What makes the best comic book covers? It is a great topic for debate. For us, as individuals, there is no wrong answer, of course; it is purely subjective. But, with a little thought it’s possible to explain what it is about a particular image that grabs you. The best images are the ones that make you stop and check out something you weren’t previously planning to purchase – and in some cases, you even end up picking up a title you’ve never even heard of before.

When considering the great Jim Steranko – writer, artist, designer – and his work, one who studies his fabulous career in the four-color medium might think the master storyteller more of a peer of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein then, say, Dick Ayers and Don Heck. Pop art is aimed to blur the boundaries between what was once considered “high” art and “low” culture – and Steranko is a pop artist that still matters . . . even as he enters his eighth decade. Steranko is also a “pulp” artist, spinning high adventure and grand artistic design with every touchpoint of his pen.

It can be said that every cover crafted by Steranko is a great work of pop art. But a handful of his storied front pieces stand as masterworks of the medium. One of these is the psychedelic cover for Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #4 – which Steranko plainly states is the book’s “Special Origin Issue.” For such a landmark comic he creates an incredibly eye-popping illustration that dazzles as it beguiles those who look upon it.

Arguably created as Marvel’s answer to its Distinguished Competition’s Sgt. Rock, Army Sargent, Nick Fury evolved into the House of Ideas’ comic book version of cinematic superspy James Bond. Whether as a “Howling Commando” in World War II, or a spymaster extraordinaire for a more modern Marvel, Fury has captured the loyalty of True Believers for almost 60 years on.

A complex black and white background gives readers a constant barrage of images (the New York City cityscape, beautiful women, professional killers, and targets and firearms aplenty) all wrapped in a psychedelic bow with a full-color Secret Agent Fury in the middle of a cover that attracts the eye and affects the mind. This cover also helped raise the bar for the medium, and had Silver Age fans whetting their appetites to read the amazing pages found within. Serious comics collectors still do.

–Scott Braden