Micronauts #49

The cover of The Micronauts #49 sets a striking tone: a red-and-white armored figure — weapons raised — struggles against a mass of writhing purple tentacles that coil around him from every direction, with an explosive orange and black backdrop adding to the chaos. Butch Guice's cover pencils and inks deliver real menace here, with the tentacles feeling genuinely overwhelming as they engulf both the hero and what appears to be an unconscious figure slumped at his feet. "They Came from Inner Space" has rarely looked more apt than in this January 1983 installment, with Bill Mantlo's story "Keep the Home Fires Burning!" promising the kind of high-stakes Microverse adventure this series consistently delivered.