Batman The Cult #1

Berni Wrightson's painted cover sets an unsettling tone immediately: Batman lies prone and helpless on a blood-spattered Gotham City sewer grate, his gloved hand slack against the cold metal — a deeply disquieting image for a hero usually defined by control. This first book of Jim Starlin's four-part prestige-format series promises something darker and more personal than a typical Batman adventure, with Wrightson's painted artwork lending the whole affair a grim, horror-inflected weight. If you've ever wanted to see Gotham's underground rendered with genuine dread, "Book One: Ordeal" is a striking place to start.