Conan the Barbarian #253

Kulan Gath looms menacingly in the background of Ernie Chan's cover as Conan struggles beneath the crushing grip of a massive skeletal creature, its bone-white wings and razor-sharp ribs threatening to engulf both the Cimmerian and a dark-haired woman he fights to protect. The February 1992 issue of Conan the Barbarian pairs that striking image with a story title — "The Pit and the Parasite" — that promises something deeply unsettling lurking beneath the action. Roy Thomas scripts, with interior art by Dave Hoover and Del Barras, making this a solid entry in Marvel's long-running sword-and-sorcery series.