Macanudo #2

Placing the acclaimed Argentine cartoonist Liniers into a box is nearly impossible. While he's the author of twenty-five Spanish-language books, his regular strip, Macanudo, which has become a decade-long feature in the newspaper, La Nacion, is a mix of some of the finest cartoons of the twentieth century. If you prefer your comic strips with a Calvin and Hobbes air of cuddly rambunctiousness, Liniers has chronicled the adventures of Henriett %E2%80%94 a young Susie Derkins-like girl with a very real cat named Fellini and a very stuffed bear, Mandelbaum. Talking penguins abound elsewhere, a cross between Bloom County and the more surreal cow installments of The Far Side. He even manages to channel the ghost of Walt Kelly in a particularly biting commentary on littering and pollution. Liniers creates an environment where anything seems possible, and nowhere is that more apparent than in "The Dangers of Falling Upwards," an original short story that completes this collection. Shel Silverstein vibes aside, it's the capstone to an indispensable work of comic art. (Dec.)