It's like the armor version of Bjork's swan dress.

Ah, that's not too dated a reference, but then again, this isn't a new comic, either: Crossgen's been down for the count for some time now. I don't think I've read another Crossgen title, but luckily for us, this was a mostly done-in-one from 2001: Crossgen Chronicles #2, written by Ron Marz, inks by Dennis Jensen, and art by none other than George Perez.

Without knowing anything about the CrossGen universe and the Sigil marking that kept showing up, this one's set in the always popular fantasy world with some technology but people still mostly stab each other up with swords. The naval fleets of the Herons, led by Admiral Edvin above, brave fog and incoming bad weather in search of the Ravens, led by Edvin's old foe Alexi.

Between the storm and the battle, Edvin's ship is soon sinking, so he and his crew board Alexi's, which doesn't fare any better. As the ship goes down, Alexi thinks he's finally finished his longtime rival, who then gives it one more go before they're both swamped by the waves.

Alexi regains consciousness washed up on some island, wondering if there are any other survivors. Well, yeah, but...

Edvin wakes up in time to avoid being gutted, and they resume their battle, using whatever they have at hand, kicking, biting, and so on. For the better part of the next day, as the survivors of both fleets look on:

Eventually, Alexi, the ostensible bad guy of this, since he's the black hat; admits that this can't go on. Neither man can remember why they are fighting, but know the peace has to start with them, and the survivors that witnessed this battle without taking action against each other. The epilogue, with probably the big bad of the main series, underlines that Alexi brokered a peace and a ritual combat to take the place of full-scale war; but that the Ravens and Hurons may be headed back to the old ways shortly...

I have no idea if CrossGen's other titles were as accessible as this one, but of course, Perez's art on the large-scale battles or the single combat goes a long way. I got this ish for a quarter, but don't let that undersell it.