Star Wars: Splinter of the Mind's Eye "Darth Vader, Luke & Leia" TPB Cover (1996)-Duncan Fegredo

After the huge box office success of Star Wars, fans clamoring for more got treated with the very first Star Wars expanded universe novel in 1978, titled Splinter’s of the Mind’s Eye. Interestingly, this book was meant to be George Lucas' plan B for a Star Wars sequel if A New Hope failed at the box office. The storyline didn't have a grand battle and the story transpires mostly on one planet, so it would've been much cheaper to produce. Thankfully, everything worked out for Lucas and we all got our awesome sequels.

Taking place after the events of A New Hope, this “Legends” story follows Luke and Leia’s search for the Kaibuur Crystal, a powerful Force relic (Kyber Crystals are the power source for lightsabers in current canon). And, of course Darth Vader is the main antagonist in the novel. Splinter of the Mind’s Eye was written by the great sci-fi writer Alan Dean Foster, who also was the ghost writer for the original novelization of Star Wars.

Dark Horse published a 4-issue comic book adaptation in 1995 and then a trade paperback edition gracing Duncan Fegredo’s gorgeous cover the following year. Like the classic Star Wars posters, Fegredo’s dynamic composition features Darth Vader looming behind our heroes. Vader takes up nearly all of the image area, perfectly conveying the huge menacing threat for Luke and Leia. The red glow and bright beams illuminating from Vader’s lens represent the power of the Kaibuur Crystal. Although Luke has his lightsaber drawn and prepared for a fight, you could really sense the uncertainty from their expressions as they flee from the dark lord of the Sith. It’s definitely one of Fegredo's best works.