Northlanders #17

Brian Wood and Vasilis Lolos bring Viking brutality to Vertigo with this 2009 installment of Northlanders, subtitled "The Viking Art of Single Combat." Massimo Carnevale's cover doubles as a kind of warrior's diagram, overlaying tactical annotations — notes on mobility, speed, stroke angles, and weapon specs — onto two Vikings locked in a snowy clash, one axe-wielding and furred, the other helmeted and armored in chainmail. It's a striking visual idea that captures both the raw physicality of Norse combat and an almost scholarly fascination with how men fought and survived.