Aliens: Stronghold #3

The third chapter of this four-part 1994 Dark Horse series announces itself with an unflinching close-up of a Xenomorph's elongated skull and gnashing golden teeth dominating the entire cover — raw, visceral, and rendered with real craft by Doug Mahnke. The creature's chitinous form fills the frame in deep blues and purples, with organic tendrils curling behind it in unsettling shades of red. John Arcudi's story and Mahnke's art, inked here by Jimmy Palmiotti, have built Stronghold into one of the more gripping Aliens miniseries of its era.