Doom Patrol #17

Doom Patrol #17 sets a visceral, road-worn tone with its "Road Rash!" banner and a cover by Tan Eng Huat showing Robotman — battered, torn, and sprawled across asphalt — with pieces of his mechanical body scattered around him and a truck receding into the dusty distance. It's a striking image that wastes no time communicating just how rough things have gotten for DC's strangest team of heroes. Writer John Arcudi and Tan Eng Huat were clearly committed to pushing these characters to their limits in 2003, and this issue looks like no exception.