Esther Verkest #5

The fifth volume of Kim Duchateau's Esther Verkest series arrives with a wonderfully chaotic cover: the red-haired Esther is bound to a grand piano with rope alongside another figure, while a moose head, a wifi router, headphones, a spilled wine glass, and various oddities float through the air around them. Titled Even Geduld A.U.B. — roughly "Please Hold" — this 2007 Oogachtend release signals that Duchateau's signature blend of absurdist humor and everyday surrealism is very much alive and well. If you've been following Esther's misadventures, this installment looks like another gloriously unhinged chapter.