The Savage Sword of Conan #165

Issue #165 of Marvel's long-running black-and-white magazine finds Conan mid-battle in a murky, shadow-drenched cavern, sword leveled at a looming creature whose clawed limbs reach down from the darkness above while he shields a frightened woman behind him. Dorian Vallejo's painted cover captures the raw tension of the encounter beautifully — Conan's expression fierce, the threat massive and immediate, the atmosphere genuinely unsettling. Inside, writer John Arcudi and artist Tony Salmons bring us "City of Rats," promising exactly the kind of grim, sword-and-sorcery atmosphere this 1989 issue wears so well on its sleeve.