In some ways, this issue is one of Unknown Soldier’s least depressing–Paul gets a good ending (at least for this issue) and Moses gets a chance at some relief. But it’s somehow even more depressing, because Dysart gives Moses this chance to reflect, to think about himself and what he has done and will do.

It’d actually make a great end to the series, because it’s so open. I know there’s another issue but even with that knowledge, the issue is still rough. Even with all the terrible things Dysart shows, the hardest parts of Unknown Soldierare when the reader gets to empathize with Moses, when the series becomes grounded in the reader’s reality.

This issue, in a few pages, is incredibly powerful. Without trying, Dysart and Masioni are pushing the limit of how affecting a comic book–which is comfortable in its artifice–can be.

It’s profound.