Les Voyages de He Pao #5

The fifth volume of Vink's Les Voyages de He Pao arrives with a cover that feels like a quiet breath before a long journey — He Pao stands with her back to us, dressed in a pink top and flowing turquoise skirt, gazing out across lush green rice paddies toward an ancient stone temple rising softly in the warm, hazy distance. Vink's painted cover work captures both the stillness and the restless spirit embedded in the series' title, with light and landscape doing as much storytelling as any figure. Un matin pour tout horizon — "A morning for every horizon" — is a beautifully poetic subtitle for a 2010 Dargaud album that promises travel, contemplation, and the kind of unhurried adventure this series does so well.