Batman #633

The finale of "War Games" Act Three arrives in Batman #633 (December 2004), and Matt Wagner's cover says everything about the cost of this conflict — a battered, blood-streaked Batman stands defiant against a smoldering orange sky, cape billowing behind him, bearing wounds that speak to an exhausting campaign across Gotham's underworld. Subtitled "The Last Battle," this is part 8 of 8, the concluding chapter of the sprawling crossover written by Bill Willingham with art by Kinsun and Aaron Sowd. It's a fittingly grim, visceral cap to one of the most ambitious Bat-storylines DC published that year.