The Living and the Dead [Paperback]

Jason (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 14, 2007

The Norwegian cartoonist returns to his two-tone mute roots with this George A. Romero-esque zombie comedy-cum-love story. Jason's elegant deadpan style somehow manages to make the gruesome gore and splatter effects almost charming.

After a couple of downright chatty full-color books (Why Are You Doing This? and The Left Bank Gang) the Norwegian cartoonist Jason returns, for his ninth Fantagraphics graphic novel, to his two-tone mute roots with The Living and the Dead, a George A. Romero-esque zombie comedy that he intends to be the middle installment of his "horror trilogy" begun with the Frankenstein monster love triangle of You Can't Get There From Here. Jason's elegant deadpan style somehow manages to make the gruesome gore and splatter effects almost... charming — and yes, it is a sweet love story at heart. If you read only one book in which a zombie devours a baby this year (even Romero never quite summoned up the nerve for that), read this one!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With the plethora of zombie comics and films out there, the idea of one more hardly sounds appetizing. But no matter what genre Norwegian cartoonist Jason touches, he owns it. His style is too inventive and distinctive to be overpowered by any of the latest trends, and it's this art style that makes the book work. It's not that the plot is anything new: a young chef falls in love with a young prostitute, but a gang of zombies show up to complicate the romance. Being on the run from a flesh-eating horde has never been so funny. All the characters are anthropomorphized or birds, all lanky and resistant to big facial expressions. His storytelling is lean and every panel counts, with the action told in an efficient and droll manner with few words: there are only seven lines of dialogue in the entire book. The sweet but irreverent sense of humor reaches its high point with the little twist ending—it's romantic but not in any conventional way, further testimony to why Jason is one of the most dependable talents creating comics today. (Mar).
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From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up—Boy meets girl. Meteor hits. Dead come back to life. Dead eat living. Boy saves girl. Girl becomes zombie. Boy becomes zombie. Boy and girl eat living together, and exist happily ever after. Jason uses stark, stylized black-and-white line art to portray this rehash of George Romero's film Night of the Living Dead (1968). The sparingly drawn anthropomorphized animals are reminiscent of 1930s cartoon characters such as Felix the Cat. Designed like a silent film, the sequential storytelling through visual panels flows quickly with few words. Jason's cartoon characters, combined with the book's gore, horror, and romance, should appeal to certain young adult sensibilities. The book's brevity and points of comparison with cult movies and pulp fiction add to its worth in graphic-novel collections.—Jodi Mitchell, Durham County Library, NC
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books (March 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560977949
• ISBN-13: 978-1560977940
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.2 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #196,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #1 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Publishers > Fantagraphics
  • #30 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Horror
  • #89 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Publishers > Fantagraphics

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A zombie story like no other I've seen, October 28, 2007

By 

Tom Knapp "Rambles.NET editor" (Lancaster, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Living and the Dead (Paperback)

Told in Norwegian artist Jason's trademark style -- stark black-and-white drawings, anthropomorphized characters, action almost entirely without dialogue -- the story imparts a great deal of thought and emotion, horror, humor and, yes, even romance.

The Living & the Dead is remarkably lacking in gore, so far as zombie tales go -- although you will be treated to scenes of the undead noshing on a baby, a pimp and the occasional restaurant patron. The story has some sense of urgency, but it unfolds at a relaxed pace -- and the expressiveness of Jason's characters is delightfully wrought.

And the ending is about as touching as a zombie story possibly can be.

by Tom Knapp, Rambles.(net) editor

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jason Comics, March 19, 2007

By 

Jason Oak Ritchie - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Living and the Dead (Paperback)

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!

5.0 out of 5 stars A zombie love story., December 16, 2010

By 

Jeremy Weissenburger (Laurel, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Living and the Dead (Paperback)

Jason is a graphic novelist who I have enjoyed since "The Left Bank Gang." I have been going back to find any of his work I could, all with anthropomorphic characters.

The Living and the Dead is a love story set during the zombie apocalypse. Will our hero be able to get the girl before they become the undead?

Many of Jason's stories are low on narration, so they are very quick reads. This makes buying them at the full price rather distressing at times. If you can, try to get these at a lower price. The stories are great and well-written, but go by very fast.