The Dark Knight Returns: The Last Crusade #1

Set in the dark mythology Frank Miller built around Gotham, this 2016 one-shot from Miller and Brian Azzarello — with art by John Romita Jr., inked on the cover by Danny Miki — presents a memorably unsettling image: the Joker, straight-jacketed and crouching low, his green hair wild and that wide grin cutting through the gloom, while a sky full of bats wheels ominously overhead. It's a cover that immediately signals danger barely contained, with the Clown Prince of Crime looking anything but restrained despite the straps. The Last Crusade promises a story that fills in the shadows before The Dark Knight Returns, and this creative team is more than up to the task.