10 Amazing Comic Book Covers Marvel Wants You To Remember
2. Giant-Size X-Men #1
When a major comic book franchise changes things up, it can be dangerous to the brand. The world went crazy when Superman lost his external underwear, and that was just a costume change, so it shouldn't be surprising that changing an entire team lineup might cause a stir.
When Giant-Size X-Men #1 hit the stands in 1975, it had only been 12 years since the first X-Men issue reached publication, but Marvel decided to shake things up with a whole new team. This issue introduced them in the best possible way on the cover.
Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Thunderbird were introduced in this issue alongside their new teammates, Wolverine, Banshee, Sunfire, and Cyclops as they burst through the pages of the book onto the cover. Behind them, the old team roster looks on in shock and amazement as the new blood takes the place of the old.
Gil Kane and Dave Cockrum's action-packed cover image perfectly captured this momentous occasion. Marvel hadn't printed a new X-Men story in five years by the time this book was published, so this was a gamble, but it was one that certainly paid off with more than 40 years of successful X-Titles that followed.