The Savage Sword of Conan #137

This June 1987 installment of Marvel's long-running black-and-white magazine series delivers a cover by Bob Larkin that pulls you in tight — Conan's battle-worn face fills the frame, horned helmet slightly askew, gripping a sword whose ornate skull-adorned pommel presses against a bloodied fist, while flames roar behind him and an arrow cuts across the composition at a menacing diagonal. The raw intensity of that close-up perspective makes it feel less like a cover and more like a confrontation. Inside, Charles Dixon scripts "The Lost Legion" with art by Gary Kwapisz and inks by Ernie Chan — a creative team well-suited to the kind of grim, sword-swinging adventure the Hyborian Age demands.