Arrowsmith #5

This fifth chapter of Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco's WWI fantasy series earns its "Atrocity Number" subtitle with a cover that doesn't flinch — a robed skeletal figure, draped in a tattered green cloak, rises triumphantly from an enormous mound of skulls and bones bathed in sickly green light, its bony hands outstretched amid the carnage. Pacheco's pencils and Jesús Merino's inks give the image a raw, almost sculptural weight that sets a genuinely unsettling tone for whatever lies inside. If you've been following Arrowsmith's blend of wartime drama and dark magic, this March 2004 issue signals the series is pushing deeper into harrowing territory.