Batman Shadow of the Bat #53 Cover - Carl Critchlow

Back when this comic came out in 1996 I said to myself that if I ever got the chance to get this cover I had to have it. Apparently during my twelve year break from collecting OA it came up for auction in 2017 and then disappeared into a black hole collection. Fast forward to 2025 and it resurfaces in a Comiclink auction again! 

Awesome Carl Critchlow painted art. He's well known for his UK work on Thrub the Barbarian and 200 AD stuff, but he did draw the Judge Dredd/Batman: The Ultimate Riddle in 1995, and then a short stint doing covers for Shadow of the Bat.

The start of the Legacy Batman crossover which was a link in the chain of Batman storylines that culminated in No Man's Land. During the Contagion storyline we see the start of this virus. In Legacy, Ras and Bane have released a pure version almost causing the destruction of Gotham City. Then we have Cataclysm with the earthquake. All the while her relationship with Batman is rocky at best due to her violet tendencies.