Emil, ich hab Schiss!

In 1964, Swiss artist Sempé introduced the world to Emil, a small, anxious boy who navigates the everyday terrors of childhood in a single, enduring comic from Diogenes Verlag. This slim volume, originally published in French as Emil, j'ai peur!, captures a universal, gently humorous anxiety through Sempé's deceptively simple linework and deadpan observations. Though it remains a one-shot, its quiet, timeless portrait of fear has kept it in print and beloved for decades.