Batman Eternal #40

Part of DC's sprawling weekly New 52 series, Batman Eternal #40 arrives in March 2015 with a kinetic cover by penciller Ivan Reis and inker Joe Prado showing Batman locked in a fierce mid-air struggle with the Riddler, both figures swept up in a churning surge of water and force. The tension between Gotham's Dark Knight and that green-suited, bowler-hatted villain crackles with real urgency, making this one of the more viscerally charged covers in the run. With a five-writer team — Snyder, Tynion IV, Fawkes, Higgins, and Seeley — steering the story "Turn and Turn Again," the creative depth behind this issue matches the drama on its cover.