The Avengers (1963)

The Avengers #4 (March 1964), cover by Jack Kirby with inks by George Roussos Captain America comes back from the 1940s leading the charge: shield low on one arm, the other thrown up and back as Giant-Man, Iron Man, Thor and the Wasp surge in behind him. Kirby turned a returning hero into a rallying gesture, and that "follow me" pose, one figure out front and a team storming toward the reader, is the part later artists keep. Steve McNiven's main cover for Captain America Anniversary Tribute #1, Marvel's 80th-birthday issue for the character in 2021, paid homage to it. Read it alongside Captain America Comics #1 to see how differently Kirby framed the same hero two decades apart.