In late 1968, I was buying Marvel comics after getting an introduction to them from a neighbor.

The powerful images and what-seemed-to-me powerful storytelling made an impact on me, Not the least reason was that I loved – and still do – team stories. Avengers and Fantastic Four were my favorite comics.

So Avengers 57 (the final page of which can be seen above) wowed me.

Roy Thomas’ writing and John Buscema’s art were breathtaking in the next issue.

What we couldn’t know at the time was that the comics would influence, decades later, big-screen Marvel adaptions. The world that Captain America, Iron Man, Vision, Black Panther and even Spider-Man lived in was a shared one. Cap and Panther were friends. The Avengers clashed sometime, but they were Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

The team-ups had already been strong, of course, but only grew stronger after this.