Batman: Shadow of the Bat #85

Ted McKeever's cover for this 1999 DC issue sets an unsettling, carnival-grotesque tone: a leering, monocled villain in a tuxedo and red bow tie dominates the composition, clutching a rose while a massive, bare-chested brute stands ready behind him — and a cloaked Batman crouches small in the foreground, dwarfed by his adversaries. It's the conclusion to Ian Edginton and D'Israeli's "Bread and Circuses" arc, set against the grim backdrop of Gotham's No Man's Land era. A satisfying payoff issue for anyone following Batman's struggle to reclaim a city that's fallen completely apart.