John Arne Sæterøy (born 16 May 1965), better known by the pen name Jason, is a Norwegian

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

, known for his sparse drawing style and silent,

anthropomorphic animal Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

characters. He was nominated for two Ignatz Awards (2000: Outstanding Story and Outstanding Series, 2001: Outstanding Story and Outstanding Series), received praise in '' Time'', and won the Harvey Award for best new talent in 2002, as well as several Eisner Awards.

Biography

Jason was born in

Molde Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of the m ...

, and had his work published for the first time in 1981 in the Norwegian

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

magazine ''KonK'', to which he contributed several short stories during its lifespan. In 1989, he was admitted to Norway's ''National Academy of the Arts'', where he studied graphic 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 The Sproing Award is awarded by Norsk Tegneserieforum (NTF), an organisation to promote interest and understanding for comics in Norway. Since 1987, the award has been presented for the ''Best Norwegian Strips'', a comic strip or comic book by a No ...

. 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, Belgium, the U.S., and France. Since 2007, Jason has been living in

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, and his recent graphic novels have been initially published in French. As Jason's exposure has increased, his comics have been published outside of Norway, in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, Brazil, and the U.S. His American publisher is Fantagraphics.

Style

Jason's work is usually drawn in a minimalist, clean style, influenced by Hergé's ligne claire. His protagonists are usually

s and/or

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

monsters A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

. There is little or no talking, and very rarely any captions. Jason's comics frequently refer to other works. For example, ''Tell Me Something'' is inspired by

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

's movies, 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''.

Bibliography of English publications

Awards

* 1995:

, for ''Lomma full av regn'' * 2000: Sproing Award, for ''Mjau Mjau 10: Si meg en ting'' * 2000:

Urhunden Prize Urhunden Prizes have been given out each year by the Swedish Comics Association ('' Svenska Seriefrämjandet'') since 1987. There are three categories: Best Swedish (Domestic) Album of the Year (1987–2005), Best Foreign Album of the Year (1987 ...

for best translated graphic novel, for ''Vänta lite...'' * 2002: Inkpot Award * 2002: Harvey Award,

Best New Talent Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

, for ''Hey, Wait...'' * 2005:

Brage Prize The Brage Prize (Norwegian: ''Brageprisen'') is a Norwegian literature prize that is awarded annually by the Norwegian Book Prize foundation (''Den norske bokprisen''). The prize recognizes recently published Norwegian literature. The Brage Priz ...

, Open Class for ''La meg vise deg noe...'' * 2007:

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

, Best U.S. Edition of International Material, for ''The Left Bank Gang'' * 2008:

, Best U.S. Edition of International Material, for ''I Killed Adolf Hitler''

References

Jason publications
on Fantagraphics

Bedetheque ;Footnotes

External links

on Lambiek Comiclopedia

''Time'' magazine review
''J'ai tué Adolf Hitler'' preview
BDgest {{DEFAULTSORT:Jason 1965 births Living people Norwegian cartoonists Norwegian comics artists Norwegian comics writers Harvey Award winners for Best New Talent 21st-century Norwegian artists People from Molde