Batman #6

Part of DC's New 52 initiative, this April 2012 issue of Batman delivers one of the run's most unsettling covers: a grotesque, decayed figure wearing Batman's cowl and costume lurches forward, clawed hand raised, its hollow glowing eyes and rotting face suggesting something has gone terribly wrong beneath the cape. Greg Capullo's cover linework is precise and visceral, wringing genuine dread from a corrupted image of the Dark Knight. Scott Snyder and Capullo's collaboration on "Beneath the Glass" was already turning heads, and this sixth installment makes a strong visual case that their New 52 Batman was pushing the character into genuinely dark territory.