Batgirl #16

Ed Benes delivers a genuinely unsettling cover image here: Batgirl's face is split down the middle, one half her familiar cowled visage and the other half the Joker's grotesque, scarred grin — a visual collision of two identities that sets a deeply ominous tone. Part of DC's "Death of the Family" crossover event in 2013, this New 52 installment finds Gail Simone writing Barbara Gordon into what the subtitle calls a "Ceremony," suggesting the Clown Prince's shadow looms large over her world. If the cover is any indication, the line between hero and chaos has rarely felt this dangerously thin in Batgirl's series.