Opa #5

Eddy Ryssack's Opa returns for its fifth album, subtitled Vooruit met de Gein! — and the cover sets the tone perfectly: a mustachioed grandpa sits behind the wheel of a bright red vintage automobile while three straining figures carry the car on a pole right to the very edge of a cliff, with a tiny sailboat bobbing in the water far below. Ryssack's rubbery, expressive linework squeezes every ounce of slapstick out of the scene, and the small cat-like figure perched atop the title logo adds one more cheeky touch. If this 2021 Sfinx Collectie release is anything like its cover promises, fans of warm, wonderfully absurd Belgian humor are in for a treat.