F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, and James Joyce walk
into a Parisian bar... no, it's not the beginning of a joke, but the
premise of Jason's unique new graphic novel.
Set in 1920s Paris, The Left Bank Gang is a deliciously inventive
re-imagining of these four literary figures as not only typical Jason
anthropomorphics, but... graphic novelists! Yes, in Jason's warped
world, cartooning is the dominant form of fiction, and not only do these
four literary giants work in the comics medium but they get together to
discuss pen vs. brush, chat about the latest graphic novels from
Dostoevsky (I can't tell any of his characters apart!) to Faulkner
(Hasn't he heard of white space? His panels are too crowded!), and
bemoan their erratic careers.
Add in a hilarious sequence where Hemingway is lectured by an
overbearing Gertrude Stein (What kind of pencil are you using? You
should be using a blue pencil, that way you don't have to erase, all
right? Avoid captions. Don't ever write 'A little later.' You don't need
that. The reader will figure it out.), guest appearances by Zelda
Fitzgerald and Jean-Paul Sartre, and a few remarkable twists and turns
along the way, and you've got one of the funniest and most playful
graphic novels of the year.
Like Jason's acclaimed Why Are You Doing This?, The Left Bank Gang
is rendered in full spectacular color. This is Jason's eighth graphic
novel in six years for Fantagraphics, and his audience continues to grow
with every acclaimed release.
2007 Eisner Award winner, Best U.S. Edition of International Material;
2007 Eisner Award nominee: Best Coloring (Hubert).
