Iron Man #27

Okay, this is contraversial. In 1979, Bob Layton produced a very famous image for Iron Man 128, which showed a desperate Tony Stark in front of a mirror with a bottle of whiskey, glass on its side. Stark has broken out in a cold sweat and is unshaven. It was a very brave cover for its time. Don't get me wrong - it made the shortlist from which I composed my top 250, but didn't make the cut. Why? In the end, I just couldn't bring myself to like Layton's take on Stark. It just looked odd. I somehow wasn't convinced. That's not to take away the iconic status of the cover, nor its bravery in tackling a crucial issue. However, sometimes the original cover isn't the best. I genuinely prefer Quesada's take on the desperation of an alcoholic. Here we have the bottle in the foreground against a wide backdrop, emphasising the fact that this is not only the most important thing in an alcoholic's life, it's the only thing. Secondly, I like his take on Stark, a powerful man kitted out in a powerful suit of armour, reduced to crawling after the bottle that has managed to escape his grasp. Both covers I have talked about are great covers. Layton's is probably the greater cover, especially as it set the precedence. But, hand on heart, which do I prefer? Quesada's.

I have ranked this cover no 184 as part of a long term project I am producing on my own blog 'marvel-ous' on blogspot.com re: my favourite marvel comic book covers. Please visit http://dmstarz.blogspot.com and check out the other covers that have made my top 250.