JLA #59

Part of DC's 2001 "Joker: Last Laugh" crossover event, this issue of JLA promises something unsettling right from the cover — subtitled "The Chilling Joke!" Bill Sienkiewicz's striking cover art renders Batman and several other heroes seemingly shattered or overwhelmed, their forms fractured across a cascade of broken shards, while a caped silhouette soars ominously against a bright sky above them. Written by Chuck Dixon and Scott Beatty with interior art by Darryl Banks and Wayne Faucher, this is a tense chapter that wears its crossover stakes right on its sleeve.