Conan the Barbarian #42

Gil Kane and Ernie Chan deliver a genuinely arresting cover for this September 1974 issue — a massive, winged gargoyle claws its way across rooftops, clutching two women in its scaled grip while Conan himself, sword raised, battles the creature from below in the distant background. The story promises "the sword — the sorcery — the savagery of the Age of Blood," and the cover earns every word of that tagline with its mid-air chaos and raw sense of danger. Roy Thomas and John Buscema bring their Hyborian world to vivid life inside, making issue #42 a fine entry in Marvel's celebrated Bronze Age run.