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Lost Cat
A detective is walking down the street. It is raining. He sees a "Lost Cat" poster. A minute later he sees the cat from the photo. He picks it up and goes back to the poster. He calls the number. A woman answers. He turns up at her place and gives her the cat. She invites him in from the rain for a cup of coffee. They talk and find out they have a lot in common: both are divorced and living alone. Some days later he invites her out for a dinner. She accepts. He shows up at the agreed time. She doesn't. He calls her home and knocks on her door. No answer. He asks the neighbors. They haven't seen her. She has disappeared. He makes some phone calls and investigates, but can't find her. He gets a new client and has to start working on a new case. In his head he continues their conversation. Lost Cat, the new graphic novel by Jason (after years of "graphic novellas" of less than 50 pages, arguably his first genuine graphic NOVEL) is both a playful take on the classic detective story, and a story about how difficult it is to find a sister spirit, someone you feel a real connection to--and what do you do if you lose that person?
160 pages, Hardcover
First published June 19, 2013
2 people are currently reading
432 people want to read
About the author
Jason
114 books708 followersJohn Arne Sæterøy, better known by the pen name Jason, is an internationally acclaimed Norwegian cartoonist. Jason's comics are known for their distinctive, stone-faced anthropomorphic characters as well as their pace reminiscent of classic films.
Jason was born in 1965 and debuted in the early 80's, when still a teenager, in the Norwegian comics magazine 'KonK'. His first graphic novel Pocket Full of Rain (1995) won the Sproing Award, one of the main national awards for cartoonist.
In 2001 Jason started a fruitful collaboration with the American publisher Fantagraphics, which helped him gain international notoriety. Besides Norway and the U.S., his comics have appeared in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Brazil.
Jason's stories feature a peculiar mix of dry humour, surrealism and tropes from a variety of pulp genres, such as noir novels and monster movies. His most celebrated works include: Hey, Wait... (2001), a tale of childhood and trauma; You Can't Get There from Here (2004), a re-telling of the myth of Frankenstein; The Left Bank Gang (2007), featuring fictional versions of Hemingway and other writers living in Paris in the 1920s; I Killed Adolf Hitler (2008), a story that mixes romance and time travel; The Last Musketeer (2009), a love letter to old sci-fi imaginary featuring king's musketeer Athos; Low Moon (2010), one of his many collections of short stories; Werewolves of Montpellier (2010); Isle of 100,000 Graves (2011), a pirate story co-written with French cartoonist Fabien Vehlmann; Lost Cat (2013), a thriller with a surreal spin.
Jason won a Harvey Award for best new talent in 2002 and Eisner Awards in the category 'Best U.S. Edition of International Material' for three consecutive years (2007-2009).
He has lived in Denmark, Belgium, the U.S., eventually setting for Montpellier, France in 2007.
Jason was born in 1965 and debuted in the early 80's, when still a teenager, in the Norwegian comics magazine 'KonK'. His first graphic novel Pocket Full of Rain (1995) won the Sproing Award, one of the main national awards for cartoonist.
In 2001 Jason started a fruitful collaboration with the American publisher Fantagraphics, which helped him gain international notoriety. Besides Norway and the U.S., his comics have appeared in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Brazil.
Jason's stories feature a peculiar mix of dry humour, surrealism and tropes from a variety of pulp genres, such as noir novels and monster movies. His most celebrated works include: Hey, Wait... (2001), a tale of childhood and trauma; You Can't Get There from Here (2004), a re-telling of the myth of Frankenstein; The Left Bank Gang (2007), featuring fictional versions of Hemingway and other writers living in Paris in the 1920s; I Killed Adolf Hitler (2008), a story that mixes romance and time travel; The Last Musketeer (2009), a love letter to old sci-fi imaginary featuring king's musketeer Athos; Low Moon (2010), one of his many collections of short stories; Werewolves of Montpellier (2010); Isle of 100,000 Graves (2011), a pirate story co-written with French cartoonist Fabien Vehlmann; Lost Cat (2013), a thriller with a surreal spin.
Jason won a Harvey Award for best new talent in 2002 and Eisner Awards in the category 'Best U.S. Edition of International Material' for three consecutive years (2007-2009).
He has lived in Denmark, Belgium, the U.S., eventually setting for Montpellier, France in 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 157 reviews
April 10, 2021
4/8/21 Reread of Jason graphic novels and stories, better than ever. The more you read comics, the more you know about comics, the better he gets. At first he seems just simple and goofy and sort of understated, which may be enough, but then you see over time, as with any great work, the layers of wit and understanding and pathos and comics genius in it.
3/1/18 I decided to reread all of my Jason books, and this is the first reread (of 2018) of one of my favorite comics artists ever. I dunno, maybe I should have read them in order of publication? Oh, well. In short, this is a detective novel that would appear to morph into a lonelyhearts romance and then would appear to morph again briefly into sci-fi. Part of the reason for any confusion is that the detective, having met a woman that disappears, thinks about her, dreams about her.
Jason (John Arne Sæterøy) is a Norwegian artist living in France, very into old movies and tv and music, very active blogger, sharing his work in progress, and he also seems reclusive. The work is generally minimalist and understated, with dry, tongue-in-cheek humor, though this one is longer and more elaborate than any of his early work. And one of my favorites.
9/20/13 (somewhat edited) Lost Cat is one of my favorite books of the year from one of my favorite author/artists. I don't know if this is my favorite Jason, but now that I think of it, many seem to be my favorites, it's so hard to choose! I read it fast and will read it again slowly, savoring, appreciating the attention to craft you can miss when you go too fast with this guy. He makes it look easy, initially, and he makes the images do the bulk of the work, which I always like.
Lost Cat is a love story and a detective story, so there's a blending of genres he usually does for fun and to explore interesting questions about genre, I think. But to play, play, play, within clean, strong lines and cartoony, anthropomorphic animal characters and make us care about them! For example, the detective appears as a dog, and the woman he meets asks him if he is detective like Humphrey Bogart, which--to our eyes--he clearly doesn't appear to resemble. Then Bogart references are peppered throughout.
And underneath it all is this loneliness, this sadness, this separation. In Lost Cat we have two people, both lonely, that meet over a lost cat, and they like each other. . . and then it gets all Big Sleep-ish, which is to say there are plot twists that we can just enjoy, and know there is a plot here to figure out, but this Big Sleep thing is also a deliberate homage to Bogart and noir, which Jason especially loves. . . and who doesn't?
And then maybe central to it all is the MacGuffin-ing! Hitchcock invented the term, which may be defined:
"in film, a plot device that has no specific meaning or purpose other than to advance the story; any situation that motivates the action of a film either artificially or substantively."
Hitchcock is known for creating these amusing devices in his work, such as the military secrets in The Thirty Nine Steps; the Maltese Falcon, the letters of transit in Casablanca. .. all sorts of them in Raymond Chandler's endlessly confusing and delightful; The Big Sleep. Maybe it's the hilarious Big Sleep that is the central literary reference in Lost Cat. We don't quite know what it going on, but you can't put it down. And oh, yeah, the Lost cat is a macguffin!
Maybe the most important thing for me to say (without giving away the story and that genre shift I mentioned) is that this guy (Jason!) is not just a technician (though he IS this, he is a master at comic form, proportion, all of it), but that he creates such surprisingly rich characters you come to care very much about. In the end, in the epilogue, we see he hasn't just played with genre, we are actually moved by what we see has happened. There is this darkly comic vein going through it, sometimes really smart-assy, through all of his work, deadpan humor and sometimes the macabre in places, but overall I think it is his humanity that shows through. He uses these silly-looking animals for characters and he STILL makes you care deeply about them. It's what Art Spiegelman and Jeff Lemire and Charles Schultz and all the great ones do in comics. Great work, and I highly recommend this and everything you can get your hands on from this guy!
3/1/18 I decided to reread all of my Jason books, and this is the first reread (of 2018) of one of my favorite comics artists ever. I dunno, maybe I should have read them in order of publication? Oh, well. In short, this is a detective novel that would appear to morph into a lonelyhearts romance and then would appear to morph again briefly into sci-fi. Part of the reason for any confusion is that the detective, having met a woman that disappears, thinks about her, dreams about her.
Jason (John Arne Sæterøy) is a Norwegian artist living in France, very into old movies and tv and music, very active blogger, sharing his work in progress, and he also seems reclusive. The work is generally minimalist and understated, with dry, tongue-in-cheek humor, though this one is longer and more elaborate than any of his early work. And one of my favorites.
9/20/13 (somewhat edited) Lost Cat is one of my favorite books of the year from one of my favorite author/artists. I don't know if this is my favorite Jason, but now that I think of it, many seem to be my favorites, it's so hard to choose! I read it fast and will read it again slowly, savoring, appreciating the attention to craft you can miss when you go too fast with this guy. He makes it look easy, initially, and he makes the images do the bulk of the work, which I always like.
Lost Cat is a love story and a detective story, so there's a blending of genres he usually does for fun and to explore interesting questions about genre, I think. But to play, play, play, within clean, strong lines and cartoony, anthropomorphic animal characters and make us care about them! For example, the detective appears as a dog, and the woman he meets asks him if he is detective like Humphrey Bogart, which--to our eyes--he clearly doesn't appear to resemble. Then Bogart references are peppered throughout.
And underneath it all is this loneliness, this sadness, this separation. In Lost Cat we have two people, both lonely, that meet over a lost cat, and they like each other. . . and then it gets all Big Sleep-ish, which is to say there are plot twists that we can just enjoy, and know there is a plot here to figure out, but this Big Sleep thing is also a deliberate homage to Bogart and noir, which Jason especially loves. . . and who doesn't?
And then maybe central to it all is the MacGuffin-ing! Hitchcock invented the term, which may be defined:
"in film, a plot device that has no specific meaning or purpose other than to advance the story; any situation that motivates the action of a film either artificially or substantively."
Hitchcock is known for creating these amusing devices in his work, such as the military secrets in The Thirty Nine Steps; the Maltese Falcon, the letters of transit in Casablanca. .. all sorts of them in Raymond Chandler's endlessly confusing and delightful; The Big Sleep. Maybe it's the hilarious Big Sleep that is the central literary reference in Lost Cat. We don't quite know what it going on, but you can't put it down. And oh, yeah, the Lost cat is a macguffin!
Maybe the most important thing for me to say (without giving away the story and that genre shift I mentioned) is that this guy (Jason!) is not just a technician (though he IS this, he is a master at comic form, proportion, all of it), but that he creates such surprisingly rich characters you come to care very much about. In the end, in the epilogue, we see he hasn't just played with genre, we are actually moved by what we see has happened. There is this darkly comic vein going through it, sometimes really smart-assy, through all of his work, deadpan humor and sometimes the macabre in places, but overall I think it is his humanity that shows through. He uses these silly-looking animals for characters and he STILL makes you care deeply about them. It's what Art Spiegelman and Jeff Lemire and Charles Schultz and all the great ones do in comics. Great work, and I highly recommend this and everything you can get your hands on from this guy!
August 19, 2018
A lost cat, a lost woman, a lost painting and a lost world.
Nice and sweet, but something was missing.
Nice and sweet, but something was missing.
June 15, 2018
Aunque me es imposible escoger una sola obra de este autor, puede que sea esta una de mis favoritas. Y Espera..., y Yo maté a Adolf Hitler, y...
Aquí nos encontramos una historia considerablemente más extensa que otros títulos de Jason, en la que vuelve, cómo no, a sus temas recurrentes y obsesiones, que nunca cansan: la soledad, el amor, la condición humana, lo que pudo haber sido, esa mezcla de géneros tan especial: novela negra, romántica, un toque de ciencia ficción... la atmósfera melancólica e irónica que todo lo embarga...
Una maravilla.
Aquí nos encontramos una historia considerablemente más extensa que otros títulos de Jason, en la que vuelve, cómo no, a sus temas recurrentes y obsesiones, que nunca cansan: la soledad, el amor, la condición humana, lo que pudo haber sido, esa mezcla de géneros tan especial: novela negra, romántica, un toque de ciencia ficción... la atmósfera melancólica e irónica que todo lo embarga...
Una maravilla.
October 11, 2017
The superb Jason returns with his latest book, Lost Cat. The story of a private detective who falls in love only to lose the woman of his dreams to his dreams, Lost Cat is definitely one of the best comic books of the year. Read the full review here: here!
August 31, 2017
Fun, compelling, haunting. Like the good parts of Twin Peaks. I should also say I'm not entirely sure what happened.
February 20, 2015
My Original Plan Was to Become a Cowboy, But...
The wonderfully subtle and poetic Lost Cat features a private detective ("My original plan was to become a cowboy, but...") set in his lonely and uneventful ways. When the possibility of romance and maybe even happiness unexpectedly presents itself, fate immediately ensures that things instead go from bad to worse.
In his longest story to date, the always reliable Jason infuses the noir genre with his trademark melancholic, deadpan humour. Both romantic and disillusioned, cartoony and realistic, funny and sad.
The wonderfully subtle and poetic Lost Cat features a private detective ("My original plan was to become a cowboy, but...") set in his lonely and uneventful ways. When the possibility of romance and maybe even happiness unexpectedly presents itself, fate immediately ensures that things instead go from bad to worse.
In his longest story to date, the always reliable Jason infuses the noir genre with his trademark melancholic, deadpan humour. Both romantic and disillusioned, cartoony and realistic, funny and sad.
July 8, 2018
Men shouldn’t be allowed to write about women or cats.
January 17, 2022
This might just be my favorite of the Jason books I've read so far.
In this genre shifting story we not only get ideas and finely tuned art, but also the heart and pathos that make me want to care about the story and the characters within it.
In this genre shifting story we not only get ideas and finely tuned art, but also the heart and pathos that make me want to care about the story and the characters within it.
September 13, 2013
Jason writes some of the strangest, most enigmatic comics I've ever read. His anthropomorphic animal characters almost never change expression, and there's such a ... haunted ambiance to the world they inhabit. Genre tropes surface in the stories, only to be turned on their ears. Lost Cat starts as a private eye novel, then suddenly morphs into science fiction. Jason's comics are strange and wonderful and unlike anything else I've read.
May 30, 2022
Not my cuppa, I guess. I like plot that is a little more coherent. Or, glaringly obvious, maybe. Maybe I am just getting old and cranky.
Library copy
Library copy
November 22, 2023
I need to reread this one. As Dave Schaafsma says in his brief goodreads review, Jason creates fully realized characters with very few details. That is what always draws me to his work. This book, though, has me teetering on the verge of a meager 3 stars ... because i can't yet find a way to connect everything non-arbitrarily ... and i still presume Jason's work to be non-arbitrary. Maybe i'll reread it today ... if we don't go see a movie ... or tomorrow morning before work....
^^^ That was Oct 2016; this is Oct 2017. Easily 4.5 stars.
I reread this to start a week-long reading retreat with my wife in Lexington (MI). I noticed so much more this time around that now my rating hesitation is between 4 and 5 stars.
Q: Who is the lost cat? A: Jason. Or me. Or you. Everyone is a lost cat. And everyone is Detective Delon. And everyone has been Charlotte, who deeply feels the loss of her cat, and who succinctly and accurately says anyone who can't understand that just doesn't have a cat or never lost one or can't imagine losing her. But Charlotte is also a lost cat in that she is estranged. As Delon is from his depressing job. Just like Kitty, everyone is so wet and cold that we'll even jump into the arms of a stranger, as long as that stranger is warm and inviting. We can only hope that that stranger is kindly, honorable, and returns us to where we feel at home.
Classic weirdo/Jason way to convey the heartfelt drama of life, of love, of humanity. I won't go into specifics because they'd necessitate spoilers. Jason honestly lays out the various bleaknesses of existence and then reveals the underlying beauties that would be lost if that's all you happened to notice.
If you like comics, and especially if you like noir, and even more especially if you're willing to read and reread, then pick this up again and again.
^^^ That was Oct 2016; this is Oct 2017. Easily 4.5 stars.
I reread this to start a week-long reading retreat with my wife in Lexington (MI). I noticed so much more this time around that now my rating hesitation is between 4 and 5 stars.
Q: Who is the lost cat? A: Jason. Or me. Or you. Everyone is a lost cat. And everyone is Detective Delon. And everyone has been Charlotte, who deeply feels the loss of her cat, and who succinctly and accurately says anyone who can't understand that just doesn't have a cat or never lost one or can't imagine losing her. But Charlotte is also a lost cat in that she is estranged. As Delon is from his depressing job. Just like Kitty, everyone is so wet and cold that we'll even jump into the arms of a stranger, as long as that stranger is warm and inviting. We can only hope that that stranger is kindly, honorable, and returns us to where we feel at home.
Classic weirdo/Jason way to convey the heartfelt drama of life, of love, of humanity. I won't go into specifics because they'd necessitate spoilers. Jason honestly lays out the various bleaknesses of existence and then reveals the underlying beauties that would be lost if that's all you happened to notice.
If you like comics, and especially if you like noir, and even more especially if you're willing to read and reread, then pick this up again and again.
August 29, 2023
9/10
Yet another masterpiece by the greatest cartoonist alive.
I thought this was an older work, but in actuality it's a relatively recent effort (2013).
I will cut it short: this may be Jason's most balanced book.
All of his tropes are here. The slow cinematic allure; plenty of fixed camera instant-to-instant transitions; the crime noir premises; the unexpected genre-bending plot twists; the investigations about human relations; the silent meditative moments about the existence itself.
Bravo Maestro!
Yet another masterpiece by the greatest cartoonist alive.
I thought this was an older work, but in actuality it's a relatively recent effort (2013).
I will cut it short: this may be Jason's most balanced book.
All of his tropes are here. The slow cinematic allure; plenty of fixed camera instant-to-instant transitions; the crime noir premises; the unexpected genre-bending plot twists; the investigations about human relations; the silent meditative moments about the existence itself.
Bravo Maestro!
October 18, 2017
Probably my worst review ever. This started well but loses its focus in the middle and ends fairly badly by my comparison with other works of his. The plot just isn't as strong or sad, and I can't recall enough of it to be more useful than that for here.
March 16, 2020
This started very promising and continued being promising but the end was quite underwhelming.
I also don't think the sci-fi element fitted very well with the story.
But reading Jason is always a good choice.
I also don't think the sci-fi element fitted very well with the story.
But reading Jason is always a good choice.
March 2, 2025
4.5 en realidad.
"¿Qué te crees, que sólo hay una persona para ti en el mundo y que esa persona soy yo?
Yo no puedo salvarte, ¿sabes?"
🕵🏼♂️🐈⬛📖☕️👩🏻❤️👨🏼☕️🛸👽🤖
Charlotte Mardou
🕵🏼♂️🐈⬛📖☕️👩🏻❤️👨🏼☕️🛸👽🤖
¡¿Qué narices ha pasado?! Menudo plot twist final. Aunque me lo imaginaba, si he de ser sincera... se me pasó por cabeza tal cual fue al final 🛸, porque sabía que el autor iba a meter algo de ciencia ficción. Además empecé a ver ciertos guiños en la historia👽.
Me gustaría mucho poder comentar este libro, así que si lo has leído no dudes en decírmelo.
Me gusta mucho como me ha sumergido Jason en una atmósfera de melancolía total.
"El gato perdido" es una historia de detectives al estilo clásico, donde se plantea lo difícil que es encontrar un alma gemela, alguien con quien se siente una auténtica conexión, y lo que uno haría si perdiese a ese alguien.
Se tratan de forma excelente temas como la soledad, y las formas de llevarla o sobrellevarla; el amor en distintas formas y etapas; la condición humana; las dudas; el miedo; lo que pudo haber sido...
Hasta me ha gustado la parte de ciencia ficción. No noté que desencajase o algo así. Todo lo contrario. Me ha parecido una historia muy bien hilada desde el principio, aunque me faltó un pelín más de detalles, historia, de roce entre Charlotte y Danny.
Danny... me he visto en él, como en un espejo. Un hombre al que gracias a una gatita perdida en la lluvia, y la posterior entrega a su dueña, café, libros y una buena conversación mientras, encuentra como a su "alma gemela", una conexión especial y significativa, y luego la pierde. Al perderla decide cerrar los ojos y vivir imaginando lo que podría haber sido, en lugar de aceptarlo y continuar. Me recuerda a una canción que me gusta muchísimo de Yami Safdie, "En otra vida".
Mmmmm o quizá sea más apropiado decir "en otro mundo" 😉
"El gato perdido" es la primera historia que leo del autor, NO la única. Me ha enamorado.
"¿Qué te crees, que sólo hay una persona para ti en el mundo y que esa persona soy yo?
Yo no puedo salvarte, ¿sabes?"
🕵🏼♂️🐈⬛📖☕️👩🏻❤️👨🏼☕️🛸👽🤖
Charlotte Mardou
🕵🏼♂️🐈⬛📖☕️👩🏻❤️👨🏼☕️🛸👽🤖
¡¿Qué narices ha pasado?! Menudo plot twist final. Aunque me lo imaginaba, si he de ser sincera... se me pasó por cabeza tal cual fue al final 🛸, porque sabía que el autor iba a meter algo de ciencia ficción. Además empecé a ver ciertos guiños en la historia👽.
Me gustaría mucho poder comentar este libro, así que si lo has leído no dudes en decírmelo.
Me gusta mucho como me ha sumergido Jason en una atmósfera de melancolía total.
"El gato perdido" es una historia de detectives al estilo clásico, donde se plantea lo difícil que es encontrar un alma gemela, alguien con quien se siente una auténtica conexión, y lo que uno haría si perdiese a ese alguien.
Se tratan de forma excelente temas como la soledad, y las formas de llevarla o sobrellevarla; el amor en distintas formas y etapas; la condición humana; las dudas; el miedo; lo que pudo haber sido...
Hasta me ha gustado la parte de ciencia ficción. No noté que desencajase o algo así. Todo lo contrario. Me ha parecido una historia muy bien hilada desde el principio, aunque me faltó un pelín más de detalles, historia, de roce entre Charlotte y Danny.
Danny... me he visto en él, como en un espejo. Un hombre al que gracias a una gatita perdida en la lluvia, y la posterior entrega a su dueña, café, libros y una buena conversación mientras, encuentra como a su "alma gemela", una conexión especial y significativa, y luego la pierde. Al perderla decide cerrar los ojos y vivir imaginando lo que podría haber sido, en lugar de aceptarlo y continuar. Me recuerda a una canción que me gusta muchísimo de Yami Safdie, "En otra vida".
Mmmmm o quizá sea más apropiado decir "en otro mundo" 😉
"El gato perdido" es la primera historia que leo del autor, NO la única. Me ha enamorado.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2020
3.5. I liked a lot of this, but I wish it had just stayed with the detective noir pastiche instead of splicing in the science fiction elements. Subversive, I guess, but ultimately I didn't think it helped the story.
October 2, 2021
Loved the surreal and melancholic vibe. It was so much more than what the cover promised. I know it now: I won't be able to stop talking about this book and its author for a long long time.
October 2, 2017
This is a nifty, simply drawn graphic novel, about three interlocking "losses" - a beloved lost cat "Kitty", which leads to the protagonist, private detective Dan Delon, to meet Charlotte, the cat's owner, when he finds the cat huddled under a dumpster on a rainy night and returns it to her. Charlotte invites Dan in to get out of the rain, and in the course of their conversation, in which both reveal they are divorced as well as other aspects of their lives, Charlotte asks Dan a question: "What is the most important thing in your life right now?" To which Dan replies: "Whatever is missing, I guess." Eventually, the two become lovers, but one day, Charlotte mysteriously disappears. Delon intensely misses her & becomes obsessed with tracking her down. The book takes on a hallucinatory dimension, or perhaps a symbolic depiction of Dan's thinking, fearful or paranoid. The third missing (piece of the puzzle?) is the painting of the nude Mr. Dumont hires Delon to find - a portrait of a woman who had once been Dumont's lover that Dumont never got over after he left (because he had to marry the richer woman his parents wanted him to marry). I won't describe the book in detail - it's up the reader to read this graphic novel to find out what happens.. if Charlotte and Dan are ever re-united, if Dumont is ever "reunited" with the image of Ingrid.
The matter-of-fact, deadpan style of writing perfectly matches the simplified, spare drawing style, which nonetheless conveys enough detail to set the scene. This is a story of loss, loneliness, and the lack of detail, lack of emotion (mostly) emotional flatness in general, complement or reinforce the theme of loss which is central to the book. It's not an unpleasant book to read - it can be read rather quickly (it took me a day to read because I don't have much uninterrupted time to read).
I won't spoil the powerful ending, which reminded me of the final scene of "L'Avventura." Those who are familiar with the film already have enough of a clue as to the ending of "Lost Cat" but also a hint as to the emotional power of the book's conclusion.
The matter-of-fact, deadpan style of writing perfectly matches the simplified, spare drawing style, which nonetheless conveys enough detail to set the scene. This is a story of loss, loneliness, and the lack of detail, lack of emotion (mostly) emotional flatness in general, complement or reinforce the theme of loss which is central to the book. It's not an unpleasant book to read - it can be read rather quickly (it took me a day to read because I don't have much uninterrupted time to read).
I won't spoil the powerful ending, which reminded me of the final scene of "L'Avventura." Those who are familiar with the film already have enough of a clue as to the ending of "Lost Cat" but also a hint as to the emotional power of the book's conclusion.
August 16, 2017
Interesting hybrid of anthropomorphic animals, noir, and SF creates an odd, post-modern narrative in which a detective pursues two evidently unrelated cases--the disappearance of a woman he met by chance, and a search for a missing painting. Why anthropomorphic animals? Who knows? What do the two plots have to do with each other? Who knows? What's going on with the alien invasion? Who knows? Lots of questions, no real answers, but nevertheless an intriguing, if elusive, read.
April 26, 2018
I thought I'd read this before and it turns out I was right - thanks, Goodreads! I did not remember it very well, however.
It's something of a noir detective story/love story with a surprise science fiction element. Just like most of Jason's stuff, it's very interesting and a lot of fun.
It's something of a noir detective story/love story with a surprise science fiction element. Just like most of Jason's stuff, it's very interesting and a lot of fun.
August 27, 2013
It's like Jason had three different ideas and put them in a blender. A detective story, a love story, a science fiction story. It's kind of a mess, but kind of beautiful in a nerdy way.
August 7, 2015
Noire, metaphysical, the grey side of Sweden. Pure Jason.
August 31, 2020
What happens to us when we craft something in our head, and are then confronted by the reality? Think of an island, the most perfect island... There are several layers of subtext in this slim offering, giving us plenty to think about, including how often our dreams are crushed when confronted by the reality of something that never truly existed in the way we had pictured it. Absurd and charming, melancholy and warm, it's worth the short time you spend with it, in my opinion.
Grade: B
Grade: B
September 29, 2025
Jason on aikalailla suosikkejani nykytekijöistä, joku näissä aina säväyttää. Mutta hyvin usein olen myös tyytymätön hänen teosten loppuihin, vähän myös tämän kirjan kanssa. Tuntuu että tunnelma luodaan hienosti alkuun, keskellä päästään komeasti vaihtamaan tempoa mutta loppu hieman lässähtää. Oli tämä kaikesta huolimatta hieno teos, ja kuvitus on kyllä totutusti aivan viimeisen päälle.
October 6, 2025
This story just didn’t interest me. There were no opportunities for deeper thought into the case. The dialogue was very simple. It’s basically a run of the mill detective story with Jason’s art. I finished it in less than 30 minutes.
I’d skip this one and check out one of Jason’s better works.
I’d skip this one and check out one of Jason’s better works.
December 10, 2017
Definitely an acquired taste, but I liked it!
April 21, 2018
This graphic novel found a way to keep the story interesting without being overly wordy. There were even pages where the artist just let the photos tell the story.
February 6, 2022
Once again, Ed delivers a piece of content that makes me feel sad.
This one though is heartwarming too.
This one though is heartwarming too.
June 10, 2023
Iba muy bien, hasta que llegó el final.
March 14, 2020
Melancólico, con una historia que se desarrolla bien... hasta que llega a un final que no hay por dónde cogerlo.
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