| Jason | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Arne Sæterøy[1] May 16, 1965 Molde, Norway |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Area(s) | artist, writer |
| Notable works | Hey, Wait... Sshhhh! Meow, Baby! The Left Bank Gang |
| Awards | full list |
John Arne Sæterøy (born May 16, 1965 in Molde), better known by the pen name Jason, is a Norwegian cartoonist, known for his sparse drawing style and silent, anthropomorphic animal characters.
He has been nominated for two Ignatz Awards (2000: Outstanding Story and Outstanding Series, 2001: Outstanding Story and Outstanding Series), has received praise in Time, and won the Harvey Award for best new talent in 2002, and several Eisner Awards.
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Jason debuted in 1981 in the Norwegian comics magazine KonK, contribuing several short stories during its lifespan. In 1989, he was admitted to Norway's National Academy of the Arts, where he studied graphical design and illustration. He won the Norwegian Comics Association award in 1991 for the short work pervo.
In 1995, Jason published his first graphic novel, Lomma full av regn (Pocket Full of Rain), for which he won the Sproing Award. In 1997, he started making Mjau Mjau, a semi-regular comic book featuring nothing but his own works. In 2001, he was once again awarded a Sproing, this time for Mjau Mjau 10. Since 2002, Jason has concentrated on making graphic novels.
Jason has lived in Denmark,[2] Belgium, The U.S., and France. Since 2007, Jason has been living in Montpellier, and [3] his recent graphic novels have been initially published in French.[4]
As Jason's exposure has increased, his comics have been published outside of Norway, in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, and The U.S. Despite international acclaim, Jason has received limited recognition outside of academic circles in his home country, and is currently most popular in France. His American publisher is Fantagraphics.
Jason's work is usually drawn in a minimalist, clean style, influenced by Hergé's ligne claire.[5] His protagonists are usually anthropomorphic animals and/or B-movie monsters. There is little or no talking, and very rarely any captions; unlike most comic books, the reader is forced to rely on the pictures to understand the comics. The net effect is that the comics become reminiscent of silent films and Ernest Hemingway's short stories, where an important part is what is left out.
Jason's comics frequently refer to other works.[4] For example, Tell Me Something is inspired by Buster Keaton's movies,[6] Frankenstein's Monster and related characters appear in You Can't Get There From Here, and fictionalized versions of Ernest Hemingway and other writers are the protagonists of The Left Bank Gang.[7]
| Title | Year | ISBN | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hey, Wait... | 2001 | ISBN 1-56097-463-X | |
| Sshhhh! | 2002 | ISBN 1-56097-497-4 | |
| The Iron Wagon | 2003 | ISBN 1-56097-541-5 | |
| Tell Me Something | 2004 | ISBN 1-56097-566-0 | |
| You Can't Get There From Here | 2004 | ISBN 1-56097-598-9 | |
| Why Are You Doing This? | 2005 | ISBN 1-56097-655-1 | |
| Meow, Baby! | 2006 | ISBN 1-56097-695-0 | |
| The Left Bank Gang | 2006 | ISBN 1-56097-742-6 | |
| The Living and the Dead | 2007 | ISBN 1-56097-794-9 | |
| I Killed Adolf Hitler | 2007 | ISBN 1-56097-828-7 | |
| The Last Musketeer | 2008 | ISBN 978-1-56097-889-3 | |
| Pocket Full of Rain | 2008 | ISBN 978-1-56097-934-0 | |
| Low Moon | 2009 | ISBN 978-1606991558 | |
| Almost Silent | 2010 | ISBN 978-1606993156 | Reprints: Tell Me Something; You Can't Get There From Here; Meow, Baby!; and The Living and the Dead |
| Werewolves of Montpellier | 2010 | ISBN 978-1606993590 | |
| What I Did | 2010 | ISBN 978-1606994146 | Reprints: Hey, Wait...; Sshhhh!; and The Iron Wagon |
| Isle of 100,000 Graves | 2011 | ISBN 978-1606994429 | Contributor: Fabien Vehlmann |