Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #83

Kicking off a grim two-part tale, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #83 opens Warren Ellis and John McCrea's "Infected" arc with a cover that pulls no punches. McCrea's artwork depicts a horrifying, decaying creature looming over a crouching human figure in street clothes, while a second victim lies prone and grimacing on the ground below — the whole scene bathed in sickly purples and greens that give it a genuinely unsettling atmosphere. If this 1996 DC series has ever looked more viscerally threatening, it's hard to imagine when.