DMZ #18

This 2007 Vertigo series hits a grim milestone on "Day 204" as DMZ #18 opens Brian Wood's five-part "Friendly Fire" arc — and the cover by Wood himself makes the stakes viscerally clear: a solitary armed soldier in silhouette stands atop a vast, blood-red field of skulls, with a war-torn city skyline looming in the distance. That lone figure casting a long shadow over hundreds of stacked skulls captures the series' unflinching look at urban conflict with quiet, unsettling power. With interior art from Riccardo Burchielli and Nathan Fox, this is a compelling entry point into one of Vertigo's most politically charged ongoing series.