Alea Gesta Est #[nn]

A cheerful lime-green cover sets the tone for this French comedy album from Monsieur Pop Corn, where a wide-eyed, round-bellied little man stands face-to-face with an enormous pregnant belly — the visual gag doing all the talking before you've read a single page. Creator Lapuss' distills the whole adventure of impending fatherhood into that one perfectly deadpan image, and the subtitle Grossesse Paternelle ("Paternal Pregnancy") signals that dad's journey is every bit as monumental as mom's. A warm and witty slice of life from 2012 that looks like it earns every smile.