If you get a chance sometime, pick up this month’s issue of Life magazine.

Before you even open it, you will likely be studying the cover for some time.

The October 1996 issue of the magazine celebrates its 60th anniversary. And it does so by displaying 420 of its 2,128 covers into a wonderful mosaic of Marilyn Monroe’s face, making it her 13th appearance on Life’s cover.

Looking through Life, one can see the images that have defined our world. The issues and the styles that have represented past generations have come a long way.

But so have the faces. It is the faces that have put depth into the images. And in the past 60 years, some have been the icon figures of past and present generations.

For example, members of the Kennedy family have appeared on Life’s cover at least 40 times from 1953 to 1996.

The images of the Kennedys have also influenced how the magazine presents them.

The cover of Life’s Nov. 11, 1963 issue, which already had 300,000 copies printed, was of Navy All-American quarterback Roger Staubach. But the public never saw that cover. It was instead replaced by the JFK assassination story at the last minute.

The traditional red rectangle that has been the background for the word “Life” in the upper left hand corner, was changed to black once when it published a memorial edition to John F. Kennedy a few weeks after he died.

Although the Kennedys may represent the intriguing figures of the past generation, there is no one face that stands out in the 20 years before that.

What you see of Life in its first years are entertainers, athletes and politicians on the covers. And you hardly saw a face more than once in the same year.

In the first 20 years you saw more entertaining and political figures such as Rita Hayworth, President Eisenhower, Eleanor Roosevelt, Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Ingrid Bergman, the Texas football team, Gregory Peck, Grace Kelly, Joe DiMaggio and Bette Davis on the covers.

But what is most striking are the covers featuring aspects of American culture.

Life’s cover stories in its first 20 years included accessories, teenagers, man-tailored suits, spring hats, American ballet, war souvenirs, beach fashions, slacks in style, bow ties, city dogs and ice cream.

The faces on these covers represented more culture and personality than leadership.

Despite the numerous faces on Life’s covers, it was sometimes hard to distinguish if you were looking at Life, an old edition of Entertainment Weekly, a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, Newsweek or a parenting magazine.

Brooke Shields and Raquel Welch were in swimsuits on two different covers of Life. Greta Garbo, Sophia Loren and Marlon Brando posed in casual, yet emotionally intriguing expressions.

Life’s first year edition was signified by a baby on the cover.

An issue on adoption had an adorable little girl on the cover. JFK Jr. made the cover as a 1-year-old.

However, it is the hard-core issues that have drawn Life to distinguish itself as a reputable publication. It showed this when it published photos of all the Americans who died in the first week of fighting in Vietnam.

But no longer do you see Hollywood celebrities or politicians as often on the covers.

You see ordinary people with extraordinary stories. You see the images of violence, disease and the arts. These are a few things that have defined the culture many of us have grown up hearing about or experiencing.

In July 1995, AIDS was the cover story in Life. In May of that year, it was the history of cocaine. In June 1983, it was “Return of the Jedi.” Breast cancer, endangered animals and alternative medicine were a few of the other cover stories in the last few years.

But Life hasn’t defined an icon, political or entertaining, for our generation. Maybe it will and maybe it won’t. But Michael Jordan, Madonna, Steven Spielberg and Bill Gates haven’t made the cover.

However, judging from its most recent editions, it is the ordinary people involved in complex issues who are the icons today. Most of us have our heroes, and to define one or two individuals who have represented our era may not be representative of a population that is more complex in interests than ever before.

But it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stop looking. It’s important to identify the icons of our generation, but it’s not necessary for a magazine to do it for us.

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Shuva Rahim is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Davenport.