10 Criminally Overlooked Batman Comics Fans Must Read

This is the second of the 'Black and White' stories featured on this list and the first entry in the first volume of the collection. Much like Cooke's, it's one you won't forget.

'Perpetual Mourning' is a mainly a mood piece. The comic is about 20 pages of Batman investigating the corpse of a woman. While that's the whole plot, it's how the narrative goes about him doing so that makes it so memorable.

It's melancholic and dreary through and through, with the black and white art adding to the tone. Though underneath all the doom and gloom is a story about why Bruce Wayne does what he does with such a relentless dedication. This woman was violently murdered and the person who killed her is still living free, while she forever remains a corpse. The dead deserve to have a voice, someone to fight for them, and that's exactly what Bruce feels he has to be.

The title 'Perpetual Mourning' in itself also carries significance. It's in reference to, well, how Bruce is in perpetual mourning for all those he was unable to save. Gotham City thinks of him as some unstoppable force of nature, but in reality, he's just a man on a never-ending mission. A mission where, for him, he's too late far too often.