Gruwelijk! #[nn]

A cheerful burst of energy from Dutch cartoonist Maaike Hartjes, this 2011 collection from Oog & Blik/De Bezige Bij radiates warmth right from its lime-green cover, where a grinning stick-figure girl in a red dress leaps with arms wide open beneath the title Gruwelijk! — with a tiny red heart dotting the exclamation mark. Hartjes' deceptively simple linework captures something genuinely joyful, and the sheer exuberance of that dancing figure sets the tone perfectly for the strips within.