Star Wars: Republic #48

Part three of "Honor and Duty" arrives with a cover that pulls no punches — a striking, elaborately adorned woman dominates the composition, curved blade raised, her expression coolly dangerous against a stormy, lightning-split sky. Below her, a battle droid squares off in a firefight between two figures whose blaster bolts crackle across a grand, city-lit background. Cover art by Steve Firchow sets an appropriately tense stage for a story the taglines sum up with grim economy: "Blood in the senate… a death in the family." With Ostrander, C. P. Smith, and Jasen Rodriguez bringing the interior to life, this 2002 Dark Horse conclusion to the arc looks like a satisfying payoff for anyone following the Republic's darkest political intrigues.