Pierre Tombal #18

Pierre Tombal returns for his eighteenth outing with "Condamné à perpète," a title that translates roughly as "sentenced to eternity" — perfectly fitting for this ghoulishly charming Belgian series. The cover by Marc Hardy shows the round-nosed gravedigger protagonist looking rather put-upon beside a battered suitcase, with a prison-wall tally of scratch marks looming behind him, setting a delightfully dark comedic tone. Published by Dupuis in 2000 and bearing the Grand Prix Humour Noir distinction, this is Cauvin and Hardy's deadpan humor at its most irresistible.