1st appearance of a character, and they're not on the cover?

Ok, so what gives. Most of the time when a character makes a 1st appearance in a comic its a big deal. I mean when Marvel or DC makes a #1 of a title they make it a big deal right? They have Collectors Edition printed in huge fonts on the cover. Sometimes the character is taking up the entire page. I mean that looks so cool, until you look at the value of the book.

Most of these books makes you wonder WTH? (ok so I substituted the F with a H to keep it clean) But if you look back on 1st appearances of major characters you begin to notice a trend. Tales of Suspense 39 has Iron Man staring right at you. He is the biggest object on the cover. Incredible Hulk 181 has Wolverine jumping out at Hulk ready to fight. Strange Tales 110 has... who? Who is that on the cover? I mean for gods sake its the 1st appearance of Dr. Strange. Avengers Annual 10... where's Rogue? Lame? Yes. Good marketing? No.

I mean if they can put Tarantula on Amazing Spider-Man 134 why can't they put Galactus on the cover of Fantastic Four 48? Or Black Widow on Tales of Suspense 52, ok so she's not a major character but still.

I just think its odd that these character are not featured on the covers but still turned out to be huge in comic books. I see at least now that they have changed things up and are learning... but wait where is Daken on Wolverine Origins 10? Unless he was meant to be disliked right from the beginning... just kidding, just kidding.