Batman #16

Part of the sprawling "Death of the Family" crossover event, Batman #16 arrives in March 2013 with one of the most unsettling covers of the New 52 era — Greg Capullo's rendering of the Joker standing in a darkened, cave-like setting, wearing what appears to be a Robin costume over his suit, his reattached face grinning with grotesque menace. The jagged, bat-eared shadows looming behind him frame the image with a suffocating dread that feels deeply personal to the Batman mythos. Scott Snyder and Capullo are firing on all cylinders here, and "Castle of Cards" promises the kind of psychological intensity this creative team does so well.