Star Wars #18

Marvel's Star Wars #18 (December 1978) puts the heroes in immediate peril, as the cover by Carmine Infantino and Bob Wiacek shows C-3PO and an injured companion surrounded by blaster-wielding Stormtroopers demanding they be vaporized on the spot. The tension crackles across every panel of the image, with the droids — including R2-D2 visible in the background — caught in a desperate, claustrophobic standoff against the Empire's forces. At just 35 cents, this issue promised readers exactly what its title delivers: the Empire very much on the offensive.