Source: batmanimagesgallery.com
2. Mortal Clay
Alan Moore’s best Batman story, ladies and gentlemen. Yes, that’s right, better than Killing Joke. By a lot.
Mortal Clay is a thrilling and disturbing look inside the mind of Clayface as he finds his true love. Unfortunately, that true love is a mannequin. Not that Clayface realizes this of course. As Clayface slowly descends deeper into his madness, Batman is eventually called in to deal with the crazed murderer.
As the tense and horrific buildup reaches its crescendo, the book shifts from horror story to tragedy. Preston Payne is among the least remembered Clayfaces and this story is his only notable appearance, but it is one hell of a calling card that makes me sad no one ever did anything else of note with the character.
It also has one of the best last pages I’ve ever read. A perfect button on an amazing story. It makes me sad that Moore didn’t write more Batman because he clearly gets the character.
