all-new captain america

Phil Noto knows how to create a stylish retro vibe, and he can conjure up a soft-edged gauzy aesthetic that perfectly evokes the nostalgic familiarity of photographs from the 1960s and 70s. It's a talent that he exploited to beautiful effect in a series of pieces for his Tumblr that presented Silver Age Marvel heroes in the mode of old celebrity snaps from Life Magazine; the images that would have existed if these heroes had been real in the age they were created. Those Tumblr images are the clear inspiration for a month of Phil Noto variant covers at Marvel this February, though the inspiration stretches beyond Life Magazine pastiches to cover hip-hop, fashion photography, and even candid personal images. Several of the covers were released this week courtesy of Marvel, Comic Vine, CBR and Newsarama, and they're a gorgeous selection of images, so we've collected them all in one place for your appreciation.

I think we can all agree that Nextwave was the pinnacle of superhero comic books as an art form. Of course, while I'm not sure the world could have handled more than 12 issues of beautiful perfection, I will say that if Marvel isn't going to have more comics about Elsa Bloodstone beating broccoli monsters to death with a shovel and declaring herself to be President Frankenstein, the least they can do is give us more comics featuring the incredible art of Nextwave's Stuart Immonen.

Sam Wilson makes his first appearance as the new Captain America at the end of Rick Remender's current run on the book, Captain America #25, in October. Sam gets his own book in All-New Captain America #1 in November, by Remender and Stuart Immonen. But another story will bridge the gap between those two titles, and it will be released as a digital mini series.