13 AVENGERS COVERS: A ROY THOMAS Birthday Celebration

Rascally Roy Thomas was born Nov. 22, 1940. He’s 75.

Roy Thomas is like most of us — a fan. But unlike most of us, he went from being a fan to one of the most prolific comics writers for both Marvel and DC. And today, he continues to publish the magazine that started it all for him, Alter Ego.

There are so many ways we could have done 13 COVERS for Thomas’ birthday, and I came up with two: One Marvel and one DC. Even then, how to narrow it down?

Well for Marvel, I picked his initial Avengers run from the ’60s and ’70s, which you could argue was the title that really propelled him to comics stardom. And for DC? All-Star Squadron from the ’80s, featuring his beloved Golden Age DC heroes.

So here are 13 Avengers covers — and click here for 13 All-Star Squadron covers.

(My standard caveat: This is a subjective list and not a ranking of any kind. This is pretty much what I dig and you may feel very differently. So, rather than beef about a cover you don’t see, instead join in the fun and share your own choices in the comments section or in whatever social-media thread you saw this.)

John Buscema

John Buscema

Sal Buscema

Sal Buscema

John Buscema, John Romita, George Klein

John Buscema, John Romita, George Klein

Don Heck

Don Heck

John Buscema

John Buscema

Neal Adams, Marie Severin, Tom Palmer

Neal Adams, Marie Severin, Tom Palmer

John Buscema and George Tuska

John Buscema and George Tuska

Sal Buscema

Sal Buscema

John Buscema and Tom Palmer

John Buscema and Tom Palmer

John Buscema and George Roussos

John Buscema and George Roussos

Don Heck and Frank Giacoia

Don Heck and Frank Giacoia

Sal Buscema and Sam Grainger

Sal Buscema and Sam Grainger

Gil Kane and Bill Everett

Gil Kane and Bill Everett

Author: Dan Greenfield

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2 Comments

  1. Roy “the boy” Thomas and my mother. Both 75 and within two weeks of each other. Wow! Makes you feel old. Happy Birthday!

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  2. My favorite Roy Thomas story was “Superman and the War of the Worlds.” If only he didn’t have Supes die at the end and wrote a new series of Golden Age Superman stories for us.

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