Star Wars #9

Marvel's Star Wars series boldly ventures "beyond the movie" with this 1978 issue, and the cover by Gil Kane and Tony DeZuniga delivers an arresting scene: Han Solo blasts away in the midst of a chaotic firefight, flanked by a large green rabbit-like alien and a woman, while airborne riders on swoops streak through the background and the cover copy warns of the deadly Cloud-Riders closing in. The tension crackles right off the page — speech bubbles debate whether the outcome will be "do or die," with one voice grimly betting on "die." Roy Thomas and Howard Chaykin's team takes the galaxy somewhere the film never went, making this an energetic snapshot of Marvel's early Star Wars universe at full throttle.