DMZ #17

The fifth and final chapter of the "Public Works" arc arrives in this May 2007 Vertigo series by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli. Brian Wood's cover composition splits the image between a faded U.S. Presidential seal and a tense street-level scene — armored figures bearing the word "TRUST" on their backs stand under a targeting reticle while military helicopters hover overhead, blood-red spatters cutting across the muted palette. It's a striking visual summation of the series' themes: state power, civilian survival, and the uneasy machinery of control in a city caught between forces.