Batman #500

Batman #500 marks a milestone issue in the "Knightfall" saga, and Kelley Jones's cover makes the stakes unmistakably clear: a figure in a sleek, armored blue-and-yellow Bat-suit looms triumphantly over a battered, maskless Bane, who lies defeated at his feet while a swirl of bats fills the purple sky above. The confrontation radiates tension and consequence, with Bane's massive, broken form a stark contrast to the sharp angles of the new Batman bearing down on him. With Doug Moench writing and Jim Aparo on interior art, this is a milestone chapter of one of the most compelling arcs in the Dark Knight's history.