Batman #336

A crown-wearing villain dominates this June 1981 cover, gleefully pointing to a Gotham Gazette extra whose bold red headline demands "WHERE IS BATMAN?" — while a newspaper photo of the Dark Knight himself stares back from the page. The mystery figure's speech bubbles taunt that only he knows the answer, and it'll cost Gotham City a billion dollars to find out, setting up a deliciously tense premise. Jim Aparo's cover art crackles with energy, and with a special 25-page thriller promised inside from a creative team that includes Roy Thomas, Bob Rozakis, and José Luis García-López, this is a treat for any fan of early-'80s Batman.