Batman #9

Part of the sprawling "Night of the Owls" crossover event, this July 2012 issue of Batman delivers a cover — penciled and inked by Greg Capullo — that says everything through sheer visual force: Batman's cowl looms in stark black and white, and reflected in the gleaming white of his mask is a horde of owl-masked Talon assassins silhouetted against a burning orange sky, bearing down on a blood-red building below. It's a striking, almost abstract composition that pits one Dark Knight against what appears to be an overwhelming army, with the crimson-drenched architecture beneath adding a real sense of dread to the standoff.