The Brave and the Bold #3

Batman and Blue Beetle face overwhelming odds in this June 2007 installment of The Brave and the Bold, as the cover — rendered with George Pérez's characteristically dense, kinetic linework — puts our two heroes squarely against the Fatal Five. The image is a sprawling clash: Blue Beetle in his armored suit and Batman at the center, surrounded by the brain-exposed Validus, a massive robotic figure, and what appears to be the Emerald Empress and her Emerald Eye, with Persuader also visible in the melee. Mark Waid's "Lords of Luck" storyline continues to look like a genuinely ambitious crossover romp, and Pérez's cover alone makes a compelling case for picking this one up.