Batman: Shadow of the Bat #34

Part ten of DC's sweeping "Prodigal" crossover arrives in this January 1995 installment, with a cover by Brian Stelfreeze that wastes no time establishing the stakes — Batman is bound with rope against a brick wall, a revolver pressed hard against his cowled head by a gloved assailant looming over him. It's a tense, close-quarters composition that puts the Dark Knight in genuine jeopardy, rendered with Stelfreeze's striking command of shadow and firelight. Alan Grant, MD Bright, and Scott Hanna handle the interior, making this a well-crafted chapter in one of the mid-'90s Batman line's most ambitious multi-title storylines.