Books of Magick: Life During Wartime #12

A battered young man strains to hold aloft a glowing tome — the Books of Magick — as blood drips down its spine and ornately carved panels loom in the foreground, together making for one of the more striking covers of Vertigo's 2005 lineup. Duncan Fegredo's painted cover art has a raw, tactile intensity, capturing both the weight of the book and the desperation on the young man's bloodied face. Si Spencer, Steve Yeowell, and Dean Ormston bring this penultimate arc installment to a close with "War Is Over (If You Want It)" — a title that promises the kind of hard-won, ambiguous resolution this series does so well.