Doctor Strange #14 (1976)

Continuing a storyline begun in Tomb of Dracula #44 from the same year, readers find the Master of the Mystic Arts, Doctor Strange confronting the Lord of the Vampires, Dracula. The cover by Gene Colan and Tom Palmer draws a casual glance closer immediately, as the vampire gloats disdainfully over the seemingly vanquished sorcerer (mockingly referring to Stephen Strange as a "magician"), all the while unaware that the battle is far from over as the good Doctor's astral form prepares to renew the conflict. The fluid lines and exaggerated facial expressions convey completely the free-wheeling Marvel mayhem of the mid-1970s, when mysticism and pop culture combined to revitalize staid storylines in the comics industry.

Alpha Flight #2 (1983)

Created as part of Wolverine's origin story in 1979's X-Men #120, John Byrne's Alpha Flight, one of comicdom's few Canadian super teams, received its own series in 1983.  The majority of the team's roster had distinctly Canadian traits or backstories, such as the Inuit influences behind the characters of Shaman and Snowbird.  The series had a fairly successful run for eleven years and has been the subject of more than one revival attempt, the most recent in 2007.  Byrne himself stayed with the series for the first twenty-eight issues serving as creator, writer, and artist during that tenure.  As part of that body of work, we have the cover of issue #2, showcasing the artist's deft handling of expression and multiple characters.  Note especially the contrast between the optimistic concern of the hirsute Puck and the brooding malignance of his troubled comrade, Marrina.

Tales to Astonish #13 (1960)

One among many of the iconic covers of Jack Kirby, Tales to Astonish #13 gives us Groot, the Monster from Planet X.  Memorable more for humor than horror, this classic image was birthed during the Mighty Marvel monster craze of the 1950s and 1960s.  Like only he could, Kirby conveyed an imposing menace with crisp lines and a forced perspective of a once proud metropolis crushed under the weight of Groot's massive, branching root system.  In an admittedly silly story, it is the timeless art of Jack Kirby that conveys all the mustered menace of an alien composed of wood.

New Mutants #19 (1984)

"Siege"

Combining elements of Native American mythology, paranormal psychology, and extra-dimensional sorcery, New Mutants #19 delivered all the over-the-top action and unbridled imagination that made the early run of the New Mutants such a compelling buy.  Bill Sienkiewicz's cover masterfully depicts the young mutant heroes fighting a desperate battle against the Demon Bear of Dani Moonstar's nightmares.  The imposing visage of the bear, almost obscuring the moon and seemingly impervious to harm and the elements, only heightens the impact of the issue number inset illustrating the critically injured Moonstar, her life hanging in the balance of the battle her friends wage on her behalf.