Nightwing #45

The cover of Nightwing #45 (July 2000) pulls no punches: a restrained, grimacing Dick Grayson is pinned against a clock face while two menacing figures loom over him — one wielding a power drill, the other a syringe, both wearing surgical gloves — and the blunt tagline "Torture Time!" leaves little to the imagination. The banner "The Hunt for Oracle Part One" signals the start of a new story arc from writer Chuck Dixon, with cover pencils by Greg Land and inks by Karl Story delivering a genuinely unsettling image of Nightwing at his most vulnerable. It's a gripping visual hook that sets a tense, high-stakes tone right from the first glance.