So here we are at the top 20! Ben Grimm has always struggled with his transformation into the Thing and this standalone issue explores his internal struggle better than any other. His expression and body language on the cover are heartbreaking and the title is another rare example of text actually enhancing a Marvel comic book cover rather than detracting from the central image. Kirby was on an impressive run around this time and few cover artists can match his output in terms of both quality and quantity.
19. Spider-Man #1 (Todd McFarlane)
Todd McFarlane started out as an artist, but due to his popularity on Amazing-Spider-Man, Marvel decided to give him the chance to write his own series in the early 1990's and this was the result. To launch this new book, Marvel created a number of variant covers as a marketing ploy and the issue ended up selling over one million copies. Unfortunately, this gimmick led to an influx of pointless variant covers that dominated comic book stands for the majority of the decade, but despite that, this particular artwork is one of the most memorable Spider-Man covers ever published. Although it reveals nothing about the story inside, the image of Spidey crouching among the webs is striking and the detail in the costume looks great. The tiny spiders may be irrelevant, but visually, they're also a nice touch.
18. Astonishing X-Men #2 (John Cassady)
Starting out as a member of the Hellfire Club, the White Queen is one of those rare characters to successfully make the transition from villain to hero and retain her popularity. Part of Emma Frost's appeal is that she is still a massive bitch and makes no attempt to hide this. Readers are often left guessing as to her true motives and this cover from John Cassady perfectly sums up her ambiguous character, hinting that she may be manipulating Cyclops in their relationship. The use of blue here is very atmospheric and makes the red energy glowing from between Emma's hands stand out even more. Symbolism... awesome character design...striking use of color... what else could you want?
17. Amazing Spider-Man #33 (Steve Ditko)
Ditko produced a number of incredible covers during his classic run on Amazing Spider-Man, but this issue has to rank up there as one of his best. The moment depicted in the artwork is a simple story of Spidey fighting to break free under tons of metal as the water levels rise around him, but the high quality writing and illustrations transcended this basic idea, becoming one of the most inspirational moments in Marvel history.
16. Hulk Special #1 (Jim Steranko)
No one draws the Hulk like Steranko can. Check out the detail in the Hulk's frame, the way his strength is breaking the lettering itself, the way his face... looks like a teddy bear? Steranko recently explained online how Marie Severin was called in to redraw the Hulks face on this cover as the original was deemed too 'fierce'. Apparently, bulging veins and beads of sweat would have been too extreme for impressionable young Marvel fans, so readers were left with a version Steranko likes to call "the teddy bear Hulk". Despite this alteration, this artwork remains one of the best Hulk covers of all time.
David is a primary school teacher who tries his best to turn every math lesson into a discussion on the latest Pixar film. Passions include superheroes, zombies and Studio Ghibli. In between going to the cinema, moving to South Korea and eating his body weight in KFC, David writes for a number of movie sites, http://becarefulyourhand.blogspot.co.uk/
