Dreadstar #21

This October 1985 entry in Jim Starlin and Sam de la Rosa's Dreadstar run delivers one of the series' most visually arresting covers, with multiple figures — including recognizable members of the Dreadstar cast — hopelessly tangled in a chaotic knot of serpentine, vividly colored tendrils that seem to be pulling them in every direction at once. The story title "Blow Out!" sets an urgent tone, and the cover composition perfectly captures a team in crisis, limbs and faces straining against forces that have wound them into a helpless, churning mass. Epic Comics was firing on all cylinders with this title in 1985, and this issue is a striking reminder of why Dreadstar stood out on the stands.