Cover of The Left Bank Gang

The Left Bank Gang

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.

Read more

Set in 1920s Paris, The Left Bank Gangis 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 Gangis 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).

Audience
adult
Length
short · 48 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it. Point at it (on a phone, tap it) for less of it instead.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked The Left Bank Gang? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked The Left Bank Gang. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Isle of 100,000 Graves Shares graphic novels, jason, fiction
  2. The Number 73304-23-4153-6-96-8 Shares graphic novels, fiction, fantagraphics
  3. The Superior Spider-Man #2 Shares graphic novels, fiction
  4. Jar of Fools Shares graphic novels, art comics, bd

“People who read The Left Bank Gang tend to reach for these next.”

  1. Cat Getting Out of a Bag and Other Observations
  2. 5 Is the Perfect Number
  3. The Hive
  4. King-Cat Classix

“If you want more of the same (humor), start with these.”

  1. Superwoman #1
  2. Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death (2016-) #3
  3. Harley Quinn (2016-) #3
  4. All-New Wolverine (2015-) #5

“If it was the graphic novels that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. Cry Yourself to Sleep
  2. Funeral of the Heart
  3. Tiny Bubbles
  4. Luba

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Writing and Illustrating the Graphic Novel: Everything You Need to Know to Create Great Work and Get It Published
  2. The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 19: 1987-1988
  3. Here
  4. Tinker Bell and the Lucky Rainbow