Unknown Soldier #5

Issue five of Vertigo's Unknown Soldier closes out the "Haunted House" arc with a cover by Igor Kordey that pulls no punches — a wounded figure collapses in the foreground, bloodied hands and bullet-grazed head rendered in harsh amber tones, while armed soldiers loom in the background amid a swirl of concentric ripples suggesting the chaos of violence reverberating outward. Ain't It Cool News called it "a good dark read," and this 2009 Vertigo series — written by Joshua Dysart with art by Alberto Ponticelli — earns that description through its unflinching look at conflict on the African continent. If you've been following the arc, this is the issue you've been building toward.