Legends of the Dark Knight #17

That unsettling close-up of Batman's face — teeth bared, eyes hollow and wild, one gloved hand clawing toward the viewer — sets an immediately unnerving tone for "Venom: Part Two of Five," cover-rendered by José Luis García-López with a raw, almost feverish intensity. Something is clearly wrong with the Dark Knight, and this 1991 installment of Legends of the Dark Knight channels that unease into a portrait that feels less like a hero and more like something slipping loose. With Dennis O'Neil writing and Trevor Von Eeden and Russ Braun on interior art, this five-part arc is shaping up to be one of the more psychologically probing Batman stories DC had to offer that year.