First Year Healthy #[nn]

Michael DeForge's singular vision is on full display with this 2014 Drawn & Quarterly release, whose cover presents a haunting, flame-wreathed figure — a childlike form nestled within a blazing solar aura of red and orange — while a pale green creature lies curled at its feet against a warm pink background scattered with small drawn flowers and plants. The imagery is dreamlike and unsettling in equal measure, carrying the quiet emotional intensity that defines DeForge's work. A genuinely compelling package from one of alternative comics' most distinctive voices.