Batman: Shadow of the Bat #62

Doug Beekman's painted cover for this May 1997 issue is genuinely unsettling — Batman lies slumped against a crumbling stone wall, his cowl pushed aside to reveal a battered, bloodied face bearing a strange coin or medallion pressed against it, the dim purple atmosphere of Gotham looming behind him. The story arc "Janus" begins here, its title nodding to the two-faced Roman god and promising the kind of duality that Alan Grant, Dave Taylor, and Stan Woch do so well. If that striking image of a fallen Dark Knight is any indication, this opening chapter has something sharp and dark in store.