It's hard to imagine now after the success of his solo films and the Avengers, but Thor must have been a hard sell for Marvel back in the day. How do you turn a Norse god from ancient mythology into a relevant modern superhero? As the very first appearance of Thor, this comic is a landmark issue and the cover was the readers first glimpse of the Thunder God. Luckily, the artwork itself is extremely impressive and the way Thor's hammer Mjolnir is drawn gives an impression of movement that makes the cover come to life.
44. Alpha Flight #3 (John Byrne)
Canada's premier super team may have faded into obscurity in recent years, but when Alpha Flights series first debuted, John Byrne's writing and artwork made readers sit up and take notice. The cover to issue 3 may not be regarded generally as a classic, but the interlocking bar pattern and monochromatic color scheme is immediately striking. The planning behind the layout of this artwork must have taken Byrne an incredibly long time to get right and outside of his classic X-men covers, this is easily one of Byrne's best.
43. Captain America #332 (Mike Zeck)
The American flag is one of the most recognizable symbols in the modern world, so it's always interesting when artists play around with its iconography. Captain America is the ultimate symbol of patriotism, so it's startling to see him here looking so despondent in front of a US flag, especially one that has the color red running down like blood. The title also adds to the covers impact and the sad picture of Abraham Lincoln in place of the usual logo is a nice touch.
42. Uncanny X-Men #100 (Dave Cockrum)
You know a comic book cover is iconic when numerous issues pay homage to it in subsequent years and this cover to X-Men #100 has been reproduced at some stage by almost every Marvel team going, including the Defenders, the Thunderbolts and the New Warriors. Fans always love to see superheroes fight it out and this head on collision between the old and new teams of the X-Men would have seemed like fan fiction come to life for readers at the time. Unfortunately, it turns out the original team are in fact robot duplicates, but the image itself is still exciting, particularly with the unusual sight of Professor X standing in the middle, shouting like a madman. Now that's something you don't see every day.
41. Marvel Comics #1 (Frank Paul)
Well you knew this cover had to make an appearance, right? Marvel Comics #1 is the book that started it all, way back in 1939, and while it certainly is a landmark issue, the artwork itself also deserves to be celebrated. The image of a man melting through the vault door is a memorable one and seeing the bullets disappear on impact is a nice touch. Confusingly, this version of the Human Torch is actually an android and has nothing to do with the hotheaded member of the Fantastic Four, but regardless, this classic cover is one that artists look back to even now for inspiration.
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/
