L'Ancien Temps #2

The second volume of Joann Sfar's L'Ancien Temps arrives with a cover that crackles with energy — a small, green-clad child leaps across moonlit rooftops, a tiny red creature in tow, while below an enormous, grinning troll-like giant looms over a churning crowd of fantastical figures packed into every corner of the frame. Sfar's instantly recognizable linework transforms a medieval cityscape into something wonderfully alive and slightly unhinged, bathed in deep blues and greens that give the whole scene an eerie, nocturnal glow. With a subtitle that translates as "Since Everyone Wants War," this 2018 Gallimard release promises the kind of adventure that mixes childhood wonder with something decidedly more chaotic.