Batman Confidential #20

Part four of five in "The Bat and the Cat (and the Bat)" arc finds the tension crackling across Kevin Maguire's kinetic cover, where Batman swoops in from above as Catwoman and a red-haired Batgirl tumble mid-air — a notebook fluttering loose in the chaos below. Maguire's expressive linework gives each figure a distinct energy, from Catwoman's feral snarl to Batgirl's wide-eyed alarm, making this 2008 issue feel genuinely alive before you've even opened the cover. Fabian Nicieza's five-part story is clearly building toward something, and with three costumed figures this tangled up, issue #21 can't come soon enough.