10 Comic Books Where Evil Won

Torso tells the story of The Untouchables sequel that never was, focusing on Eliot Ness after his legendary takedown of Chicago gangster Al Capone as he tries to unearth the mystery of the Cleveland Torso Killer, a real-life serial killer who was said to have personally targeted Ness once he became the city's Safety Director in the 1930s.

A collaboration between Marvel-turned-DC writer Brian Michael Bendis and Marc Andreyko, Torso is a moody, atmospheric read that lays bear the true horror of the Torso Killings, telling the story from the perspective of Ness and two other detectives, Peter Myrlo and Sam Simon.

Bendis himself researched the case extensively while developing the comic, which in real life went unsolved despite Ness believing the culprit to be a doctor called Francis E. Sweeney, a veteran of The Great War who was also a surgeon. The story goes that Ness was unable to apprehend Sweeney due to him being related to an influential Cleveland politician, Martin L. Sweeney, but Torso dares to fill in the blanks a little more gruesomely.

After resorting to burning down a Hooverville Ness believed the murderer was selecting his victims from, detectives Myrlo and Simon make a breakthrough in the case, but things go horribly, horribly wrong.

As with The Fade Out, it's better that you read this one without getting spoiled. Just be prepared for a gut-wrenching conclusion.