Batman 561’s relatively simple-looking cover actually includes a lot of elements that work together nicely to draw in readers:

The first is the cover’s muted, mostly black-and-gray color scheme, which serves to make the few bits of color that do appear pop. You don’t need to read this story’s title to figure out that Bruce Wayne, not Batman, is its central character. Instead, you can look at how the Dark Knight’s silhouette flows toward Wayne, the only character depicted in color.

Speaking of that silhouette, though, I’m a sucker for a good superhero “half mask” or “civilian with a hero silhouette” scene. It’s a tried-and-true concept that works especially well with Batman, who has the best silhouette in superhero comics. Here, artist Rodolfo Damaggio creates an imposing silhouette that at first seems like it’s supposed to convey the Dark Knight’s power (note how it’s specifically covering up a portrait of Lady Justice), but is ultimately just a shadow no one can see. Instead, it’s Bruce Wayne whose actions and words will win or lose the day.

(If you look closely, you can see the silhouette is penciled and/or inked a bit loosely. But I didn’t notice that until I looked at this cover eighteen times while writing this post.)

Finally, whoever matched the few colors that appear on this cover to the Batman logo and the special Road to No Man’s Land cover treatment should be commended. Matching the logo to the cover’s primary color scheme and Wayne’s shirt and tie to the Road to No Man’s Land sidebar really ties this cover together. And if you’re paying attention to the cover dress, you can likely intuit that Wayne’s trip to Washington doesn’t end well …

(Want to check out more posts in the Cool Comic Covers series? If so, click here.)