Batgirl #0

Part of DC's New 52 zero-issue initiative in 2012, this special entry in Gail Simone's run offers a look back at Barbara Gordon's origins as Batgirl. Ed Benes's cover delivers a striking image of Batgirl — red hair blazing, blue eyes fierce — bursting forward in her black-and-gold costume, her cape fanning out like wings as she tears through the page itself, rendered against a backdrop of sketched artwork. It's a confident, kinetic introduction to a hero presented here at full force.