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The first issue of Kull from 1971 packs so much action that we’d almost rather you just skip this exposition and get right into it. Roy Thomas gives the reader a novel’s worth of story in less than 25 pages. Hard to believe that fans got all that for 15 cents in 1971, when Marvel usually gives us 1/6 of a story for $3.99 now!

If you’re thinking Kull was just another Conan rip off, skip ahead to the last page in our gallery and get hip. Kull came first!

We love everything about this issue: Kull’s explanation that only the weak live in fear of words. Kull’s fatal solution for a girl sentenced to be burned alive. Kull’s entire mercenary career rendered in a splash page by Ross Andru and Wally Wood.

But most of all, Kull has one major cool factor that Conan lacked: He has magical powers from the Tiger Goddess. Yes! It sends us into a geek frenzy when Kull goes tiger-power! Dig page nine where Kull explains the moral superiority of the tiger, then gets apotheosized with the moon and a ghostly tiger form. Whoa! As much as we love the monsters, mayhem, and manning-out of this series, the Tiger Goddess really rocks our world.

Collector’s Guide: From Kull the Conqueror #1; Marvel, 1971. (Later, Kull the Destroyer.) As they’ve done with Conan, Dark Horse reprinted the Kull series in high quality collections: The Chronicles of Kull TPB.