9781606993590
Werewolves of Montpellier share button
Fantagraphics Books
Format Paperback
Dimensions 6.90 (w) x 10.00 (h) x 0.30 (d)
Pages 48
Publisher Fantagraphics Books
Publication Date July 2010
ISBN 9781606993590
Book ISBN 10 1606993593
About Book

After an omnibus collection of earlier books (Almost Silent) and a new collection of short stories (Low Moon), Jason returns with another full-length, full-color graphic novella—his first since the 2008 Eisner Award-winning The Last Musketeer.

Sven, a semi-aimless Scandinavian artist who has ended up in Montpellier, France on a futile romantic pursuit, enjoys nocturnal raids into other people’s homes, disguised as a werewolf. The way he figures it, the disguise will give him an extra few moments’ advantage vis-à-vis any startled home owner if things get ugly...but he hasn’t taken into account the existence of a society of real Montpellier-based werewolves who do not take kindly to this new pretender. So while Sven spends his days playing chess and poker with his friends, sketching his way through his picturesque chosen hometown, and coping with romantic dilemmas—both his and those of his best friend, the Breakfast at Tiffany’s-obsessed Audrey, who has girl troubles of her own—little does he realize that a genuine threat to his life, and for that matter his humanity, is closing in on him.

Werewolves of Montpellier is a lycanthropic thriller, a romantic comedy, and an existential drama—basically, your typical Jason book. Beware the full moon!

Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Deadpan dialogue, drawings that move from panel to panel with the strange and deliberate force of kung fu performance art, and a subtle interweaving of humor and angst come together to make this a brief knockout of a book. Jason's cast of sober-faced dogs, rabbits, and birds interact with self-deprecating style, and the slight, absurd story, in which Sven masquerades as a werewolf and thus invites the attention of actual werewolves, holds it all loosely together. Meanwhile, Sven spends time with his neighbor, Audrey, as their relationship shifts and changes. In one scene, Audrey comforts him for his romantic loneliness. "Do women come from another planet?" she asks, rubbing his shoulders. "Yes, women come from another planet," he answers. The call and response dialogue escalates in humor while perfectly expressing the familiar tenderness between the two. Norwegian-born Jason is author of The Left Bank Gang and I Killed Adolf Hitler. His drawings and page design are genius in their simplicity and hold the attention like a Zen koan. The surface simplicity of a Jason story obscures how much is really here. (July)

The Comics Journal

What elevates Werewolves of Montpellier into the top rank of Jason’s work is the way he manages to dovetail the story’s genre elements with the emotional narrative. ... Overall, this is a pitch-perfect, expertly-crafted story by an artist who is clearly working in his comfort zone.”— Rob Clough