Red Sonja #3

Red Sonja faces a genuinely hair-raising threat in issue #3 — Frank Thorne's cover puts the She-Devil with a Sword front and center, sword raised against a monstrous giant spider looming over her, while a dark-robed woman named Sorti-Lej stands close by, her speech bubbles warning that she is "equally deadly as woman — or as venomous spider." The story is billed as "Web of the Spider-Queen," and Thorne's vivid linework wrings every ounce of menace from the encounter, setting Red Sonja against a villain who is apparently as dangerous in human form as she is in arachnid. With Roy Thomas, Clara Noto, and Thorne all contributing to the 1977 series set in the age of Conan, this issue delivers exactly the sword-and-sorcery drama the title promises.