Metal Gear Solid #12

Ashley Wood's raw, expressive artwork dominates this twelfth issue of IDW's official Konami adaptation, splitting the cover between two intense close-up portraits divided by a bold "VS" — two hardened faces staring each other down in a collision of gray and muted rose tones. Written by Kris Oprisko with art throughout by Ashley Wood, this August 2005 entry in the Metal Gear Solid series carries all the tension you'd expect from a title billed as "Tactical Espionage Action." Wood's loose, ink-heavy style gives both figures a brooding, almost painterly weight that makes this confrontation feel genuinely charged.