JLA #109

Part three of Kurt Busiek's "Syndicate Rules" arc finds the Justice League in a gritty urban setting that says it all — graffiti reading "SYNDICATE RULES!" is splashed across a brick wall, and a wanted-poster-style image of the League (Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Wonder Woman among them) makes clear these heroes are on the wrong side of someone's law. In the foreground, a Superman analog with laser-vision blazing, a dark-haired woman in a formfitting costume, the Flash, and other Syndicate members stride forward with menacing confidence. Ron Garney's cover work captures that unsettling tension of a world turned upside down, making this 2005 issue a compelling chapter in one of the JLA's more provocative storylines.