Halo: Escalation #22

A dark, mist-shrouded forest sets the stage for this penultimate chapter of Dark Horse's Halo: Escalation, with cover art by Isaac Hannaford depicting an armored Spartan driving a blade downward toward a snarling, reptilian alien warrior sprawled in a river of glowing golden light. The tension in that split-second moment — weapon raised, creature recoiling — is rendered with a brooding atmospheric intensity that feels genuinely cinematic. Duffy Boudreau and Douglas Franchin bring this 2015 series to a boil with what promises to be a gripping close-combat showdown.