The Shadow / Batman #4

Two of fiction's greatest crime-fighters square off above a rain-slicked cityscape in this fourth chapter of Steve Orlando's crossover series — Batman swoops in with a batarang mid-throw while the Shadow, red scarf whipping in the wind, stands his ground with pistols drawn. Kevin Nowlan's cover crackles with tension, capturing the collision of two very different philosophies about justice in one charged, atmospheric moment. If the series has been building toward a genuine confrontation between the Dark Knight and the Master of Darkness, this issue's cover suggests that moment has well and truly arrived.