Soda #5

The title "Liebe deinen Nächsten" — "Love Thy Neighbor" — sets a deliciously ironic tone for this fifth volume of Soda, published by Salleck in 2000. Bruno Gazzotti's cover art makes the tension immediate: a grimacing man in clerical white thrusts a large wooden cross aloft against a blazing red sky, while a wide-eyed young boy clasps his hands in prayer beside him, and a shadowy blue-caped figure looms at the edge of the frame. Writer Tome and Gazzotti, who handles both pencils and inks here, clearly relish the collision of faith and menace that has made this series so compelling.