Kull the Conqueror #7

The tagline says it all — "Masquerade of Death!" — and Michael Golden's cover delivers on every word, plunging Kull the Conqueror into a chaotic press of grotesque, costumed figures: a leering demon with a mohawk, bizarre animal-masked revelers, and a swirling mass of monstrous faces crowding the bottom of the frame, all while the barbarian king strains against their grip, a dagger raised above him. It's a vivid, densely packed composition that makes the royal court feel genuinely dangerous, far from the safety of a throne. With Alan Zelenetz scripting and John Buscema on interior art, this December 1984 issue brings Robert E. Howard's brooding king a scenario where celebration and peril are disturbingly hard to tell apart.