Urbanus speciaal #12

The grinning blue fly mascot of Belgium's beloved Urbanus series takes center stage on this 2014 Speciaal collection, tipping his top hat with cheerful bravado against a bright green backdrop dotted with sunflower medallions bearing familiar faces. Cover pencils by Willy Linthout and inks by Steven de Rie give the image its characteristically lively, cartoonish energy. Packed with three complete strips plus games ("spelletjes"), it's a generous helping of the absurdist humor that has made Linthout and Urbanus's collaboration a staple of Dutch-language comics.