The Iron Wagon

by Jason, Stein Riverton (Original Author)

One of Europe's most celebrated cartoonists updates a turn-of-the-century mystery novel. Exactly three quarters of a century ago, Agatha Christie stunned the mystery-novel world with The Murder of Roger Ackroyd , an Hercule Poirot novel whose final twist was greeted as either a brilliant trick or an appalling cheat. (More recent films and novels such as The Usual Suspects, Angel Heart , and Fight Club have used variations, but none has bettered the original.) As it happens, a Norwegian mystery writer who signed his work Stein Riverton beat Dame Agatha Christie to the punch by about 20 years, using exactly the same trick in his 1908 novel The Iron Wagon . An evocative murder mystery set in the Norwegian countryside, it, like all good murder mysteries, is a stew of passion, buried past crimes, revelations, and sharply defined characters who remain ambiguous to the very end. This novel has never been translated into English. Now, using a striking two-color drawing style and re-casting the story with his iconic animal characters from his previous graphic novel Sshhhh! , the acclaimed Norwegian cartoonist Jason has adapted The Iron Wagon into an original graphic novel that will appeal not only to fans of his work but also to mystery fans who will finally have a chance to experience Riverton's clever story. Surprisingly, this turn-of-the-century mystery thriller dovetails neatly with the concerns and obsessions of Jason's other comics (including the landmark Hey, Wait... , called the second best comic of 2001 by Time.com), and becomes a case of two wildly disparate craftsmen separated by a century merging their sensibilities for a unique work.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Mystery, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Comix

80 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

John 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.

Reviews

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jason likes to play around with different genres and forms: Vampire stories, sci fi, romance, adventure thrillers, and look at them with tongue-in-cheek, minimal tools, finding ways to make you laugh and/or cry along the way. It’s not until recently (2017) that he crafts a memoir, On the Camino. His interest seems more about form than content, generally, different ways to tell stories. In The Iron Wagon he—for the only time I am aware of—adapts a novel by someone else, written in 1908 by a Norwegian mystery writer, Stein Riverton, who employed a plot twist also later employed by Agatha Christie in one of her most famous mysteries, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Others use a similar twist, such as in The Usual Suspects. He recasts the novel with animals for characters, but the intensity and surprise are still there.

Jason never elsewhere has used as much written language in any of his works, but he demonstrates that he can work with no words (as in Shhh! for instance) or many words, such as this, from someone else, with (almost) equal effect. The story, as I said, a straight-up mystery, is set more than a hundred years ago, is terrific, is ambiguous until the end, and surprising, like the best of mysteries. Jason is one of the best; he can do it all.

I own this in a separate volume, but it is also collected in What I Did with Hey, Wait and Shhhh! This is a reread for me.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Iron Wagon is a graphic novel based upon a book by Stein Riverton, a Norwegian writer, which was published in 1909 but has never been translated into English. Jason creates the early 20th century without effort and the scenery of blank mountain scapes, spindly night forests, and open empty fields crossed by a dirt path, are beautifully drawn and wonderful to see. I've gone back to the book several times just to look at the individual panels.

Not having read the original novel I couldn't say how faithful an adaptation it is, however the story and contains a lot more dialogue than usually appears in a Jason book. It is a murder mystery story in the style of Agatha Christie (and contains a famous plot device used in one of Christie's most famous books), where a game keeper in the countryside of Norway is murdered walking home in the dark. An odd sound is heard and the story of the Iron Wagon, a ghostly apparition of a wagon and its driver who met with a grisly fate, is revealed. Is the death of the game keeper due to a ghost or is an earthly solution more likely? Why does the dead gamekeeper return each night to one of the hotel lodgers' rooms? And is that the last of the murders?

I can't recommend this book more but then I'm biased as I love all of Jason's books. He's a fantastic cartoonist and is becoming, rightfully, more famous. Strangely though some of his best books have gone out of print, The Iron Wagon being one of them. Let's hope with his readership growing Fantagraphics bring this one back (as well as Tell Me Something and Sshhhh!).

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

My first read by the famous cartoonist Jason. I can see why he's so revered - the art in this slim anthropomorphic murder mystery was amazing.

The reason this didn't quite reach 4 stars for me was strictly because of the plot. This is an adaptation of a 1908 mystery novel, and I could see the plot twist coming from a mile away, though I'm sure it was revolutionary at the time. Murder mysteries are also just not my genre of choice. However, these are strictly a "me" things and isn't indicative of the quality of Jason's work.

All that being said, I can't wait to read original work by Jason. I can't wait to dive into his backlist.

[Titus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an adaptation of a novel that I've never read and don't have any particular interest in reading – turn-of-the-century murder mysteries aren't really my thing – and yet master cartoonist Jason makes something fantastic out of it. The big reveal at the end is predictable and not terribly satisfying, but it hardly matters, thanks to an intriguing cast of believably realized characters and a tantalizingly tense, mysterious atmosphere. Moreover, the artwork is gorgeous. The other two Jason comics I've read (Hey Wait and Sshhhh!) look great, but here he takes things to another level, with ambitious, consistently interesting compositions and exquisite use of dark red alongside his clear black lines and white backgrounds. Unexpectedly, I think this is my favourite Jason comic yet.

[Ludwig Aczel · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10
Never read a detective story à la Agatha Christie in my life, from what I remember. But if those mystery books were adapted by Jason I would suck them all. The plot of this Norwegian novel is kind of crazy, the detective conveniently a lucky genius, the final twist predictable. Yet, the cartoonist keeps the ship steady with tension, right pacing, nice dialogues. Jason is my favourite filmmaker that never directed a movie in their life.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was great. Jason creates a world of intrigue and sets the mood perfectly for this murder mystery with (like most Jason books) an ending you might not have expected. if you reread it, you will pick up certain details you may have overlooked the first time. Recomended for any fan of Hitchcock films.

[Tony Vacation · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suck it, Agatha Christie! Stein Riverton’s The Iron Wagon—which Jason faithfully and charmingly adapts here, graphically—came out twenty years before The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.

[Amirsaman · Rating 3 out of 5]

یک قتل با انگیزه‌ی حسادتِ عشقی، که بطور اتفاقی مصادف می‌شود با کشته‌شدن پیرمردی توسط هواپیمایی (ارابه‌ی آهنی)، که خود پیرمرد هم چهار سال پیش اسما مُرده بود تا پول بیمه‌ی عمرش را بگیرد.S

[Ray Nessly · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Read in Feb. 2022 as part of the collection, What I Did. I don't wish to inflate my "read" list, but I'm marking it as such read anyway, so I remember it. That's the main reason I'm here on Goodreads, to remember books. Otherwise, I often run across books that look familiar but I have no clue if read them, much less what I thought about them!)

Nice 3 color art. Story is adapted from a 1909 mystery novel. It's pretty good but based on what I've seen so far, I much prefer his original stories.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jason comes into his own with this adaptation of a classic Norwegian mystery. He nails his beloved style down, having smoothed out the rough edges of his previous work (Hey, Wait... and SHHHHH!). No genre mash-up here, Jason plays it straight with a classic detective story (think pre-Agatha Christie Agatha Christie-esque goodness) with wonderful success. Great precursor to Why Are You Doing This and The Left Bank Gang.

Had to hunt this one down. Out of print, unable to inter-loan through my library and unwilling to pay through the nose for a copy off the inter-web, I have to thank the kind people of the Ryerson and Burnham Library at the Art Institute of Chicago for making this available to me. Made me feel like I was in college again, though at a much fancier university and in an alternate universe where I actually studied and stuff.

[natura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Otra genialidad de este autor. Esta vez nos metemos con el género policiaco tipo Agatha Christie-Sherlock Holmes de principio de siglo. Y aunque esté basado en un clásico de la novela negra nórdica (que por aquí no nos suena de nada el tal Stein Riverton), Jason la reinterpreta a su manera y vuelve a hacerte sentir toda la trama como si estuvieras allí o fueras cualquiera de los protagonistas.

El caso policiaco y su investigación tampoco es que sean la quinta maravilla, es la manera de narrarlo lo que hace que disfrutes otros aspectos de la historia.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't believe I'm criticizing a Jason title as being too wordy. Too much dialogue and not enough panache. This is an early work, and it feels like it at times. Still worth reading but this is definitely the weakest Jason book for me.

[Nikola Novaković · Rating 3 out of 5]

An adaptation of another author's novel, and it's pretty underwhelming, although the art is top-notch. Still, Jason is best when he writes his own stuff.

[Mateen Mahboubi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jason's adaptation of a hundred year old Norwegian mystery story is played pretty straightforward. Enjoyable and quick, it doesn't outstay its welcome and is pretty efficient in its storytelling.

[Canavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

✭✭½

[Kenya Starflight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jason is rapidly becoming one of my favorite graphic novelists of all time, and he's proven that he can handle a variety of different genres and story types very well, albeit all with the same visual style and anthropomorphic animal characters. From fantasy to science fiction to realistic drama to autobiographical, he's quite adept at telling a variety of stories... and here he proves he can handle the mystery genre as well. And while it's hard to say how faithful this adaptation is to the original source material, "The Iron Wagon" is still a fascinating tale.

"The Iron Wagon" was originally a 1908 novel by a Norwegian author writing under the pseudonym Stein Riverton, one whose twist ending predates a similar twist ending in Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by two decades. The novel has never been translated into English, but thankfully this graphic novel adaptation of the same novel is available for English audiences. It gives us a stark, bleak depiction of the Norwegian countryside, as well as a compelling murder mystery that entangles forbidden love, family secrets, and a shocking revelation by the investigating detective that will turn the story upside-down.

Jason's artwork is stark yet striking, relying on minimal detail and color to paint a grim yet fascinating picture of the setting and characters. The mask-like faces of the animal characters don't allow for much expression, but either I'm getting better at reading the understated expressions in Jason's characters or they're a bit more expressive in this volume than in his other work. Despite the animal characters, however, this is NOT a cutesy kid's comic -- the story is probably best enjoyed by adults,and there is some nudity and gore present.

I'm not sure how faithful this adaptation is to the original work, and unless something changes I probably never will. But I did enjoy the story, and while it moved slowly in some places, it had plenty of twists and turns to keep me guessing. The twist feels a little obvious, but that's probably because said twist has been used many times over the years since this novel came out. It was probably much fresher back in 1908...

A fascinating glimpse into a piece of nearly-forgotten Norwegian literature, "The Iron Wagon" is an intriguing mystery and a tantalizing glimpse into a long-gone writer's work. Perhaps, if this work reaches a wide enough audience, it will inspire an English translation of the source material. We can hope...

[Frances · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cross-posted from Nightjar's Jar of Books.

A short and strange graphic novel, based on the 1909 Norwegian novel Jernvognen by Stein Riverton, which has never been published in English. It tells the story of a writer whose friend is discovered murdered, and the investigation into his death – which seems like it may be tied to the local of the iron wagon.

The sentence “Why won’t he stay dead?” in the blurb of this book was what initially drew me to it, despite my general dislike of murder mysteries, and my indifference towards what I’d seen of the art style from a cursory flip-through. And, now that I've read it, my feelings towards it are slightly mixed… On the one hand, there was not much character depth or development, and I managed to guess both of the story’s major twists early on. On the other hand, I was second-guessing myself a lot, and although this wasn’t the ghost story I was hoping for, it did manage to retain the eerie atmosphere of one.

I’ve already said that the art didn’t initially grab me, but as I grew accustomed to it, I liked it more and more. I wan’t a huge fan of the character design – which completely gave away one of the book’s two plot twists – but the black-red-and-white colour palette was incredibly striking, and really added to the unsettling tone of the story…

I feel that this is a book to be enjoyed more for its strangeness than for its story or characters (or even art), but I did find that I enjoyed it. And, as a book that only takes around half an hour to read, it’s well worth picking up for anyone who’s even a little curious. I’m not sure that I’d be likely to go looking for more of Jason’s work (or Stein Riverton's), but I also wouldn’t reject it out of hand.

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a departure from Jason's usual, The Iron Wagon is an adaptation of a 1908 novel by Norwegian Stein Riverton (Sven Elvestad) entitled Jernvognen ("The Iron Chariot"). Riverton was known primarily for detective stories, and this one in particular shares similar tropes and techniques as would later be patented by Dame Agatha Christie, making this book a proto-Christie styled novel as it were. A murder mystery set in the Norwegian country side, involving a tight knit cast of characters, buried pasts, ambiguous intentions and passions, The Iron Wagon is a fairly typical crime fiction tale that is driven forward by a compelling mystery. Though I don't typically gravitate to this type of storytelling, Jason's approach distills down the formula into something fast paced and captivating enough for the 80-page duration.

That said, this doesn't really work into Jason's strengths as a witty formalist and storyteller. It's not nearly as subversive as Jason's best works, nor does Jason's minimalistic visual language do much to elevate the story. It's a genuinely pleasing read and riveting enough, but one that feels a bit like a forgettable entry in Jason's diverse catalogue of comics.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE IRON WAGON by Jason - my trek through Jason’s oeuvre continues: HEY, WAIT… and SSHHHH! I had originally read when they first were released, but this one was new to me. I thought it was terrific, though, as with a lot of Jason’s work, talking about why it works is difficult, because, piece by piece, it doesn’t sound especially promising. This is an adaptation of a 1908 Norwegian mystery novel, retold in Jason’s characteristic anthropomorphic, funny animal idiom. It highlights his ability to get a surprising amount of narrative and thematic complexity out of a few simple cartooning techniques and seems to do justice to the source material (or, as I haven’t read the original novel itself, at least to do justice to this kind of mystery story, in general).

[Pok Manero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tras sus primeros éxitos, el caricaturista noruego conocido como Jason decidió adaptar una novela de misterio escrita en 1908. Con diálogos abundantes, lo cual la separa del resto del trabajo del autor, nos cuenta sobre un verano en la costa de Noruega en el que empiezan a suceder muertes misteriosas y la posiblemente fantasmagórica presencia de una carroza de hierro que nadie ha visto y no deja rastros, pero todos pueden escuchar durante las noches como un augurio funesto. Un detective enviado de la capital debe descifrar lo que pasó, descartando coincidencias y posibles motivos para hallar culpable (¿o culpables?) Entretenido, aunque menos humorístico que el resto de su obra, aún así Jason nos mantiene atentos con su estilo peculiar y su mezcla de realidad y fantasía.

[Nestor B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

«The Iron Wagon» originally constituted the final two issues of Jason's self-published series «Mjau Mjau» — issues 11 and 12. After gradually removing text from his comics until creating entirely silent stories, Jason here returns with a heavily text-based narrative. This shift is fitting, as the story is an adaptation of a novel—one of Norway’s most iconic crime books, renowned for its original plot twist. While the full complexity of the plot might not fully translate here, this remains a strong version, convincingly populated by Jason’s signature animal characters.

Over the course of the 12 issues of «Mjau Mjau», Jason has evolved from an intriguing and experimental comic artist into one who completely masters the medium with his own distinct style.

[Brian Childs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! Although I did have some difficulty with keeping track of who the cat was vs. bird man, etc. Jason's motif definitely took a story that wouldn't have been of that much interest to me and made it more fun and playful. I felt like I was watching a movie. After having read a number of Jason short stories, it was nice to have a longer one to sink my teeth into.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on a 1909 murder mystery, this is Jason doing period writing with a noir edge. Being Jason, however, it's still slightly absurd, kind of humorous, and a lotta fun. Great pacing, strong art, very engaging fun.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graphically stunning; storyline stupifying. In other words: I wasn’t always sure what the heck was going on, but it was super stylish to leaf through and watch panel by panel on my phone, like a stop action movie.

[Marek · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.0
Konsekwentnie prowadzona narracja, bardzo ładny dobór kolorystyczny - po prostu solidna praca. Gdyby nie fakt, że to rysunkowa adaptacja opowieści pod tym samym tytułem, a nie oryginalny scenariusz Jasona, byłoby pewnie wyżej.

[Martine Rørstad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dette er min favoritt av Jason, truleg fordi den har meir tekst enn det han vanlegvis lagar. Men så er jo dette Stein Rivertons krimklassikar.

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fine story, but nothing to write home about.

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastic mystery! This is my third graphic novel by this author and now that I'm used to his style, I quite enjoy his work.

[Avi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little mystery.

[Cail Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This ruled. Great mystery, composition, and subtlety.