and Middle Eastern studies—and minored in studio art. “I knew I was going to be an illustrator and figured college was a time to branch out,” he explains. He also studied abroad in Japan. After graduation he took odd jobs “that allowed me the flexibility to pursue my art career,” he says. He taught high school history. He worked for a law firm. In 2015 he landed work as the illustrator for a comic book, The Army of Doctor Moreau. 

Then, with Spiegelman in mind, Sciacchitano sensed that he had his own family narrative to tell—and illustrate. His father, David, had served in the Vietnam War as an Air Force mechanic and survived the Tet Offensive
before returning home, physically unharmed but suffering from PTSD. “I grew up hearing his somewhat censored stories,” says Carl. “After 9/11, he had reconnected with some old friends, and I started to learn more about his time in Vietnam.”

During the next several years, Sciacchitano listened to his father and asked more questions. “I realized that there was more to it than just what had happened. It was also about the effect it had on him and his family,” he says. “I realized I could tell this story.” His father expressed surprise at Carl’s interest but never discouraged him.

Sciacchitano acknowledges that at the time he didn’t possess the savvy to put it all together and publish a graphic memoir. The comics world he knew did not overlap with mainstream publishing. The Dartmouth network connected him to literary agent Lisa Adams ’76, who offered tips and guidance. Next, Sciacchitano drew panels for one chapter as a proposal, along with a half-book of script and description, and a synopsis. He landed his own agent, navigated the complexities of getting his work seen, and fleshed out his work-in-progress. In 2018 it sold, and then he really got to work—for the next four years. He draws  illustrations on a tablet and then hand-inks the printouts with markers, pens, and brush. “It’s a long and gradual process,” he says. 

The result is The Heart That Fed: A Father, A Son, and the Long Shadow of War, which hit bookstores in June. It tells the story of his father in Vietnam as well as the years after his return as father and son collaborate and bond.

Sciacchitano, who lives in Portland, Oregon, hopes his work sheds light on how war and trauma can test a family. “It’s more than a Vietnam story,” he says. As Kirkus Reviews declared, it’s “a powerful and quietly poignant memoir and tribute.”

An excerpt appears below.