Conan: Battle for the Serpent Crown #5

The five-issue miniseries reaches its thunderous finale with a cover by Mahmud Asrar that says everything about the stakes: Conan, sword drawn and defiant, locked in combat against a massive crimson demon clutching writhing serpents in one fist and a snake-headed weapon in the other — all set atop a grim field of skulls beneath a lightning-split sky. It's the kind of image that makes the title, Battle for the Serpent Crown, feel completely earned. With Saladin Ahmed writing and Luke Ross and Nolan Woodard bringing the visuals to life inside, this is sword-and-sorcery storytelling at full throttle.