Blood of the Demon #3

The cover of this July 2005 DC series entry makes its promise immediately clear: even Batman looks rattled, shown in a fierce defensive stance with flames erupting all around him, while a snarling, clawed Demon looms out of the fire behind him. John Byrne handles both pencils and inks on this striking image, and the raw energy between these two formidable figures gives the confrontation real weight. With Byrne and Will Pfeifer collaborating on "Friends and Enemies," issue #3 of Blood of the Demon sets up a collision between DC's Dark Knight and one of its most volatile supernatural forces.