Jason (comics)

Jason or John Arne Sæterøy (born May 16, 1965 in Molde) is a Norwegian cartoonist, known for his sparse drawing style and silent, anthropomorphic characters. He has been nominated for the Ignatz Award twice (2000: Outstanding Story and Outstanding Series, 2001: Outstanding Story and Outstanding Series), has received praise in Time, and has won the Harvey Award for best new talent in 2002.

Biography

Jason debuted in 1981 in the Norwegian comics magazine KonK and contributed with several short stories during its lifespan. In 1989, he was admitted to Norway's National Academy of the Arts, the most prestigious school of its kind in Norway, where he studied graphical design and illustration. He won the Norwegian Comics Association award in 1991 for the short work pervo (perv). In 1995, Jason published his first graphic novel, Lomma full av regn (Pocket Full of Rain). He was given the Sproing Award (the most prestigious comic book award in Norway) that year. 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's work is usually drawn in a minimalist, clean style, inspired by Hergé. His protagonists are usually antropomorphic 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. As Jason's exposure has increased, his comics have been published outside Norway, in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland and 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.

Bibliography of English publications

Awards

• 1995: Sproing Award, for Lomma full av regn ^[1]
• 2000: Sproing Award, for Mjau Mjau 10: Si meg en ting
• 2000: Urhunden Prize for best translated graphic novel, for Vänta lite...
• 2002: Inkpot Award ^[2]
• 2002: Harvey Award, Best New Talent, for Hey, Wait...^[3]
• 2007: Eisner Award, Best U.S. Edition of International Material, for The Left Bank Gang ^[4]

Sources

Footnotes

External links

• Jason biograpy on Lambiek Comiclopedia
• "A Life Missed" Time magazine review
• J'ai tue Adolf Hitler preview BDgest (French)
• I Killed Adolf Hitler review Silver Bullet Comic Books