Because publishers want you to buy their product every month, comics are typically serial in nature. However, occasionally (and more often nowadays than ever before) publishers launch a comic title that is only meant to last for one issue. While ongoing series often have multiple chances to hook in new readers, the comics highlighted in these ongoing investigations only had One-Shot At Greatness!
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Date: July 1988
Cover Price: $3.50
Writer: Alan Moore
Artist: Brian Bolland
What better place to start this article than with Batman: the Killing Joke? Originally published by DC Comics in 1988, this one-shot comic united writer, Alan Moore, with artist, Brian Bolland, and has undergone multiple reprintings ever since.
*Warning! Plot Spoilers Below*
This story is a mix between current events and a flashback to a potential origin of the Joker. After all, being insane, the Joker wants to keep his origin a matter of multiple choice instead of certainty. In the past, an unsuccessful comedian joins some unlawful fellows to make ends meet. They dress him up as the Red Hood to commit a crime which is thwarted by Batman. Fleeing the crime, the comedian falls into a vat of toxic chemicals and comes out with white skin and green hair … not to mention a case of incurable madness.
In the present, the Joker sets out to show the world that one bad day can drive the best of us to insanity. To prove this point, he enters Jim Gordon‘s apartment, shoots his daughter, Barbara, and kidnaps him. Stripped naked and chained to a carnival ride, Gordon is exposed to photos the Joker took of his daughter, naked and terribly wounded. Now faced with the worst day of his life, Gordon manages to keep his wits about him with enough time for Batman to track them down and rescue him. After freeing Gordon, Batman hunts the Joker in yet another one of their cat-and-mouse games. Having done this dozens (hundreds?) of times before, the caped crusader wonders how their feud will come to a close. Will it end in death or rehabilitation? When he finally catches the villain, he presents the same question to him along with an offer of help. The Joker’s response leads to an extremely rare reaction from Batman … and you gotta see it to believe it!
Portending the importance of this comic, DC Comics published it in a prestige format (with a thicker cover and squarebound spine) and even added a minor cover enhancement by slightly embossing the title and credits. This ground-breaking one-shot took the threat of the Joker to an all-new level and revealed Batman’s self-cognizance of his never-ending battle. Shooting (and paralyzing) Barbara Gordon set the bar even higher for any future consideration of the danger the clown prince of crime presents. Paralyzation is such a major change to a character, that, previously, it would have taken place in the pages of the ongoing title. Allowing Alan Moore to do it (in continuity!) in this one-shot book changed the game for the comic publishing world and paved the way for the character to evolve into the character now known as Oracle.
On Ebay: Batman | Alan Moore | Brian Bolland
After more than twenty years in the business, the name Jim Lee is sure to conjure up many different thoughts, depending on who you are. His credits include pencilling and co-writing 1991’s X-Men vol. II #1, launching 
