Conan: The Book of Thoth #4

Kelley Jones's cover for this concluding chapter of Conan: The Book of Thoth is genuinely unsettling — a massive, scale-covered serpentine face fills the frame, its glowing green eyes and open fang-lined maw erupting from a swirling golden arabesque background that feels both ancient and hypnotic. Writers Kurt Busiek and Len Wein bring their four-issue exploration of Hyborian sorcery to a close with story title "The Serpent Strikes," and that image alone promises something dark and mythologically charged. At a generous 42 story pages, this 2006 Dark Horse finale gives Jones plenty of room to deliver the kind of brooding, otherworldly art that makes this miniseries a treat for fans of sword-and-sorcery horror.