Batman and Robin #7

Frank Quitely's cover for Batman and Robin #7 is a genuinely unsettling image: a figure in a battered Batman costume stands with arms crossed over the chest symbol, but where a face should be there is only a grinning skull, the cowl's ears drooping lifelessly downward. The muted blue-grey palette and cracked wall behind the figure give the whole composition a cold, sepulchral weight that sets an ominous tone for "Blackest Knight, Part One." With Grant Morrison writing and Cameron Stewart on interior art, this March 2010 issue promises the kind of dark, layered storytelling the series had already made its hallmark.