Scalped #41

Scalped #41 arrives in October 2010 as part three of "Unwanted," and Jock's cover delivers something genuinely haunting — a young child bearing red war-paint markings on their face stares out with an unnerving, hollow intensity, dressed in traditional patterned regalia and clutching a ceramic vessel. The cracked, weathered texture overlaid on the image gives the whole composition a feeling of fragility and weight that matches the series' unflinching tone. Jason Aaron and R.M. Guéra's reservation noir continues to be one of Vertigo's most serious-minded ongoing series, and this cover alone makes a strong case for picking it up.