Trix #1

The opening volume of Mars Gremmen's Trix series arrives with a cover bursting with rubbery cartoon energy — a small, pointy-hatted figure wields what appears to be a magical wand trailing a wild red ribbon, sending a lanky, wide-eyed man in a blue jacket scrambling backward amid a shower of arrows, while a towering, gleefully grinning blonde in a red swimsuit looms large over the chaos. Gremmen's linework is loose and wonderfully expressive, giving every character an elastic, anything-goes vitality that sets a delightfully anarchic tone. If this cover is any indication, Trix is the kind of all-ages Dutch comic strip album that keeps you smiling from first page to last.