Northlanders #12

Part two of "The Cross + The Hammer" arrives with a striking Massimo Carnevale cover that says everything without a word: a white-haired warrior stands amid a field of fallen bodies and scattered swords, gripping a severed head in one hand while ravens circle overhead. The stark palette of gold, black, and washed-out grey gives the image a grim, painterly weight that feels entirely at home in Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly's Viking-age Vertigo series. If the opening chapter drew you in, this 2009 installment promises the conflict is only deepening.