BIOGRAPHY:

Jason is the pen name of John Arne Saeteroy (1965 - ). He was born in Molde, Norway and is one of that country's leading comic creators. He studied art at Oslo 's National College of Art and Design and in 1995 published his first graphic novel Lom-ma Full av Regn (Pocket Full Of Rain), which won him the Sproing award for best Norwegian comic of the year. In 1997 he began his comic series Mjau Mjau (Meaow Meaow) of which 12 issues have been published to date.

"I can't understand them, but sometime in 2000, I came to the conclusion that Mjau Mjau was the finest comic-book series of the late 1990's. It's somewhat unfortunate that a substantial amount of what makes them so great has been lost in the translation and publication of just the series' serialized and thematically connected stories. Hey, Wait... belongs on every art-comics reader's shelf, and SSHHHH! is swell, but they give the English readers the impression of Jason being a melancholic funny-animal-drawing Scandinavian, when that's really only part of his picture. In the magazine, these more serious-minded serials are placed with a few graphically inventive and/or wickedly funny shorts - not unlike Maus's relationship to the other material in RAW."
Milo George, The Comics Journal #253

Interviews:
Wizard (2006)
The Comic Book Bin (2004)
The Comics Journal #253 (2003)
Newsarama (2002)

Resources:
Mjau Mjau
Mjau Mjau at Serializer.com

Reviews:
Time.com: Sshhhh!
Time.com: Hey Wait...!

Hey, Wait...
Fantagraphics, 2001
Two childhood friends at that magical age when life sometimes seems to consist of nothing but a series of lazy summer days spent playing and reading comics, and the future branches out into an infinity of rich and exciting possibilities. And then - in a single moment - everything changes forever.

"Careful - think twice before you read this book. It is very, very beautiful, but it will utterly break your heart."
Dylan Horrocks, creator of Hicksville, Atlas

The Iron Wagon
Fantagraphics, 2003
Who killed the game warden Blinde? Why won't he stay dead? What dark secrets cause landowner Gjaenes and his butler to act so suspiciously? And what precisely is the invisible Iron Wagon whose clatter and tumult accompanies these sinister occurrences. A classic detective yarn by Stein Riverton receives a faithful, yet idiosyncratic updating in the hands of Jason.

"Jason's rendering of the characters as elongated, nearly expressionless, animal-headed figures and use of only burnt sienna, black and white increase the somberness of the proceedings that become as psychologically oppressive as a heavy Ingmar Bergman film."
Booklist

SSHHHH!
Fantagraphics, 2002
Ten silent strips - Sshhhh!

"Like the best of silent films, the lack of words turns Jason's book into a universally accessible meditation on the human condition... Imagine Buster Keaton in Henrik Ibsen's version of The Mouse & The King."
Time.com

Tell Me Something
Fantagraphics, 2004
In just 271 expertly paced panels, Tell Me Something relates the story of two starcrossed lovers. Easily slipping back and forth between two distinct time periods and communicating a psychologically complex and involving story with just a smattering of dialogue, Jason cements his reputation as a master of deadpan comedy, romance and drama.

You Can't Get There From Here
Fantagraphics, 2004
It's one of the oldest love triangles in the world: mad scientist creates monster, mad scientist creates woman for monster, mad scientist falls in love with the woman he created for the monster! Jason combines his trademark deadpan style with sardonic commentary, as two disgruntled hunchbacked assistants meet for lunch to grouse and kvetch about their dull jobs, while romance and horror swirl around them.

"You Can't Get There From Here is a book where passions flare, love drives people crazy and violence erupts on city streets. The wonderful thing is how author Jason contains these characters' wild activities and ideas in his quiet, detached, mostly silent manner. The contradiction between the story being told and how it is told creates one of the funniest and slyest books of the year."
Books Of The Year 2004, The Comics Journal #266

Meow, Baby (2006)
Why Are You Doing This? (2005)
You Can't Get There From Here (2004)
Tell Me Something (2004)
The Iron Wagon (2003)
SSHHHH! (2002)
Hey, Wait... (2001)
Den Hemmelighetsfulle Mumie (2001)