From January 2014, Marvel will celebrate its 75th anniversary of publishing with a series of covers by the legendary Alex Ross. The painted covers will find their inspiration from all over the Marvel universe, and are aimed at showcasing the many iconic characters the company has spawned over the last three-quarters of a century.
Marvel was founded in 1939 under Timely Publications, printing characters such as Captain America, Namor the Submariner and the Human Torch under the Timely Comics imprint. In 1961, one of the first comics printed under the Marvel Comics banner was Journey into Mystery #69, and in the wake of DC Comics’ Silver Age revival of The Flash and Green Lantern, and era began in which the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Spider-Man, Thor, Ant-Man, Iron Man, the X-Men, and Daredevil all first saw the light of day.
The first of these covers will be for Avengers #25, written by Jonathan Hickman with interior art by Esad Ribic, due out on shelves on 25 January 2014.
