Conan The Barbarian #1 Sketch Cover: Conan Vs. The Avengers

By Crom, this has been one of the most daunting challenges I've ever taken with sketch covers. Commissioned to do a Conan-Avengers square off, initially centering on the demigod members, I kept upping the ante against the future king of Aqualonia. Not only are Ares and Thor in the mix, but coming up from the left hand side of the page you see Hercules, the Lion of Olympus, barreling towards Conan of Cimmeria. I had to justify why these gods are battling this one mortal. That being said, what better way to earn their rage than by taking down three of their trademark members? So I have the battlefield littered with Captain America and Iron Man in the foreground, and Hawkeye in the middleground. I also threw in some gags like Doctor Strange showing up on both the back and the front cover via teleporting Ares in for the hopeful killing stroke. On the back cover you can see the downed Quinjet and Widow weeping the loss of Clint Barton. I try to keep the suspense up in particular regarding Tony Stark and Steve Rogers's fates. Is Cap mortally wounded? And is Tony's head still attached to his body? Again you have to judge for yourselves. Conan, himself, is raging as if this is his last battle. Anything to please Crom through valor. With mixed media tricks, I'm satisfied with the final result and I hope my client is as well.