The Programme #9

Peter Milligan's Cold War super-soldier series reaches its ninth chapter with a cover by C.P. Smith that makes a striking visual statement — a massive, hunched figure crawls forward in stark black and white, while a solitary red silhouette stands distant against the washed-out background, the color contrast lending an almost eerie weight to the scene. Smith's art strips the palette down to essentials, letting raw texture and shadow carry the tension. With "American Hero?" as the story title, this WildStorm issue asks the kind of uncomfortable questions that have defined The Programme from the start.