Overview

Jason's latest collection of full color comics indulges in his light and playful side, consisting of eleven wildly off-kilter stories that mix incongruous elements of pop culture and a variety of genres, pastiches and mash-ups in a delightful soupcon of graphic storytelling. Frida Kahlo is a hired killer. Santo, the Mexican wrestling film star, faces his ultimate challenge. The rise and fall of Chet Baker-told in six pages. Night of the Vampire Hunter. The last word on the JFK assassination conspiracies. A non-linear heist story that also somehow includes images by Magritte. A big bug story based on 1950s black-and-white films. And what would Van Morrison's Moondance album look like if it was a horror comic? All as foretold by Nostradamus, of course. And all told by Jason, whose sly and elusive meanings are hidden beneath a beguilingly deadpan style.

Full Product Details

9781606998540

Table of Contents

Reviews

...[T]he ease with which Jason paces his pages sometimes cross-cutting between the future and the past, reality and surreality without once infringing on the fluidity and clarity of his storytelling demonstrates the potential of his disarmingly simple aesthetic and is exemplar of how finely he s honed it. This stoic, stilted style has the same power as a Wes Anderson tracking shot ... Jason binds this diverse bundle of stories together like a musician would an album. While they don t all have the same intonation or emotional resonance, they play well off each other, complementing and contrasting. Unlike other short story collections, If You Stealnever feels like anything but a complete work...--Shea Hennum

The Norwegian artist who goes by the single name Jason is the most deadpan comedian in comics. His stories are almost always rooted in loud genres that he reduces to quiet gestures, and he writes and draws them with draconian formal constraints, the most obvious of which is that all of his characters have nearly expressionless animal heads. This new book is a set of short pieces, constructed in the scorched rubble where B-movie matinees used to dwell...--Douglas Wolk

Jason s work predominantly explores themes of isolation, loneliness and the difficulties of human interaction through his trademark dry wit and offbeat mastery of dark comedy. Some stories leave you smirking and laughing, others heartbroken and devastated. The majority of them, both.--Jason Karlson If You Steal employs a combination of amusement and ennui that s textbook Jason, and seems to come straight from French New Wave films. [Rating: 9.0 out of 10] --Hillary Brown The Norwegian artist who goes by the single name Jason is the most deadpan comedian in comics. His stories are almost always rooted in loud genres that he reduces to quiet gestures, and he writes and draws them with draconian formal constraints, the most obvious of which is that all of his characters have nearly expressionless animal heads. This new book is a set of short pieces, constructed in the scorched rubble where B-movie matinees used to dwell...--Douglas Wolk If you haven t read Jason yet then this new collection of short stories from Fantagraphics is an ideal introduction, while for those of us who are already fans it is a welcome addition to Jason s oeuvre, offered up in a handsome small hardback volume. There are some sad, touching moment, some very emotional scenes, but also some brilliantly funny scenes, to make you sad, to make you laugh, to make you think, and all with just a few brief panels and hardly any dialogue, the accomplished work of an absolute master of the comics form. Superb.--Joe Gordon Jason is one of the most interesting artists to ever work in this medium... [and] this is a must-have for fans of smart comics.--Rich Barrett Jason's work predominantly explores themes of isolation, loneliness and the difficulties of human interaction through his trademark dry wit and offbeat mastery of dark comedy. Some stories leave you smirking and laughing, others heartbroken and devastated. The majority of them, both.--Jason Karlson If you haven't read Jason yet then this new collection of short stories from Fantagraphics is an ideal introduction, while for those of us who are already fans it is a welcome addition to Jason's oeuvre, offered up in a handsome small hardback volume. There are some sad, touching moment, some very emotional scenes, but also some brilliantly funny scenes, to make you sad, to make you laugh, to make you think, and all with just a few brief panels and hardly any dialogue, the accomplished work of an absolute master of the comics form. Superb.--Joe Gordon ...[T]he ease with which Jason paces his pages--sometimes cross-cutting between the future and the past, reality and surreality--without once infringing on the fluidity and clarity of his storytelling demonstrates the potential of his disarmingly simple aesthetic and is exemplar of how finely he's honed it. This stoic, stilted style has the same power as a Wes Anderson tracking shot ... Jason binds this diverse bundle of stories together like a musician would an album. While they don't all have the same intonation or emotional resonance, they play well off each other, complementing and contrasting. Unlike other short story collections, If You Steal never feels like anything but a complete work... --Shea Hennum If You Steal employs a combination of amusement and ennui that's textbook Jason, and seems to come straight from French New Wave films. [Rating: 9.0 out of 10] --Hillary Brown ...[T]he ease with which Jason paces his pages sometimes cross-cutting between the future and the past, reality and surreality without once infringing on the fluidity and clarity of his storytelling demonstrates the potential of his disarmingly simple aesthetic and is exemplar of how finely he s honed it. This stoic, stilted style has the same power as a Wes Anderson tracking shot ... Jason binds this diverse bundle of stories together like a musician would an album. While they don t all have the same intonation or emotional resonance, they play well off each other, complementing and contrasting. Unlike other short story collections, If You Stealnever feels like anything but a complete work... --Shea Hennum ...[T]he ease with which Jason paces his pages sometimes cross-cutting between the future and the past, reality and surreality without once infringing on the fluidity and clarity of his storytelling demonstrates the potential of his disarmingly simple aesthetic and is exemplar of how finely he s honed it. This stoic, stilted style has the same power as a Wes Anderson tracking shot ... Jason binds this diverse bundle of stories together like a musician would an album. While they don t all have the same intonation or emotional resonance, they play well off each other, complementing and contrasting. Unlike other short story collections, If You Stealnever feels like anything but a complete work...--Shea Hennum

Jason is one of the most interesting artists to ever work in this medium [and] this is a must-have for fans of smart comics.--Rich Barrett

Author Information

Jason hails from Oslo, Norway, but currently resides in Montpellier, France. He's won multiple Eisners, a Harvey, and an Inkpot award.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available