Werewolves of Montpellier

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)