Customer Reviews

Hey, Wait...

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book a few months ago, and have read it 5 times since. "I have absorbed its contents", would be more fitting, as the bulk of story in this book is told more through the artists complex while seemingly simplistic visuals. It's the story of two childhood friends, a tragic event that separates them, and finally how one of the friends grows up and how the events of his childhood still affect him. It's an amazing story, and I'd highly recommend it for people who like to think when they read comics. I find Jason's art to have many layers. There is so much that is being said in almost every panel. You have to look at it and think about it for a bit, though, or you'll miss what Jason is representing in these panels and throughout the book.

A great book. :)

This book is incredible. A masterpiece in graphic literature. The art is superb and is perfect for this story which I found hauntingly familiar. The perfectly drawn facial expressions bring the characters alive. The story will grip you and stay with you for eternity. The editorial review that says, "this story is beautiful but will utterly break your heart" is SO right on. Everyone needs this. I wish I knew if this artist had any other graphic novels out? I'd like to thank the first Amazon reviewer as his (or her) review convinced me to buy it. Now it's your turn. I assure you that it will be one of the best ten bucks you ever spent.

Jason, Hey, Wait... (Fantagraphics, 2001)

Graphic novel artist Jason made a huge splash with this slim volume when it first came out a few years back. It's pretty easy to see why; with a minimum of dialogue and a ot of abstraction, Jason paints a deeply affecting pastiche.

The story concerns two childhood friends who decide to start a fan club. While they're planning out the initiation, something goes horribly wrong, and the rest of the book deals with one friend's lifelong reaction to a life-changing event.

Hey, Wait... is unflinching. If you haven't yet come to the world of graphic novels, this is a great place to start; even the toughest critics of graphic novels, I should think, would be hard-pressed to deny the emotional power of this little tale (and it certainly puts to bed the idea that all comics are for kids). **** ½

A moving example of the power of simplicity, "Hey, Wait" is a work of art to be treasured and read again and again. It speaks across generations, across languages, and across national borders. It speaks to the human condition. As a graphic utterance of our postmodern existential angst, "Hey, Wait" is highly recommended.

I'll have to say that this artist has a way with the graphic art form that I feel few others have demontrated thus far in the genre. The sincerity conveyed through simplicity in order to portray a wonderful series of elements that characterise the human condition is refreshing...not to mention that zombies, mummies and monsters in general NEED to be in our lives!

I just found a first edition of this wonderful story and I must say that after reading Dylan Horrock's small quote on the rear cover I was quite interested.

I lost my childhood friend to suicide three years ago and this story, while not similar in that fate, really helped me see what I have been holding inside. Guilt is a terrible suitcase, one not easily discarded, but it's nice to see no one is alone.

I knew little of the book before literally stumbling onto it and I am very glad I did. It now sits in my large collection of comics and such and will be one of my favorite conversation pieces in my local comic shop in weeks to come. I highly recommend it to all!

Jason's comic coming-of-age story has many gems. His simplistic style and steady pacing with the use of the same comic panels on every page forge a universe made of a very personal visual language. The lines between adulthood and childhood are clearly drawn (so to speak): adults are tired, working-class that rarely smile as they tread the streets on stilts; the two kids in the story have boundless imagination and their world is populated by undead bullies and comic monsters.

The second part does not read as cleverly as the first, though done with the same care. The symbolism of the first half is only seen when the main character hits his lowest ebb. Its not clear why this character is made to suffer so much as his guilt succumbs to an unsatisfying life. Jason's very linear narrative could have used a little more complexity on this end but is otherwise a work that strikes a dark chord in regards to lost innocence and lost life and the parallels between the two.

I just read this last night and it blew me away. I read it after finishing Jason's other piece Why Are You Doing This? which I haven't been able to find on Amazon, but I find Hey, Wait! to be just as tragic, if not more-so.

This story is incredibly sad. Part One reflects on the lives of two young boys who spend the summer days together, doing things normal kids would. They have a tight friendship, and events that would seem average in our lives are magnified just as they would be in the eyes of children. Instead of writing from an adult's perspective, Jason looks at each panel like the children would which makes the tragedy that takes place even more devastating.

Part Two is just as important, as it follows the main character through the remainder of his life, dealing with the residue from Part One's tragedy. The metaphorical aspects are so strong sometimes it's hard to decipher them from real life events in the story, but I feel like that's the point. Not everything in life is spelled out for us, and Jason portrays his narratives in a way that exercises our minds, even if it with painfully real scenarios.

I would recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a drastically different, bold comic.

The first time you 'read' it, is the best. I love the realism, coupled with the symbolism. I love all the details you missed before. The style is simple, but beautiful and speaks volumes. A wonderful story that I love to read.

This is one of Jason's earliest graphic novels and could arguably be his best. It starts with two friends who go through the usual childhood antics of playing football, playing computer games, slowly noticing girls, and being bored in school. Then a tragedy occurs with one of the friends being killed. The surviving friend is haunted by this event and Part 2 opens with him grown up, divorced, working a job he hates, and increasingly becoming dependent on alcohol.

It's a portrait of trauma painted subtly, touchingly, and imaginatively. The quirky devices Jason employs are here. Instead of cars everyone goes about on stilts. All the characters are of course animal faced. But the imaginative devices he uses like at the end of Part 1 to show how childhood ends for the friend who survives is brilliant and original. Time lapse in Part 2 is again dealt with well so the reader is jarred by the sudden span of years. Despite Jason's usual lack of expressions on his characters' faces, in "Hey, Wait..." he alters them so you see real pain, frustration, and regret in their faces. Also, coming out of an alcoholic bender is done remarkably well for the comics medium.

The ending is ambiguous but memorable and again blurs reality and fantasy. Is it a happy ending or a sad one? I promise you, even if you're not a comics fan once you've read this you'll be thinking about this book for years. An amazing work of art.