Star Trek: Early Voyages #4

The cover of this May 1997 issue says it all: Captain Pike is "Caged!" — shown lunging desperately across the massive, brooding face of a Talosian, whose enormous cranium fills the foreground while eerie green energy crackles around them both. It's a striking visual tension between the determined Starfleet captain and the cold, implacable alien presence beneath him, rendered with real menace by cover pencils from Patrick Zircher and inks by Greg Adams. Dan Abnett and Ian Edginton's Early Voyages continues to be a rewarding corner of the Star Trek universe, exploring the era of the Enterprise before Kirk — and this issue, titled "Nor Iron Bars a Cage," looks like a highlight of the run.