Chagall en Russie #1

Joann Sfar brings his distinctively warm, loose linework to this first part of Chagall en Russie, and the cover alone signals something wonderfully strange: a wide-eyed, red-haired figure wades contentedly in a teal river, surrounded by small fish darting beneath the surface and birds perched on nearby stumps, with a rustic landscape stretching behind him. The figure's oversized, rounded form and bright blue eyes give the scene a dreamy, almost folkloric quality that feels perfectly suited to a story rooted in Russian soil. Published by Gallimard in 2010, this opening volume promises a comics biography as imaginative and alive as the artist it portrays.