Pocket Full of Rain

by Jason

This multifaceted anthology collects over 25 stories from the first decade of Jason's career, including his remarkable calling card, the novella-length thriller "Pocket Full of Rain," which has never before been published in English. Like a number of his initial stories, "Pocket" is actually drawn with realistic human beings instead of blank-faced animal characters - a true revelation for Jason fans. In fact, this book showcases three distinct styles: his earliest "realistic" drawing style an intermediate "bighead" cartoony style that still features humans, and the "funny-animal" style for which he's now best known. The book reveals a young cartoonist experimenting with styles, working through his obsessions (love, loneliness, film, Hemingway) and paying tribute to his cartooning heroes (Wolverton, Moebius, Pratt). Also, croquet-playing nuns, sentient cacti, autobiographical drunken escapades, lists of people who deserve to die, and a color gallery featuring God cheating at Trivial Pursuit.

"This collection is all over the place but it's all Jason, and like all his work it's funny and deep and smart and I cannot get enough of it." - James Sturm, from his introduction

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Comix, Short Stories, Fantasy, Fiction

159 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1996

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]

1/3/25: An expanded (2025) edition of the first collection of cartoonist Jason's early work, including all the images from the limited Swedish edition of Pop!, a collection of Jason's wildly ingenious and graphically pixelated single page pop culture homages.

Original review: Early, formative experiments by the comics Jedi Jason. It would be tempting to say this was sub-par, and sure, in a sense, some of it is rough, but it is great to see. For Jason fans, especially, like me.

1) In "Pocket Full of Rain," actual humanoid figures by the guy who makes his living drawing animals, and even draws himself in a memoir (On the Camino) as a dog! (tribute to Hugo Pratt, noirish adventure, with a surreal touch)
2) A pretty hilarious discussion on the topic, "If you were the ruler of the world, who would you execute first?" A kind of bar discussion that at one point (and this is 1999!) both guys simultaneously shout, "DONALD TRUMP!")
3) A tribute to Basil Wolverton's Spacehawk
4) A great story, "Papa," based on Hemingway's "The Killers." Jason loves Hem. Great stuff.
5) A great short, "Kill the Cat" (as intro writer James Sturm says, worth buying it just for this one.
5) Great color covers from his Mjau Mjau

[Archit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one line :

"I think you spend your whole life looking for someone who has had the same experiences as you have and

who you don't have to explain anything to,

who knows exactly what you mean....

Melancholic human characters from Jason.

The first story. This one started and stopped. Not the trademark flip flap alternating story lines like usual. Humans with faces this time around. Faces that show you emotions.

Look beneath the shades of black and grey, you just might notice the hint of sadness that fills the players. Like a blotting paper spilled with ink.

The protagonist, a sketch artist for the police, has a hard time with women. All the painters being pals with french models are a myth. He's emotional and blurts all at once when speaking to the opposite gender.



Until he runs into the special one. The talk and feel and love grows in its own peculiar way. Gravestones and fears are shared over coffee. Past of the girl finally catches up to her and she divulges the thing that is eating her. Her ex-boyfriend isn't over her yet. Our artist tries to playdown the turmoil until he gets to know that the man from the past is a hitman.

Life changes when the hitman kidnaps, beats the good guy up and threatens. The girl can not and will not give up her love from the fear of guns and muscle. They elope and are robbed.

A lot more happens. They weather it all. The good couple. The hitman succumbs to death. There is also an alien on the prowl and a man who was humiliated. The story has it all for a theater drama of elitist kind.

Only that the last scene unfolds in a different emotion.



The couple are no longer together and you are left gathering the pieces of your heart from the pavement.

[Tony Vacation · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guaranteed to initially shock more seasoned fans of the misanthropic Norwegian doodler with its drawings depicting actual humans sans anthropomorphic features, this satisfying collection of Jason juvenilia gives a clue to the man of one name's development as a comic book stylist. From FlashGordonesque kitsch to surrealist noir, these one-shots show a plethora of influences, most telling of all that of Ernest Hemingway's. (No, that doesn't mean his comics read like the Great White Bwana's, you narrow-minded Hemingway haters.)While I don't agree with his low opinion of Radiohead of David Lynch's Wild at Heart - and am genuinely confused at how he dislikes Robert Altman's films considering certain similarities between the two's styles - I do think you should read Jason, any Jason, pronto. Capiche?

[Verba Non Res · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una colección de historias y tiras cómicas escritas por Jason cuando aún estaba camino a ser Jason. Todo un documento sobre el desarrollo artístico y la búsqueda de un estilo propio. Fuera de contexto, por ejemplo, sería muy difícil ver la mano de Jason en la primera historia, que da título al volumen. Los dibujos son realistas, los personajes son visiblemente humanos, con un par de excepciones, y hay un uso corriente del texto y los diálogos. En otros aspectos, se ven anuncios del futuro Jason; están los toques de surrealismo, y la historia plena de amores desencontrados, artistas, ladrones y asesinos a sueldo. Parece como si el arte de Jason hubiese tendido, con el tiempo, a la reducción: sacar todo aquello que no fuese esencial, como los rasgos de los personajes y los textos, hasta llegar a su conocido estilo epigramático.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most interesting and original comics artists/writers of the last 10 years to emerge is the Scandinavian cartoonist Jason with his surreal, funny, and touching stories featuring strange animal-headed characters. But how does someone like this come to be? Well, "Pocket Full of Rain" is the pre-Jason, the book that features a number of early strips from the '90s where the artist would hone his craft and become the storyteller he is today.

It's odd to see human characters in Jason's books but the title story has just that. A police sketch artist starts a relationship with a girl only to find she has a jealous ex who happens to be a hitman. When they rip him off, they go on the run but he's hot on his trail. As is another mysterious character... Jason's excellent storytelling instincts are present in this piece and are instantly recognisable from other later works like "Tell Me Something", even if the artwork here is different. There are the surreal elements here that would go on to play a big part in later works. Bank robbing aliens, picnics on the moon, helpful ostriches, homeless zombies, hat rains, and a werewolf. This is the length of his regular 48 page books and just as good. Oftentimes seeing the human characters rather than animal ones, it feels like you're watching a David Lynch or David Cronenberg film. It's easily the best part of the book.

There are early strips of the animal characters doing everyday things - stories about Jason's alcoholic landlord in France, going to the movies, drinking in cafes, nuns playing polo in a deserted street. One of the most interesting is a 3 page strip called "Kill the Cat!" which features a man with a suitcase walking down the street being accosted by a crazy homeless man yelling at him "Kill the Cat!". I won't ruin the ending but it's a brilliant strip. Jason also tries horror in "Glass" where a lodger tricks a young boy into his room.

There's a series of newspaper strips featuring a little prisoner who gets into odd scrapes in a twilit world of ghosts and talking cactuses. They're very funny and reminded me of the work in "Meow, Baby!".

All of these strips are in black and white but there's a colour section at the back with all of Jason's painted covers from his Scandinavian comics publication "Mjau Mjau"that're excellent and round off a superb book.

If you're a fan of Jason's you'll want to have this book as it shows off an incredible talent in his early years, but even then producing some brilliant works. For any comics fan or would be comics artist this is a fascinating collection of how someone finds their artistic voice and develops it. But for me, I just really enjoyed reading it. Jason is, as always, an amazing storyteller and "Pocket Full of Rain and Other Stories" is no exception. Fantastic read, highly recommended.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read a few comics by Jason in the past few weeks. I’ve pegged his style: minimalist art, anthropomorphic cats, and witty dark humor.

This collection of his work, however, doesn’t fit easily into that mold. Here we actually some realistic human characters and a variety of styles.

As with any anthology (especially an anthology of an artist’s early work), these stories are a mixed bag. The titular story is by far the best.

[Ray Nessly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of Jason stories, early in his career. Most feature human figures, only a few the anthropomorphic dogs, birds, cats, and so on, that would dominate his cartoons later on. Some great stuff here, some not so great but still worth a look. My faves include, among others, Pocket Full of Rain, Edwin, the untitled two nuns, the three weird dark stories in a row: Kill the Cat, Chalk, Glass, and the series of color covers at the end of the collection. Easier to note the only real bowser, for me, Strips, about 12 pages of one to four panel comics featuring a convict in striped uniform with ball and chain. In contrast to similar sets of short strips in other collections (most sight gags and slapstick), I thought these were consistently unfunny. There were maybe one or two other stories that didn't do a whole lot for me, but that's to be expected. Not every story is going to work for everyone. All in all, a good collection. 3.5 to 4 stars. I really like Jason, will keep on looking at anything I can get my hands on.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a huge Jason fan, I was totally fascinated by this collection, which contains some of his earliest work (only now available in English). Maybe I'm just a nerd, but I always enjoy seeing an artist's progression and development over time. It is a bit weird to read these early comics, in which his drawing style sort of reminds me of Jason Lutes ("Jar of Fools" era) in an odd way. I didn't think I would like the stories that don't have his trademark animal characters with deadpan expressions -- but I loved the title story (which contains one of my favorite Jason panel sequences of all time -- see p. 30), and some of the shorter one or two pages stories, like the nuns playing croquet in the street and his encounter with a sad old man on the bus. Full of absurdity, black humor, loneliness, strange whimsy, and all the other great things that make Jason the comix genius that he is.

[Joey Dhaumya · Rating 5 out of 5]

The titular story is possibly the greatest comic I have read so far. Incredible.

[Mateen Mahboubi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not for everyone and definitely not where I’d start with for Jason but a pretty great collection on early comics that with be appreciated by those who are interested in Jason’s more esoteric and absurdist works.

[Zaz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Usually, his graphic novels work well with me but this short stories collection by Jason was difficult to finish and I found most the stories uninteresting. The only good point of the book was to show how the author played with different art styles and stories.

[Anadine Montro · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not what I expected, but I loved it all the same. It's like a collection of his past. The bit at the very very end, the reference section, was a really nice touch. Probably my favorite author currently.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for fans of Jason who want to see his rougher earlier work with more varied style and effect, not great for much else. It's a collector's book for those who want more, and I'm glad it's collected, but the majority of these stories don't hold a candle to his later stuff.

[Kenya Starflight · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've greatly enjoyed the works of Jason, and have been trying to locate and read as many of them as I can... those that have been translated into English, at least. "Pocket Full of Rain" was especially intriguing, as it wasn't just a graphic novel or an anthology but a collection of some of his early work. While this does mean we get some weirdly experimental pieces, it also gives us a fascinating look at Jason's progression as an artist, and how he developed to his current style.

The title story, a novella, showcases a relationship developing between a police sketch artist and a hitman's girlfriend, and the lengths they'll go to in order to escape him. This story has a more realistic style than Jason's best-known work, and features realistic humans rather than the anthropomorphic animals that have become his trademark, but it still shows quite a bit of his trademark humor and weirdness. And while the artwork can be a bit stiff, the story itself is tense but interesting.

The other stories vary wildly in quality, tone, and style, ranging from realistic human figures to caricatures to talking animals to even puppet-like characters. There are short stories, parodies (including an X-Files parody), collections of daily strips, and experimental pieces. Some of these stories and pieces end abruptly without much resolution, but are still interesting in their own right. I think I prefer Jason's animal characters to his human characters, but nonetheless it's still enjoyable seeing his talents evolve, and seeing him settle into his trademark style.

The last few pages include a few notes from Jason himself, explaining some of the inspirations behind the various stories and pieces or notes to explain things that might be strange to international readers. I appreciate these notes, especially when they explain cultural things that might not be readily apparent to me, an American reader.

Quirky, weird, and fascinating, "A Pocket Full of Rain" is an intriguing look at Jason's early work, and a must-read for fans of his art. And the title story stands well on its own as well.

[Pok Manero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro recopila los trabajos del caricaturista noruego realizadas en los años 90. En estos primeros esfuerzos lo vemos usando un estilo “realista” que me recuerda a Jeff Lemire, aunque conservabla sensibilidad característica de sus otros trabajos. La novela corta titular está llena de espontaneidad surrealista y referencias a las cosas que le gustan a Jason, con un final que me hizo pensar en Adrian Tomine y Daniel Clowes. El resto del libro contiene varias tiras cómicas e historias cortas donde lo vemos usando a sus animales antropomórficos a los cuales nos tiene acostumbrados. Como siempre, su mezcla de humor y melancolía nos transmiten una gran calidez a pesar de lo lacónico se su estilo.

[Emmy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Jason. He's one of my favorite cartoonists. But, this book was not one of his best--in fact, I think it was the worst one I've read. Now, I'm willing to make concessions. This was some of his earliest work. But, I still didn't like it. The stories were weird and abrupt, and since he hadn't figured out his iconic art style yet, most of it felt like reading some sort of generic American graphic novel (the kinds that I really don't like).

There was one section, however, about a little convict (complete with a striped uniform and a ball-and-chain who was apparently hiding out in the desert and had a cactus friend. I liked those comics quite a bit. But the rest of it? No.

[Jake Nap · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of early Jason before he nailed down his signature style. The story this collection is named after is the best of the bunch. It has Jason draw in a way fans wouldn’t be used to, he’s actually drawing people. Jason typically draws all characters as anthropomorphic animals, but here he’s really drawing people. The story itself still feels like a Jason plot, but a lot of the visual language is different.

A lot of the stories wear their influences on their sleeves. They feel like short stories that would be in Eightball or Optic Nerve, very 90’s alternative feeling. Not a bad thing, as a huge fan of Jason it’s awesome to see where he started.

[Nestor B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s been 30 years since Jason’s debut album “Lomma full av regn” (“Pocketful of rain”). Jason’s talent was evident even then, although the story is as light as a feather — more amusing and absurd than truly gripping. The core story is simple: boy meets girl, her ex-boyfriend comes after them. They live in a world of aliens, zombies, flying dogs, and the like — not in a sci-fi sense, but more as playful quirks of life. The art style is a bit stiff, which remained true throughout his career, though later he utilized this stylization more effectively. Without the works that followed, this wouldn’t be particularly remarkable, but since it’s Jason, it’s definitely worth a read.

[Lucas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of short from Jason's very early days, before Hey, Wait! got him any kind of international recognition. He's still experimenting with style, both in art and writing. The titular story is genuinely incredible, and doesn't even feature his recognizable animal characters. It sits somewhere between Burns and Mazzucchelli, artistically. And while it's like nothing I've read of his either, you can definitely recognize his writing. The rest range from ok to good. There's a series of pretty fun and absurd strips in there.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, collecting many of Jason's formative early comics, is probably only for fairly hardcore Jason fans, but what it lacks in polish and emotional resonance, it makes up for in ambition and flashes of greatness to come. Nothing here is truly memorable, but if you've read his later masterpieces, Pocket Full of Rain and Other Stories is a nice roadmap to how Jason found his voice and greatness.

[Przemysław Skoczyński · Rating 3 out of 5]

W zasadzie rzecz dla fanów, ale bezcenna, bo chyba nie ma w wydaniach anglojęzycznych drugiego zbioru prac Jasona z ludzkimi postaciami. Sporo materiałów z początku kariery, zabawnych lub mniej zabawnych pasków i kilkustronicowych historii, w których widać już zapowiedź stylu i fabuł, jakie autor konsekwentnie rozwijał w późniejszych komiksch. Wśród tych wszystkich materiałów zupełnie wyjątkowa opowieść o Hamingwayu.

[Brady Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn’t the typical kind of Jason book with the very quick story and the extremely simple drawings of humanlike animals. This is his selection of other kinds of work by him… All bizarre and with strange pathos and a lot of them are really dreamlike. But of course it’s good... the man’s a genius.

[Chet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jason has yet to disappoint. "Carl Cat in 'What Time Is It?'" made me laugh out loud. "Playing Trivial Pursuit with God" did as well. "Glass" is one of the creepiest comic strips I've ever read. "Falling" was a beautiful, moving story.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have liked every other Jason title I've read. This is the first to disappoint me. It wasn't what I was expecting. A few short comics were good, but I thought all of the longer ones were awkward (not in a good way).

[Stein Roar · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Lomma full av regn" er Jasons albumdebut fra 1995. En smått surrealistisk historie tegnet i en mer realistisk stil en de seinere bøkene. Plottet er som henta fra en amerikansk gangsterfilm ispedd diverse underlige innfall underveis.

[Summer · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art was great. The stories just weren't my thing.

[Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

✭✭✭½

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I liked or understood really at all. Also, some language has aged since the 90’s. BKV failed me here.

[Al Capwned · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some early Jason strips, most of which don't have the same charm as his latter works.

[Angélique Moreau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is pre-Jason. The first long story of his, with nearly all his recognizable characteristics, if not in place, then at least present.
There is an ostrich on the moon.
An alien robber wants the artist's autograph.
Her ex-boyfriend is a hitman.
The rain goes on falling.
Not all the characters are animal-like and there may be a little more dialogue than in (some) later works, but the absurdity of melancholy daily life suddenly disrupted by extravagant crime stories breaks through the page. It is realistic in its minimalism.
I usually prefer Jason's adventures with animal heads; I had read an anthology containing some of his ealier work with humans looking the part, but the animal heads paradoxically better conveyed the absurdity of it all, or how life can laugh at our human identity by depriving us of it.
But A pocket full of rain is a masterpiece.
You can almost hear someone singing «she wore blue velvet, bluer than velvet was the night» while you're waiting for the robins to come back.

(I realised after that I posted on the wrong edition. I read an old Norwegian paperback version of this book. Fine...I'll try to find this anthology of his earlier works)


^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

Ceci est du pré-Jason. Sa première histoire longue, qui contient presque toutes ses caractéristiques, même si toutes ne sont pas abouties.
Une autruche sur la lune.
Un détrousseur extra-terrestre qui veut l'autographe de l'artiste.
Son ancien amant était un tueur à gages.
Et la pluie continue de tomber.
Certains des personnages seulement ont des traits animaux et il y a peut-être un peu plus de dialogue que dans certaines de ses œuvres à venir, mais l'absurdité d'une vie quotidienne mélancolique, soudainement interrompue par des crimes extravagants, crève les pages. Le minimalisme rend tout cela réel.
Je préfère généralement les personnages de Jason avec des têtes d'animaux; j'avais lu une anthologie contenant quelques uns de ses travaux des débuts avec des êtres humains dans le rôle, mais les têtes animales traduisent paradoxalement mieux l'absurdité de tout ceci, et la façon dont la vie peut se jouer de notre identité humaine en nous en privant.
A pocket full of rain est un chef d'œuvre.
On pourrait presque entendre quelqu'un chanter "she wore blue velvet, bluer than velvet was the night", tandis qu'on attend le retour des merles.

(Je me suis rendu compte après coup que j'avais posté sous la mauvaise édition. J'ai lu une vieille version norvégienne de ce livre. Mais qu'à cela ne tienne, je tâcherai de trouver cette anthologie de ses premières œuvres)