Het jaar van Hein #2009

Hein de Kort's annual retrospective closes out 2009 with characteristic wit — the cover shows his goggle-eyed everyman tearfully sniffling ("Snif") before a purple gravestone marked "R.I.P. 2009," a bouquet of flowers at its base tagged "Niet goed" (Not good). It's a perfectly bittersweet send-off to a year that apparently left something to be desired, rendered in de Kort's loose, warmly expressive line work. Fans of Dutch cartooning will find this hardcover collection a cheerfully sardonic keepsake of the year that was.