Detective Comics #808

David Lapham pulls double duty as writer and cover artist for this September 2005 entry in the "City of Crime" arc, and the result is a striking, unsettling image: a grotesque, wide-eyed figure in a pinstripe suit and sombrero clutches a tommy gun while weapons, syringes, and a torn police badge scatter around him in a swirl of amber chaos. The rose pinned to his lapel adds a darkly sardonic touch to what is clearly a portrait of Gotham's underworld at its most unhinged. Rounding out the issue is a backup story, "The Beast Beneath," by Andersen Gabrych, Tommy Castillo, and Rodney Ramos, making this a genuinely full package for fans of Batman's grimmer corners.