The Savage Sword of Conan #124

Michael Golden's cover for this 1986 Marvel magazine captures Conan at his most fearless — the Cimmerian leaps through the air, black hair streaming, sword raised and ready to descend on a forest of upraised spears and armed enemies below. The swirling, ornate blue-green background gives the composition an almost dreamlike tension that makes the violence feel all the more inevitable. Inside, Don Kraar scripts "There Will Come a Dark Stranger" with art by Gary Kwapisz, promising the kind of sword-and-sorcery adventure this long-running series does so well.