Cover of the Week 3/8 – Baltimore Empty Graves #5 by Ben Stenbeck

This was a comic I never realised was going to be as articulate a character narrative as it was, which is exactly why I chose this cover. The drive of Baltimore is as shown and it is admirable and yet ultimately tragic. His resoluteness is confounded by the fact he is already dead, and the swords and daggers that are embedded in his body only slow him down. But it is the pool blood he wades through and the bodies at his wayside that display the foe he is up against. They depict the uphill struggle he is facing and the immense challenge that he is most likely to fail against. His expression is quite terrifying as his scowl and gritted teeth means he will not stop. Even his head is full of scars, some old and some fresh with blood dripping. His wooden leg that he trudges through the gore, already shows the torture endured in the past. The simplicity of the black, red and deep brown colouring is rooted in pain and suffering, and if you look at Lord Baltimore then it is all you really see. Fantastic character based artwork from Ben Stenbeck.