Pocket Full of Rain and Other Stories

This multifaceted anthology—our 12th Jason graphic novel—wraps up Fantagraphics' near-complete collection of Jason's oeuvre (minus just a few pieces of juvenilia) by printing selections from Jason's early-1990s work, 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 (used to unsettling effect in some particularly creepy stories), an intermediate "bighead" cartoony style that still features humans (used for both humor and drama), and the "funny-animal" style he's now best known for. Readers who like Jason's anthropomorphic style won't be disappointed, though, as the book includes a number of tales done in that fashion, featuring (among other things) Death, a guy waiting for a bus, and croquet-playing nuns; over 40 "daily strip" format gags; a trio of hilarious parodies of other pop media work including Corto Mjautese and an elaborate riff on Basil Wolverton's Spacehawk done Jason style; and much more. Also included are a color section featuring Jason's painted covers for his original Norwegian magazine Mjau Mjau, color strips and illustrations, and more. Plus—God cheating at Trivial Pursuit.