The Bluecoats #1

Cinebook's English-language launch of this beloved Belgian series kicks off with "Robertsonville Prison," bringing Raoul Cauvin's writing and Willy Lambil's artwork to Anglophone readers for the first time in 2008. The cover sets a cheerful, chaotic tone: a startled Union soldier in a yellow coat is sent flying — lantern and all — while two of his blue-clad comrades scramble in panic near a barbed-wire fence marked with Confederate stars. Lambil's expressive, rubbery linework makes the slapstick energy immediately irresistible, promising a comedy-tinged take on the American Civil War that's hard to resist picking up.