Upside dawn

This clever collection of absurdist shorts by Norwegian cartoonist Jason (The Left Bank Gang) features some of the Eisner Award winner's zaniest conceits to date. Fueled by his usual preoccupations with modern literature, film noir, and EC Comics, Jason populates his pages with iconic literary figures and archetypes, all drawn as dogs, birds, and rabbits with human comportments, and dropped into situations far removed from their familiar environs. Athos encounters Ziggy Stardust. Ulysses becomes a heist caper. René Magritte and Marge Simpson figure into a single story. Highlights include "The Prisoner in the Castle," a Kafkaesque suspense tale; "I Remember," a cosmic Joe Brainard homage; and "The City of Light Forever," a Star Trek extrapolation wherein Spock pursues painting in 1920s Paris. Tone and genre vary, but the plots (so to speak) almost uniformly involve terse, downcast protagonists, gruff pathos, and understated humor. Not every entry delivers on its premise, but the fanciful skits make for propulsive reading, and Jason's subdued, boardinghouse take on Hergé's clear-line illustration style is a reliable delight. A trove of audacious attempts--and a few misfires--this is a must for fans of Jason's singular work, or for newcomers to his peculiar brilliance. (Nov.)

This new collection finds Norwegian cartoonist Jason (Good Night, Hem) at his most playfully experimental. "Man, Woman" depicts a pair of hopelessly mismatched lonely hearts in increasingly incongruous styles, emphasizing their failure to connect over the course of a first date. "Vampyros Dyslexicos" and hardboiled noir riff "Perec, Pi" explore genre conventions by allowing much of the action to occur off-page, as indicated by panels depicting select moments from either tale. Several offerings reimagine literary works--"Ulysses" finds Leopold Bloom and a one-eyed assassin at odds over a floppy disk containing top-secret information; "The Prisoner in the Castle" follows Franz Kafka's quest to discover who is responsible for his imprisonment in a sinister seaside village; and "Crime & Punishment" adapts the classic novel in the style of a true-crime documentary. Jason's knack for moving between absurdity, deadpan humor, and melancholy are on full display in the standout "The City of Light, Eternity," in which Star Trek's Spock and Captain Kirk contemplate the meaning of life after time-traveling to 1920s Paris. VERDICT Jason's virtuosic storytelling and idiosyncratic perspective remain as compelling as ever in this essential new collection.