Arrowsmith #3

Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco's WWI-meets-fantasy series delivers another thrilling chapter with this November 2003 issue, subtitled "Down to the Sea in Ships." The cover — penciled by Pacheco and inked by Jesús Merino — plunges us into aerial chaos: a red-haired young soldier in aviator goggles and military gear swings a rifle amid the coiling darkness of a massive winged creature, while a masked, skeletal figure and a smaller companion tumble around him, and a vivid red dragon looms ominously in the crimson background. It's a wonderfully kinetic image that captures the series' unique blend of early 20th-century warfare and fantastical monsters in full, dynamic swing.