Batman: Outlaws #2

The whole Bat-family looks cornered and battle-worn on Gulacy and Yoakum's cover for this middle chapter of the "Outlaws" prestige-format miniseries — Batman stands defiant at center, cradling an injured civilian, while Robin, Nightwing, and a purple-clad female figure fan out around him, and a fourth dark-caped figure leaps through a bullet-riddled crescent moon backdrop in the chaos behind them. The tension radiating from that image pairs perfectly with Doug Moench's writing, with Gulacy's dynamic linework inked by Yoakum giving every character a raw, street-level urgency. If you picked up issue one, this $4.95 second installment — subtitled "Chapter Three: Dead Gargoyles" — looks every bit as gripping.