Aliens: Colonial Marines #3

Issue three of this twelve-part Dark Horse series delivers a cover that puts the tension front and center: a Colonial Marine in uniform crouches in a brightly lit corridor doorway, weapon raised and expression tense, while two Xenomorphs loom in the shadowed foreground on either side — their clawed limbs and elongated heads unmistakably closing in. Robert Mentor's painted-style cover work captures that trademark sense of dread beautifully, balancing stark industrial lighting against the creatures' lurking menace. With Chris Warner writing and Tony Akins on interior art, Aliens: Colonial Marines was shaping up in 1993 as one of Dark Horse's more gripping explorations of life — and survival — on the front lines.