Legends of the Dark Knight #19

The penultimate chapter of Dennis O'Neil's "Venom" arc arrives in June 1991 with one of the most visceral covers in the series — José Luis García-López renders a cloaked, cowl-less Batman locked in a desperate struggle with a massive, open-mawed shark surging out of churning ocean waves. The raw, unmasked quality of the figure makes the danger feel genuinely physical, as cape and water blur together in a swirl of blues and greys. With Trevor Von Eeden and Russ Braun handling interior art, this fourth-of-five installment promises the kind of dark, grounded Batman storytelling that made Legends of the Dark Knight essential reading in 1991.