Conan Saga #33

Earl Norem's painted cover for this 1989 Marvel magazine is a striking composition: Conan's brooding, chain-adorned visage dominates the upper half like a storm cloud over the desert, while a fierce melee between armored warriors erupts across the sun-baked terrain below, complete with shields, blades, and a skull at the corner to set the grim mood. The juxtaposition of that enormous, scowling Cimmerian face against the chaotic battlefield below gives the image a real sense of mythic scale. Roy Thomas scripts the interior tale — "The Sleeper Beneath the Sands" — with art by Sonny Trinidad, making this a fine entry in Marvel's sword-and-sorcery magazine series.