Alien Legion #17

Frank Cirocco's cover for this December 1986 Epic Comics entry throws you straight into the chaos — a diverse squad of Legionnaires armed with blasters and melee weapons clashes against a group of alien adversaries across a rust-red alien landscape, while a serpentine creature rears up menacingly in the background. The sheer variety of species on both sides — hulking fighters, sharp-featured warriors, and creatures wielding spears — captures everything that made Alien Legion such a compelling corner of the Marvel universe in the mid-80s. With "A Deadly Truth" as the interior story title and a creative team including writer Alan Zelenetz and artist Larry Stroman, issue #17 is a fine snapshot of this series at full throttle.