Ariol #18

A sunny beach day sets the scene for this 2022 installment of Emmanuel Guibert and Marc Boutavant's beloved French series, subtitled Vieux sac à puces! ("You Old Fleabag!"). The cover finds Ariol — the instantly recognizable blue donkey in his yellow shirt — squeezed together on a beach blanket with a shaggy, straw-hatted older character and a pink companion, the three piled cheerfully on top of one another while a fourth figure watches from the dune behind them. It's a warm, funny snapshot of the series' signature charm: affectionate chaos among friends, rendered in Boutavant's wonderfully expressive, cartoonish style.