Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #164

This 2003 installment kicks off the four-part "Don't Blink" arc in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, with a striking cover by Brian Stelfreeze that immediately commands attention. The image is a study in cool greens and deep blues — a nervous, sweating man in a polka-dot bow tie stares out from the foreground while Batman looms above him, cowl shadowed beneath a wide-brimmed hat, white eyes sharp and unreadable, with gun barrels pressing in from either side. Writer Dwayne McDuffie and artist Val Semeiks promise a tense, noir-inflected thriller that wastes no time setting the mood.