Lost Cat

I've read all of Jason's work (that I know of) and this is definitely one of my favorites. With his recent work, it's been hit or miss with me, as I sometimes feel like his stories are indulgently depressing just for the sake of it. haha To be fair, I'm not one of those people who write off things they don't get as "bad"--so I am willing to concede that I maybe missed the point of the stories I found to be depressing for the sake of being depressing. That said, this was not the case with "Lost Cat". I've read this story two or three times now, and the ending (which I felt was the best/strongest part) made me cry every single time. (Another favorite Jason tale of mine, "Why Are You Doing This?" also gets me the same way.) As other reviews have said, his use of silence is incredibly powerful; I feel like I'm watching a movie sometimes.Anyway, other reviews have addressed the story specifics enough already, but I just wanted to put my two cents in. if you're a fan of Jason, you won't be disappointed!!

This is a wonderful graphic novel. It's understated story-telling and sympathetic art and characters makes for some thought-provoking and entertaining reading. It may be Jason's best work to date. It's easy to read but if you read it too quickly you might miss some of the smaller details he has in there, and it' the type of book you won't mind reading twice. Highly recommended.

More and more in my reviews of comics, I find that I often talk about how many cartoonists use their medium to explore themes of loneliness, isolation, and our inability to connect with others. It's as if artists seem to be especially drawn to these themes, perhaps because the creative process tends to be one that occurs in isolation, or perhaps it's because the creators themselves are outsiders, observers, the kind of people who don't easily "fit in".Write what you know, and all that.Interestingly enough, though, art itself crosses the barriers between the isolation and the individual. A creator who examines their own inability to connect with others ends up connecting, in a sense, to similarly minded people who encounter the creator's work. By putting form to loneliness, it becomes a shared experience. The act of creation creates community; were it not for the impulse spawned in isolation, the singular insights would never be heard.Thus is the power of art. Only the creative individual can present their own loneliness, isolation, and inability to connect with others in a way that brings us together.Norwegian comic creator Jason does just this in his latest graphic novel, Lost Cat. In 150 four-panel pages, Jason uses his sparse, clean, black-and-white art (with the help of the late Kim Thompson's excellent translation) to tell the story of Dan Delon, a detective in the classic Raymond Chandler/Dashiell Hammett/Jim Thompson vein. In Lost Cat, Delon is vastly and stupefyingly alone and his loneliness is palpable thanks to Jason's pacing, clean lines, and use of negative space. When characters actually come together and physically touch in this book, it is either to inflict damage or perpetuate isolation. When physical contact works in this book, it is only in the daydreams of Dan Delon.The central story of Lost Cat revolves around this private eye who mainly works divorce cases. One day he finds a lost cat and returns it to its rightful owner, a woman with whom he finds much in common. This chance meeting imprints itself on the detective, but when he tries to meet with her again, she has disappeared. The memory of their meeting haunts Delon and he goes to great lengths to try to find her again, all the while creating a fantasy life in which the two of them have established a quiet and loving relationship. As this is a Jason book, though, there is an absurd and unexpected twist at the end which calls into question the whole nature of what it means to connect with others in the first place. In a way it asks us to consider what is more meaningful, actually connecting or the longing to connect in the first place."What is ... the most important thing in your life right now?""Whatever is missing, I guess."This is a quiet book. Pages and pages go by with little or no dialogue. Jason trusts his audience to put pieces together and he plays with our expectations. There are as many red herrings as there are moments of profundity in Lost Cat, and it is a book best read when you can devote yourself to it, away from the myriad distractions of the life you lead among other people.Jason pointedly examines how easy it is to get stuck in a routine. Alone, we repeat patterns - getting up, showering, cooking eggs, reading the news, jerking off - until it is all we know. We get comfortable in our dissatisfaction and loneliness, wearing it as an armor of excuses as to why we don't seek to change."Change is tough. Who knows what's around the corner? Better to stick with what you know..."To break free of this requires desire and effort. More importantly, though, it requires hope, "the constant encourager, the enemy / of the stationary, the promiser of better moments" as the poet Stephen Dobyns describes it in his poem "The Body's Hope". Without hope, why bother? And in Lost Cat, Jason seems to infuse his character with this. Dan Delon is the embodiment of hope as much as he is of isolation.Then again, in the same poem Dobyns calls hope "our dearest enemy, slick-talking advance man for death itself". Jason understands this as well in Lost Cat. As much as it is that without hope we would probably never leave the house, so too is it that without hope there can be no disappointment. You would be hard pressed to read Lost Cat without acknowledging this as well.But that's okay. Balance is important.Jason is an artist of a high caliber and reading Lost Cat confirms this. He creates in isolation, ruminates about our inability to connect, and, by doing so, brings us together. It is so easy for us to settle into the running of our lives that we often find we can no longer enumerate all that makes us miserable or askew. Sometimes we need to encounter the discord of others to harmonize a new song."You don't have an accent.""Oh, it went away. It went away while I waited.""Waited for what?""Oh, I don't know."

I'm relatively new to graphic novels. So I may not be the best one to judge.I liked Jason's sketches and the nods to noir detective genre. I liked the bizarre twist. Still, the content was too brief for me.Don't know if it's important to anyone, but the binding of the book is great. High quality production. It will be a nice collector's item for those that like his work.

I read Lost Cat after binge reading super hero graphic novels. As a result, I flew through it. I thought it was terrible. However, most reviews of Lost Cat have been overwhelmingly positive. I made an adult beverage, kicked back and took my time reading it.I liked it a lot more the 2nd time. I was disappointed in the ending but other than that enjoyed it.

Lost Cat. After years of Jason's consistently great works. Lost cat his first graphic "novel" and its as great as any of his works. with the white-eye charters he presents, he is able to convey emotion and a sense of attachment to his characters.the story take place when our lead happens to find a cat and a lost cat poster. calling the owner and returning the cat he meets a woman. when invited into the woman's home he notices the books she owns and they start talking. after a few drinks and stories they make plans to meet again. days pass and she doesn't return his calls nor does she go to work. the detectives instincts appear as he checks on her. she's gone without a trace. no ones seen her, heard from her nor is anything of hers gone. and that's when our sad detective starts digging for the one woman who he thinks could be the one.Lost cat is a great story, inspired by the movie "the big sleep" Jason brings the 1940's noir mystery to a modern audience and adds his signature style we know and love.weather you are a first time Jason reader or a loyal fan, lost cat is a must have.

Great product, basically brand new and it turns out from a library in Jamaica. Anyhow, not my fav from Jason, but a great study piece for its style and references/influences

Ich mag Jasons stark reduzierten Strich und seine düsteren, oft recht hoffnungslosen Comics. Und obwohl ich Fan dieses Zeichners und Autors bin, werde ich mit "Lost Cat" nicht so recht warm, denn die Story erschließt sich mir nicht so ganz."Lost Cat" beginnt mit der titelgebenden ausgebüxten Katze. Diese wird von einem an Humphrey Bogart erinnernden Detektiv gefunden und ihrer Besitzerin, einer Buchhändlerin, übergeben. Bei der Katzenübergabe kommen die beiden Tiermenschen (denn bei Jason sind die Protagonisten immer Mensch gewordene Tiere) ins Gespräch, und kommen schnell auf das Thema Einsamkeit. Während sich eine zarte Romanze zwischen den beiden abzeichnet, verschwindet die Buchhändlerin plötzlich spurlos. Außerdem bekommt der Schnüffler einen neuen Fall: Er wird von einem Sterbenden beauftragt, das Aktgemälde einer früheren Partnerin wiederzubeschaffen. Und gleichzeitig ist er selbstredend auf der Suche nach der Buchhändlerin..."Lost Cat" ist in schwarzweißen Bildern erzählt. Jason hat zudem einen roten Buntstift für Schraffuren und Texturen benutzt. Während ich also von den Zeichnungen wieder komplett angesprochen wurde, gefällt mir die Story nur so mittel, da ich die Gestaltung der Suche nach der Buchhändlerin und deren plötzliches Verschwinden nicht nachvollziehen kann. Vielleicht ist mir bei der Lektüre des Comics aber auch an einer Stelle irgendetwas Relevantes entgangen.Insgesamt von mir somit nur durchschnittliche drei von fünf Sternen für den aktuellen Jason-Band.Die amerikanische Ausgabe ist sehr wertig in Singapur gedruckt und verarbeitet worden und kommt mit einem gelben Leinenrücken daher.

Lost cat starts well. Like a classic film noir mystery. The subjeckts are loneliness and love. I dont't like it when he involves travellers from outer space. Jason does that in a lot of his stories. Sadly in this one too. I don't see why. It would be much better if he could stick to humans (or human animals).