Dreadstar #25

Issue #25 of Epic Comics' Dreadstar arrives in June 1986 with a cover by Jim Starlin that puts the star-emblazoned hero on his knees, clearly at the mercy of a formidable group of adversaries — a massive, white-masked purple-clad brute looming at center, flanked by a glowing spectral figure, a cybernetically-enhanced man, a snarling beast-creature, and a diminutive red-costumed figure. The title "Trial!" promises exactly the kind of desperate, outnumbered reckoning this cover delivers so vividly. Starlin — pulling triple duty as writer, penciler, and inker — brings his signature larger-than-life cosmic sensibility to every figure crowding that grim alley scene.