Batman: The Dark Knight #5

Batman crouches in a defensive posture, enveloped in billowing clouds of pink fear toxin, while a towering, grotesque Scarecrow looms over him with grasping clawed hands — it's a genuinely unsettling image that captures the Dark Knight at his most vulnerable. David Finch and Richard Friend's cover work is dynamic and detailed, with the scale between the two figures lending the scene real menace. Part of DC's New 52 initiative, this 2012 issue — subtitled "Handful of Dust" — promises a Batman pushed to his psychological limits by one of Gotham's most disturbing villains.