Conan the Savage #9

Tom Grindberg's cover for this April 1996 Marvel magazine-format issue is a visceral burst of color and muscle — Conan leaps onto the back of a snarling tiger mid-pounce, sword raised overhead, while a woman crouches in the foreground amid lush, chaotic vegetation. The tension between predator and barbarian fills every inch of the painting, making it hard to look away. Charles Dixon's script and Enrique Alcatena's interior art promise the same raw energy inside, with "Death-Song From the Stars" hinting at something far stranger than a simple beast-taming tale.