Batman: The Hill #1

This 2000 one-shot drops Batman into a street-level powder keg, and S.C. Martinbrough's cover sets the tension immediately — a snarling Dark Knight looms overhead while a cool, white-suited figure at the center holds his ground, caught between armed street figures on one side and a gun-leveling police officer on the other, with a young man in a green varsity jacket crouched below, pistols drawn. The composition makes it instantly clear that "The Hill" is a place where gang pressure, corrupt authority, and vigilante justice are all pulling in different directions at once. Writer Christopher Priest brings his sharp storytelling instincts to the story "Heretic," making this a Batman tale rooted firmly in community and consequence rather than rooftop spectacle.