Suicide Squad #12

The final chapter of this 2002 DC series carries a fittingly grim cover by Michael Bair — a battle-hardened soldier grips an assault rifle while the looming, scythe-wielding figure of Death rises behind him, rendered in stark blacks and deep blues that make the image feel genuinely foreboding. The title "Swan Song" says everything about the mood Giffen and his collaborators are going for as this volume closes out. It's a brooding, well-crafted send-off that captures exactly what the Suicide Squad is about: expendable operatives who always operate in Death's shadow.