The City of Belgium
By Brecht Evens
366 pp. Drawn & Quarterly. $30.

I dabble in graphic novels occasionally, but I’d dabble a lot more if they were all as good as “The City of Belgium.”

I recently read Belgian cartoonist Brecht Evens’ “The Wrong Place” which didn’t have a story to match the impressive visuals. That’s not the case here. “The City of Belgium” is visually stunning, and the story does those visuals justice.

This is a graphic novel but you can hear it as well — and it’s loud. Bright colors, flashing lights, larger-than-life characters — but it’s a noisy book about the importance of taking time to pause and reflect on what a privilege it is to be alive, and a reminder to tune out the noise and focus on what really matters.

If you’re graphic novel curious at all, I’d recommend this as a great introduction to the format. But just be warned that, unfortunately, they’re not all this good.