Batman: Outlaws #1

Batman locked in a sniper's crosshairs while an overwhelming fleet of armed military helicopters — one emblazoned with "Death from Above" — swarms the skies over a burning city sets an immediately tense, high-stakes tone for this 2000 DC prestige-format miniseries. Paul Gulacy and Charles Yoakum's cover work is striking, balancing cool blues against the warm glow of citywide fires to suggest Gotham pushed well past its breaking point. With Doug Moench scripting "Part One: Shadowplay," Batman: Outlaws opens as a thriller where the Dark Knight appears outnumbered, outgunned, and very much in someone's sights.