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Marvel figured out early on that it was the COVER that did most of the selling. Walking into the local drugstore or newsstand, one was not likely to see a new title on the rack and think "That looks well written!"

Of course, in many cases that cover art was a con. Interiors were SO often not by the same artists. There were increasingly loud complaints about it, in fact, as the fanboys (pejorative sense) gained more and more control.

Didn't stop Marvel doing it.

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Shooter said I wasn't good enough to do the covers.

I don't know if that was an attempt to embarrass me, or tick me off, but since I was not then aware of the real details of Dave leaving, I was delighted to have him still a part of the book.

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Noting, again, that I did not do the sketches for those X-MEN covers. As I recall, that was Ed Hannigan. If they are "iconic", sing his praises!

(This is what led to the quasi-infamous incident in which I was sent what I thought was a dull cover sketch. I fixed it, causing Shooter to order me to redraw it, bellowing at me to NEVER CHANGE THE COVER SKETCH!!

(A few weeks later I was sent another dull sketch, which I dutifully duplicated. Not long after that I visited the Office, where Shooter showed me that Walt Simonson had “really saved your ass” when he inked the cover. On Shooter’s instructions, Walt had made all the changes I would have made.)*

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* Neither of those were Hannigan sketches, btw.