Werewolves of Montpellier
Jason, writer/artist
Fantagraphics, June 2010
48 pages
$12.99
You have to be a real expert in Jason-character physiognomy to even be able to tell that the lonely expat main character in Werewolves of Montpellier is sometimes wearing a werewolf mask. After all, the guy’s an anthropomorphized dog at the best of times. In the end, that ends up being the gag. You’re not some uniquely unlovable monster, you’re just a guy with problems, like anyone else–like the woman you love, for example, who cultivates a studied air of Audrey Hepburn cool yet still can’t prevent her girlfriend from cheating on and then leaving her. The problem with the book’s titular antagonists, it seems, is that they’ve dedicated their entire lives to their big problem, and are willing to kill and die for it. The violence that results is as random and awful as it always is in Jason comics, but the overall message about how to handle it–get over it and move on–is delivered with uncharacteristic humorous bluntness. There’s no percentage in making yourself more alone than you have to be.
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