Green Lantern Corps #36

Two Green Lanterns surge forward in a burst of emerald energy on Patrick Gleason and Rebecca Buchman's cover, their power rings blazing as a chaotic crowd of alien Lanterns — sporting insignia from multiple corps — clashes in the background. The bold "RIOT!" tagline perfectly captures the sense of an out-of-control Oa on the brink, serving as a "Prelude to Blackest Night" that writer Peter J. Tomasi and artist Gleason have been building toward in this "Emerald Eclipse" arc. At $2.99, this 2009 issue delivers exactly the kind of large-scale, ring-slinging tension that makes Green Lantern Corps such a compelling corner of the DC Universe.