Esther Verkest #3

Issue three of Kim Duchateau's Esther Verkest series greets readers with a wryly unsettling cover: the title character hangs upside down from a tree branch, bound with rope, her long hair cascading toward the ground while a pair of red shoes sits neatly abandoned below her. The Dutch subtitle — "Van de hak op de tak" (roughly "jumping from one thing to another") — appears mirrored and inverted, a clever visual joke that matches Esther's topsy-turvy predicament perfectly. Duchateau's clean linework and soft pink palette give the whole scene a deceptively cheerful tone that hints at the deadpan humor this Belgian series is known for.