Kull, the Destroyer #17

Marvel's barbarian king faces his most monstrous nautical threat yet in this October 1976 chapter of Kull the Destroyer — the cover by Gil Kane and Klaus Janson plunges us into chaotic undersea carnage as Kull grapples hand-to-tentacle with a massive crimson Kraken, its coiling arms wrecking a ship while armored warriors and a white-haired woman scatter through the churning water around them. The tagline "Savagery vs. Sorcery… in a World Beyond Time!" sets the mood perfectly for Doug Moench's story "The Thing from Emerald Darkness," brought to life inside by Ed Hannigan and Alfredo Alcala. Robert E. Howard's pre-Conan king has rarely looked more outmatched — or more defiant.