Northlanders #16

Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly bring their "Cross + The Hammer" arc to a close with this concluding chapter of "Brigid's War," the sixth and final part of this Viking-age saga from Vertigo. Massimo Carnevale's cover is a striking composition in muted grays and deep reds, dominated by two fierce combatants — a snarling warrior in the foreground reaching toward the viewer and a red-haired figure above him mid-swing with a weapon, surrounded by the blurred chaos of a larger melee in the background. It's a visceral, beautifully rendered image that captures the raw intensity Brian Wood's mature-readers series consistently delivered in 2009.