The Savage Sword of Conan #61

Joe Chiodo's painted cover for this February 1981 Marvel Magazine Group issue is a genuine showstopper: a muscular, sword-raised Conan straddles an enormous pale sea creature whose gaping, fang-lined jaws stretch wide enough to swallow a man whole, all set against a dark stone backdrop that makes the monster's pale bulk all the more unsettling. It's a vivid promise of the sword-and-sorcery adventure waiting inside, where Michael Fleisher scripts and John Buscema illustrates "The Wizard Fiend of Zingara!" — a title that practically crackles with pulp menace. If you enjoy Conan at his most ferociously determined, this issue wears its Hyborian ambitions right on its cover.