Batwoman #9

Part of the DC Universe Rebirth "Fear and Loathing" arc, this January 2018 issue puts Kate Kane front and center in a genuinely unsettling image — battered, bloodied, and staring upward as a gloved hand bristling with syringes looms toward her face, the cover's taunting words "You Think You Know Fear…" making the threat unmistakably clear. Fernando Blanco's cover work is striking, rendering Batwoman's iconic red hair and black cowl against a sickly green atmosphere that sells the dread without overstating it. Marguerite Bennett and Blanco bring real menace to this ninth issue, and the needle-laden gauntlet closing in on a clearly compromised heroine sets the tone for what promises to be a dark, tension-filled chapter.