If You Steal - Hardcover

Jason

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1606998544 ISBN 13: 9781606998540

Publisher: Fantagraphics Books, 2015

Synopsis

Jasonā€™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 Bakerā€”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 Morrisonā€™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.

About this title

About the Author

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

Review

“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, Mental Floss

“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, Paste

“Norwegian cartoonist Jason is the master of haunting comics that wriggle into the reader’s brain and very often break their heart. ... Jason’s entire oeuvre... is essential reading for any fan of comics, art, pulp fiction, or silent/near-wordless narratives. ... If You Steal is no exception.”
- Laura Sneddon, Publishers Weekly

“With his simplified art style and wry sense of humor, Norwegian cartoonist Jason has crafted some immensely entertaining stories featuring anthropomorphized animal characters. ...[If You Steal] show[s] his versatility as a storyteller.”
- Oliver Sava, The A.V. Club

“

...[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, The A.V. Club

“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, The New York Times

“I am... in awe at the way this writer/artist looks at the world. ... His newest collection, If You Steal, is yet another stellar example of how Jason has such a firm grasp on telling simple stories about complex emotions.”
- Mark L. Miller, Ain't It Cool News

“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, Bleeding Cool

“Jason's short tales are known for being chock full of pop culture kitsch, genre-mashing experimentation, and quiet ennui-heavy contemplation. His latest collection, If You Steal, ...continues in the same vein and is likely to earn the cult-favorite cartoonist more plaudits...”
- Michael C. Lorah, Comic Book Resources

“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, Forbidden Planet International

About this edition

• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1606998544
• ISBN 13: 9781606998540
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208