Batman #558

Few covers from 1998 carry this much quiet weight: Batman looms in the foreground, jaw set and eyes downcast, clutching a small pink stuffed animal in his gloved fist — a detail that says everything about what Gotham has just endured. Behind him, rescue workers pick through mountains of rubble while smoke still rises over the shattered cityscape, the "Aftershock" banner overhead tying this issue into DC's earthquake storyline. Writer Doug Moench and artists Jim Aparo and Sal Buscema bring the story, while Rodolfo Damaggio's cover art sets a somber, affecting tone that's hard to shake.