Alea Gesta Est #[nn]

A cheerful lime-green cover sets the tone for this French comedy album from Monsieur Pop Corn, where a wide-eyed, round-bellied little man stands face-to-face with an enormous pregnant belly — the visual gag doing all the talking before you've read a single page. Creator Lapuss' distills the whole adventure of impending fatherhood into that one perfectly deadpan image, and the subtitle *Grossesse Paternelle* ("Paternal Pregnancy") signals that dad's journey is every bit as monumental as mom's. A warm and witty slice of life from 2012 that looks like it earns every smile.