The Cowardly Lion

Based on L. Frank Baum's classic character, this Cowardly Lion is a Wizard of Oz inhabitant who despite his fearsome appearance lacks courage — until he joins Dorothy's journey to Oz. He appears in Marvel's Bronze Age comics alongside Dorothy, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man.

Few characters carry a name as iconic as the Cowardly Lion, and this particular comics incarnation made a memorable Bronze Age entrance in The Avengers #141 in 1975, brought to the page by the legendary team of Steve Englehart and George Pérez. Over a surprisingly varied publishing life stretching some four decades to 2015, this Lion has turned up in eclectic company — sharing pages with Dorothy Gale, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, Toto, and even Donatello — popping up across titles as delightfully wide-ranging as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Invincible Iron Man, and Mad's Greatest Writers: Frank Jacobs. With a key issue to the character's name and ten catalog appearances spanning that broad sweep, this is one of those wonderfully quirky comic book presences that rewards the curious collector who loves discovering familiar faces in the most unexpected corners of the medium.