The Savage Sword of Conan #153

Earl Norem's painted cover for this October 1988 issue captures the raw intensity of the Hyborian Age: a massively built, red-headbanded warrior thrusts a sword forward while Conan — blood on his side, rope in hand — squares off against him with focused fury, a crowd of onlookers gathered in the desert background. The story inside, "Blood on the Sand," promises exactly the kind of brutal, sun-scorched confrontation the cover so vividly sets up. With writing by Jim Owsley and interior art by Luke McDonnell and Armando Gil, this is a solid entry in Marvel's long-running black-and-white magazine series.