Batman: Gotham County Line #3

Scott Hampton's painted cover for this concluding chapter of Batman: Gotham County Line sets a genuinely unsettling tone — blood-red steps lead up to a doorway bathed in harsh light, where the silhouettes of Batman and a small child stand framed against the darkness. The stark contrast of crimson and black, with the title rendered in dripping letters, signals that writer Steve Niles and artist Scott Hampton are bringing their supernatural Gotham tale to an appropriately chilling finish. If the first two issues had you hooked, this 2006 finale — "Book Three: Night of the Living Death" — promises a closing chapter that earns every cent of its cover price.