Ka-Zar #18

Ka-Zar, Lord of the Hidden Jungle, faces impossible odds in this October 1976 Marvel issue, as the cover by David Wenzel and Dan Adkins plunges the muscular jungle lord into a brutal arena battle against a horned, mace-wielding warrior named Makrum. A scantily clad queen watches from her throne above while a gnome-like figure crouches in the foreground, and the cover's bold declaration — "If Ka-Zar will not rule with me… he must DIE!" — sets the stakes with pulpy, sword-and-sorcery flair. With Doug Moench writing and Val Mayerik on interior art, this "Arena of Death!" chapter promises the kind of savage adventure that made Ka-Zar one of Marvel's most distinctive heroes of the era.