Star Wars: Republic #82

The tagline says it all — "Never Trust a Devaronian" — and Jan Duursema's cover delivers on that warning with a tense face-off between a red-skinned, horned Devaronian holding a blaster and a dark-haired human who meets his gaze with cool, unsettling calm. Part 2 of 3 of "Hidden Enemy," this 2006 Dark Horse issue pairs Ostrander, Duursema, and Parsons in fine form, deepening a story where allegiances are clearly anything but stable. The cover's industrial backdrop and that loaded standoff make it hard not to reach for the next page.