One of the foundations of a good war story is that war can turn that horrible child that cut off cats’ tails into a hero, and that it can change a moral optimist into a demon.  Much the way The Walking Dead starts at the end of a horror movie, and expands on what life would be like after the credits, Dead Soldier shows you the life of the former soldier once he has embraced his demonicness.

Well-paced scripting by Richie Smyth, and beautiful art by Dean Hyrapiet are a perfectly haunting combination.

Hyrapiet goes back and forth between acutely detailed panels, and deliberately obscuring shadows to provide chill-inducing tension.

Smyth’s script is riddled with profanity, but it feels very natural, in a way that a lot of other comic writers aspire to, but don’t reach.

While I’m not sure this is going to be my pick of the week, it was a welcome surprise in my stack.  I don’t imagine a lot of LCS’s are going to have this, so I recommend going early, and snatching it up.