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The Living and the Dead
For his ninth Fantagraphics graphic novel, Jason returns to his two-tone mute roots with The Living and the Dead, a George A. Romero-esque zombie comedy that he intends to be the middle installment of his "horror trilogy" begun with the Frankenstein monster love triangle of You Can't Get There From Here. Jason's elegant deadpan style somehow manages to make the gruesome gore and splatter effects almost... charming - and yes, it is a sweet love story at heart. If you read only one book in which a zombie devours a baby this year (even Romero never quite summoned up the nerve for that), read this one!
49 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2006
4 people are currently reading
811 people want to read
About the author
Jason
116 books708 followersJohn 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 135 reviews
April 8, 2021
Jason' story, also collected in Almost Silent, reveals the artist's admiration for 1920's Paris, silent movies, and horror stories in this (almost) silent graphic novel (there are maybe seven panels with words in separate panels a la silent films).
In this story, a dish washer meets a prostitute, can't get her out of his head, saves his money to be with her, but then as they meet and connect, the zombie apocalypse happens, (of course; what, you didn't see that coming?!). Well, can the romance last? Of course! This is (sometimes) sentimental Jason, who can make you feel, even in surface silly circumstances, like Chaplin with zombies. Though not the sweetest of Jason's work, this early volume reveals much promise in him as an artist. And his love of various popular genres.
In this story, a dish washer meets a prostitute, can't get her out of his head, saves his money to be with her, but then as they meet and connect, the zombie apocalypse happens, (of course; what, you didn't see that coming?!). Well, can the romance last? Of course! This is (sometimes) sentimental Jason, who can make you feel, even in surface silly circumstances, like Chaplin with zombies. Though not the sweetest of Jason's work, this early volume reveals much promise in him as an artist. And his love of various popular genres.
April 7, 2024
A prova de que o amor resiste até a um ataque zombie. :D
October 19, 2025
A lonely dishwasher slowly saves up money to hire a prostitute. On the day he's finally saved up... there's a zombie apocalypse! Told silently, it's a weird romantic story that's hard not to love.
June 15, 2018
Jason nunca decepciona.
En este volumen encontramos dos historias geniales, y una perfecta, la última, Por el mal camino. No es Jason un autor de muchas palabras, ni falta le hacen, pero aquí, como en algún otro volumen, se pasa directamente al cine mudo, y lo hace de manera sobresaliente.
Los vivos y los muertos es una gozada de historia de zombis, y Dime algo, una historia a la que tendré que volver porque no estoy segura de haber captado del todo, quizás me estoy perdiendo algún guiño.
Me encantan las referencias al cine, a otros libros, incluso a su propia obra (Yo maté a Adolf Hitler), ese humor peculiar y trágico, lo triste y pesimista que es siempre. Me parece genial que con esos personajes inexpresivos y pocos o nulos diálogos exprese tanto, tantísimas emociones.
En este volumen encontramos dos historias geniales, y una perfecta, la última, Por el mal camino. No es Jason un autor de muchas palabras, ni falta le hacen, pero aquí, como en algún otro volumen, se pasa directamente al cine mudo, y lo hace de manera sobresaliente.
Los vivos y los muertos es una gozada de historia de zombis, y Dime algo, una historia a la que tendré que volver porque no estoy segura de haber captado del todo, quizás me estoy perdiendo algún guiño.
Me encantan las referencias al cine, a otros libros, incluso a su propia obra (Yo maté a Adolf Hitler), ese humor peculiar y trágico, lo triste y pesimista que es siempre. Me parece genial que con esos personajes inexpresivos y pocos o nulos diálogos exprese tanto, tantísimas emociones.
July 19, 2014
Jason's admiration for 1920's Paris, silent movies, and pulpy horror stories come together in an amusing, dialogue-less romantic comedy about a dish washer who falls in love with a pretty but down-trodden prostitute during the zombie apocalypse. While it doesn't induce the wane sighs that are usually found in Jason's moody, minimalist style, The Living and the Dead still makes for a pleasant, if slight, flutter of pictures to be fingered through while working one's way through Jason's overall oeuvre.
December 5, 2008
Brad was pushing me to read this book for about a week, and I kept telling him I'd get to it on my own time. He put it in my hand tonight and told me I could read it in ten minutes. I scoffed appropriately and he put me on a timer.
I was done in seven minutes.
How could seven minutes of love, loss, and zombies be so incredibly awesome? I'm suddenly feeling like I need to read Jason's whole body of work and figure out he he shoves so much empathy and pathos in to a few wordless panels.
I was done in seven minutes.
How could seven minutes of love, loss, and zombies be so incredibly awesome? I'm suddenly feeling like I need to read Jason's whole body of work and figure out he he shoves so much empathy and pathos in to a few wordless panels.
June 27, 2021
اگر در دنیای زندگان تعارض منافع وجود دارد، در دنیای مردگان، هیچ مردهای با دیگری اختلافی ندارند. مسئله صرفا بین مردگان و زندگان است، هر یک برای تغذیه و ادامهی حیاتِ (!) خودش. به عبارتی، «و به خوبی و خوشی با هم زندگی کردند...» تنها در دنیای مردگان میتواند رخ دهد، عشق فقط عشق مردهها است به هم. زندگان بیش از آن خودخواه هستند که آزادانه عاشق شوند و عاشق بمانند.
November 2, 2019
Los vivos y los muertos empieza con la historia de un lavaplatos, que una noche conoce a una prostituta. Hay un poco de onda, pero el lavaplatos es pobre y no puede pagarle. Esa noche, en su casa, descubre que sigue pensando en ella y decide ahorrar dinero, y empieza a marcar en un calendario los días que faltan para el encuentro. La prostituta, entretanto, es maltratada por un proxeneta que la golpea y le paga con monedas. Todo esto Jason lo cuenta con apenas algunas líneas de diálogo, que a la manera del cine mudo aparecen en grandes recuadros que ocupan toda una viñeta.
La historia hasta acá está bien planteada, y dan ganas de ver cómo se resuelve, pero nunca se resuelve. Es decir, sí, pero no de la manera que cabía esperar. Como la vida misma, la tensión narrativa queda en la nada, y los imprevistos fuerzan una resolución desprolija. En este caso, lo que pasa es que cae un meteorito y los muertos empiezan a levantarse. De pronto, el lavaplatos y la prostituta están librados de todos sus problemas mundanos. Tienen un problema mucho más grande, sí, que es el apocalipsis zombie, pero al menos pueden estar juntos. La vida misma, indeed. Toda la anticipación, todos los planes y los temores, son arrasados por lo contingente.
Hasta acá, Los vivos y los muertos es una de las mejores historias de zombies que leí. Para cuando aparecen los muertos vivientes, tuve tiempo de conocer a los personajes, de preocuparme por ellos. El apocalipsis zombie, acertadamente, funciona solo como el trasfondo de otros acontecimientos. También es una metáfora de las relaciones sentimentales. Nunca podemos embarcarnos en ellas como querríamos, hacer planes, esperar a los momentos propicios. Hay que construirlas como podemos, a las corridas, huyendo del mundo y acuciados por todos nuestros problemas y los problemas del otro.
Es posible formar relaciones duraderas, pero sólo si aceptamos que eso de estar con otra persona nunca se producirá en circunstancias ideales, ni exactamente como a nosotros nos gustaría. Es lo que nos dice esta historia, .
La historia hasta acá está bien planteada, y dan ganas de ver cómo se resuelve, pero nunca se resuelve. Es decir, sí, pero no de la manera que cabía esperar. Como la vida misma, la tensión narrativa queda en la nada, y los imprevistos fuerzan una resolución desprolija. En este caso, lo que pasa es que cae un meteorito y los muertos empiezan a levantarse. De pronto, el lavaplatos y la prostituta están librados de todos sus problemas mundanos. Tienen un problema mucho más grande, sí, que es el apocalipsis zombie, pero al menos pueden estar juntos. La vida misma, indeed. Toda la anticipación, todos los planes y los temores, son arrasados por lo contingente.
Hasta acá, Los vivos y los muertos es una de las mejores historias de zombies que leí. Para cuando aparecen los muertos vivientes, tuve tiempo de conocer a los personajes, de preocuparme por ellos. El apocalipsis zombie, acertadamente, funciona solo como el trasfondo de otros acontecimientos. También es una metáfora de las relaciones sentimentales. Nunca podemos embarcarnos en ellas como querríamos, hacer planes, esperar a los momentos propicios. Hay que construirlas como podemos, a las corridas, huyendo del mundo y acuciados por todos nuestros problemas y los problemas del otro.
Es posible formar relaciones duraderas, pero sólo si aceptamos que eso de estar con otra persona nunca se producirá en circunstancias ideales, ni exactamente como a nosotros nos gustaría. Es lo que nos dice esta historia, .
March 22, 2021
Ένας λαντζέρης και μια πεταλούδα του δρόμου διασταυρώνουν τις ζωές τους με φόντο την άλωση της πόλης τους από ζόμπι! Μια βωβή παραλλαγή του night of the living dead ειπωμένη με την minimal αισθητική του Jason. Αλλοπρόσαλλη και υπόγεια αστεία αυτή η ιστορία αγάπης δύο καταφρονεμένων ψυχών αφήνει και μια υποψία ταξικής εκδίκησης!
April 11, 2010
As Tim, a fellow reviewer on Goodreads, put it: "This is just one of those stories where a dish boy falls in love with a prostitute and they try to survive the zombie revolution." For once, those lying anon. thugs from the Intertubes are right: the aforementioned dish boy --dog-man, really-- is busy collecting the necessary hundred bucks for that one unforgettable night when a meteor (much like the one on the cover) strikes, leading to an apocalyp...ZomBies!!*Braaaains%$*!!! His plans of love and sex seem shattered, but perhaps even Love can find a place in Zombieland?
The Living and the Dead is probably the first book I have read cover-to-cover in a public library since the hallowed days of Frog and Toad. It is without words, excepting the occasional onomatopoeia and a mere seven lines of dialogue, presented in their own panels, silent movie style. It can be "read" in under ten minutes by all but the extremely vegetative. (I did not time myself.)
The author, a so-called Jason, from so-called Norway, is now on my list -- my good list, not my shit list. His is an art style that is simple and clean, heavily influenced by the so-called ligne claire style invented by Hergé, famed creator of The Adventures of Tintin. (He probably got the idea for his single-name pen name from Hergé, too -- I kinda like it, it's got a Greek/Roman feel to it: Diogenes of Sinope, Jason of Norway.)
The anthropomorphic animal motif seems to permeate just about all of his works. The comedy, too, seems to make a regular appearance. No, there are no pianos falling from the sky (at least in this work), but the humor is there: as the back cover says, "It puts the 'dead' [back:] in deadpan." (*nyuk*nyuk*nyuk*) I managed to track down another, wordier Jasonian work -- The Left Bank Gang: Hem, Ezra, and Scott as the dog-(men) we always knew they were -- before toddling out of the library in earnest search for father.
The Living and the Dead is probably the first book I have read cover-to-cover in a public library since the hallowed days of Frog and Toad. It is without words, excepting the occasional onomatopoeia and a mere seven lines of dialogue, presented in their own panels, silent movie style. It can be "read" in under ten minutes by all but the extremely vegetative. (I did not time myself.)
The author, a so-called Jason, from so-called Norway, is now on my list -- my good list, not my shit list. His is an art style that is simple and clean, heavily influenced by the so-called ligne claire style invented by Hergé, famed creator of The Adventures of Tintin. (He probably got the idea for his single-name pen name from Hergé, too -- I kinda like it, it's got a Greek/Roman feel to it: Diogenes of Sinope, Jason of Norway.)
The anthropomorphic animal motif seems to permeate just about all of his works. The comedy, too, seems to make a regular appearance. No, there are no pianos falling from the sky (at least in this work), but the humor is there: as the back cover says, "It puts the 'dead' [back:] in deadpan." (*nyuk*nyuk*nyuk*) I managed to track down another, wordier Jasonian work -- The Left Bank Gang: Hem, Ezra, and Scott as the dog-(men) we always knew they were -- before toddling out of the library in earnest search for father.
February 11, 2014
So cute. :') Starting a Jason comic is like opening a jar of feels and upending it on your head.
October 9, 2023
Conversando com um amigo sobre esta HQ, chegamos à conclusão de que esta não é o melhor trabalho de Jason, que apesar disso domina a linguagem dos quadrinhos mudos, silenciosos ou sem palavras de forma magistral. A impressão que dá é que o artista resolveu capitalizar sobre a moda de Walking Dead, visto que até a capa lembra bastante a estética da série. Para a gente, ainda os melhores trampos de Jason são A Gangue da Margem Esquerda e Eu Matei Adolf Hitler, em que o quadrinista usa da linguagem do quadrinho para contar tramas ainda mais mirabolantes do que usar zumbis. De toda a forma, esta também não é a pior história em quadrinhos que Jason fez. Também é um quadrinho anticlimático como talvez a grande maioria das tramas de zumbis são. Se essa lógica fosse invertida, talvez tornasse a HQ mais interessante.
February 5, 2025
tr. Yaşayanlar ve Ölüler..
January 7, 2020
The man has such a way without words
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November 7, 2017I “read” the book The Living and the Dead by (I’m not sure who becuase I finished it in the library and when I look it up I can’t find it). The living and the Dead is a wordless book. The main character works a job washing dishes and does not make much money. He passes a prostitute on his way home from work and begins fantasizing about her, and decides to save up his money for days so that he can have the money to hire her. Meanwhile zombies come up from the ground and run rampant in the town. The man finds the prostitute and they go on the run together, fighting off zombies until eventually she gets bitten and becomes a zombie. He eventually also gets bitten and they are zombies together, concluding the love story.
The art was extremely simple. The characters appear to be dogs and birds, not humans. There was no shading, everything was either black or white. The characters in the story are likeable and as a reader you feel bad for them. The main character has to work a crappy job and does not make a lot of money. The prostitute is a prostitute, and at one point in the book gets slapped by her pimp for not making enough money. I personally liked this quick story and I think it shared a lesson that love always finds a way, because even when they were zombies, they still had each other. I liked this book and I would recommend it.
The art was extremely simple. The characters appear to be dogs and birds, not humans. There was no shading, everything was either black or white. The characters in the story are likeable and as a reader you feel bad for them. The main character has to work a crappy job and does not make a lot of money. The prostitute is a prostitute, and at one point in the book gets slapped by her pimp for not making enough money. I personally liked this quick story and I think it shared a lesson that love always finds a way, because even when they were zombies, they still had each other. I liked this book and I would recommend it.
January 16, 2020
The Living and the Dead by Jason is a wordless comic about this guy who I presume is poor but is scratching up money to buy things and one night the dead arise randomly and are walking around eating humans or turning them into zombies like them. The guy finds another survivor and together they fight the zombies, and through it all I believe they fall in love. While asleep, one of them gets bit by a zombie and turned into one of them and when the other guy wakes up he finds him. Rather than killing him like the others, he allows him to bite him and together they live as zombies.
The art style is bland with black and whites, most filled in with black. The lines are mostly thin but there are some thick parts. I think this comic does count as literature because it tells a story with just pictures but I do not think it deserves to be considered for awards because it is only a very short story and did not amaze me as much as other books have. I do recommend this book because it is short with a small plot twist and although it is kind of hard to decipher the plot, the ending is pretty easy to catch onto.
The art style is bland with black and whites, most filled in with black. The lines are mostly thin but there are some thick parts. I think this comic does count as literature because it tells a story with just pictures but I do not think it deserves to be considered for awards because it is only a very short story and did not amaze me as much as other books have. I do recommend this book because it is short with a small plot twist and although it is kind of hard to decipher the plot, the ending is pretty easy to catch onto.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2018
Spooky. Romantic. Nice horror piece.
June 18, 2021
It’s always wonderful to get something from an artist who can tell an effective and emotional story with few, or even no words. Wonderful.
January 30, 2022
The story is all cliche, the ending is cliche, characters are also too much cliche and it was published 2007.. I don't get it even why Jason had published this thing..
April 30, 2022
Zombie from the outer space.
October 13, 2023
I'm not a fan of zombie stories or romances, but a weird little romance set during a zombie outbreak? Somehow, Jason makes it work.
February 19, 2024
4.9 ⭐.
Why to read this ? It's a short story, weird(in good way) character illustrations(I like it), humorous at points & it's a zombie apocalypse!
Why to read this ? It's a short story, weird(in good way) character illustrations(I like it), humorous at points & it's a zombie apocalypse!
September 2, 2023
Loved it!
January 16, 2021
Simply beautiful. Near zero dialogs but what a story
January 3, 2021
Jason continues to impress and inspire me. I love the silent feel of his work and I think no other dialogue-less story he’s done captures that as well as this one. The few lines of dialogue in this story are given to the reader in entire panels dedicated only to the dialogue which perfectly emulates the dialogue of silent films. I also love how Jason always sticks to one panel grid for the entirety of a story, the 6 panel grid here does wonders and I can’t imagine it told with any other.
8/10
8/10
July 24, 2008
This was my first Jason, and I was impressed. He's certainly in the category of European cartoonists who are, in fact, more fun than their American counterparts. They're philosophical, but only lightly. They're depressed sometimes, but it's always amusing. They're kind of like the Smiths of comic books, only requiring translation into English. This book must have been rather easy as far as that goes, seeing as it contains about five words (maybe fewer). I like diving into this stuff without knowing what it's about, so it's ironic that I would mention that this one is about zombies, but if you bother to look at the exterior of the book at all or think about the title, it's not exactly a surprise. Anyway, it's very sweet, as well as occasionally thrilling, and it should be given to all cartoonists who want to tell a wordless story as a master class in how to do so well. Jason can get a lot out of a raised eyebrow. Or even less, sometimes. I did wonder how much Eisenstein's theories about the ability of the brain to knit images together into a story played into this book's creation (perhaps some), but really the point is that, in the end, it was a delight.
January 16, 2020
The Living and the Dead is a wordless graphic novel set during the Zombie apocalypse. It starts off showing us the everyday life of a man before the apocalypse. He then meets a girl when the zombies have started taking over and we follow the two as they fall in love and try to survive together. The art in this book was very unique. Rather than using people, the artist uses anthropomorphic birds and dogs. Because the story is both wordless and in black and white, emanata is very prominent and shows the tone and emotions of the characters. The art is very cartoonish and very simplistic, but it makes it easy to tell the characters apart. The male character in the story is kind of your average Joe. There's nothing crazy special about but he is very selfless and takes an interesting in protecting the girl he ultimately falls in love with. At the end we see the girl get bit, the guy allowing himself to get bit by her and spending the rest of their time as zombies together. I liked this book and I would recommend it to anyone who wants and easy, quick, but entertaining read.
April 10, 2014
This story is very adorable in my book. This wordless love story takes zombie romance to a new level. With the childish art style it gives the feel of the between the two as almost puppy love. I did like how they became zombies layers for awhile though as their love flourished. The ending is what really nailed my coffin because the adorable aspect of something some what morbid.
I do suggest if you like love stories but not all the extra words that this is the story for you. I thought it was very adorable.
I do suggest if you like love stories but not all the extra words that this is the story for you. I thought it was very adorable.
April 2, 2014
This book was very interesting because it begins with this man at the end of his work shift walking home and he sees this beautiful girl. And when he goes home that night he keeps thinking about her. Then all of a sudden there is a zombie apocalypse and he goes to find her to save her. But is to late and she get infected but he does something amazing and..... you'll have to find out it is a wordless book so it is an easy read and will only take about 5min of your time maybe even less.
March 31, 2014
This book was pretty good for a wordless comic. The story line wasn't to interesting though all that happened was a zombie apocalypse and this couple tried to fight through it one if them got bit and turned into a zombie but they loved each other so much that the other person let the zombie but them so they could both be zombies.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 135 reviews