Batman: The Dark Knight #24

Alex Maleev's cover for this December 2013 New 52 entry is a genuinely unsettling piece of work — a battered, snarling Batman strides forward through smoke and fire while massive, dripping tentacle-like appendages loom and curl behind him, dwarfing the Dark Knight yet unable to slow his advance. The contrast between Batman's grim determination and the grotesque, organic threat surrounding him sets a wonderfully tense tone for "Captive Audience." With Gregg Hurwitz at the helm and Maleev's moody, painterly atmosphere throughout, this issue promises the kind of psychologically charged Batman storytelling the creative team does so well.