Unknown Soldier #17

This Vertigo series continues its unflinching look at conflict with "Dry Season, Chapter Three," written by Joshua Dysart with art by Alberto Ponticelli. Dave Johnson's striking cover sets a tense, unsettling mood — a heavily bandaged figure stands amid a forest of oversized syringes against a blood-red background, gripping both a firearm and a red-cross medical kit, the juxtaposition of healing and violence neatly capturing the series' moral complexity. Rain Taxi called it "disquieting and enthralling…a success," and this April 2010 issue makes a strong case for that praise.