Source: complex.com

5. Ego

Oh, Darwyn Cooke, your art always was the quickest route to my heart.

Batman: Ego is a spellbindingly beautiful look into Batman’s tortured psyche and what it means to be the Dark Knight. In the story, Bruce Wayne ends a hard night of Batman-ing back in the batcave, bleeding pretty badly. As he begins to hallucinate, he talks with a spectral avatar of his Batman persona, who tries to convince Bruce to turn fully to the dark side.

But as fun as the plot is, this one is a real art showcase. It is absotively beautiful. I mean, holy hell, I can’t stop looking at the pages of this thing. From splash pages to parallel page design to tricks of the layout, this is a masterclass in how to make comics. Every panel flows into the next so fluidly you’d swear it was animated.

Need some gorgeous art to pore over for a while? Pick this one up.