The latest Captain America: The First Avenger poster is easily the greatest one yet, a clever throwback to the comic that started it all.

This was created by Marvel Comics artist Paolo Rivera. He did this on spec to prove to Marvel that he had the chops and to see if they’d take a painted approach for their upcoming flicks. The job was already taken but they commissioned this as a gift to the cast and crew. Around 100 of these beauties exist in the wild- one belonging to Stan Lee.

For reference-

If you don’t know the story behind the comic, Jack Kirby and Joe Simon actually came up with this concept long before America got into World War II. The comic itself actually went on sale in December 1940, a full year before the attack on Pearl Harbor. As Jews, Captain America’s creators were a little more aware of what was going on in Nazi Germany than most and this was their way of striking out against injustice. The comic sold one million copies.

Glad to see this poster getting recognition- it’s still a rarity to see actual art used in movie marketing. The comic homage combined with the vintage poster look (he even got the font perfect!) makes for one of the best of recent memory.