Seeing Madonna on a magazine cover is nothing new, though she no longer dominates like she did just a couple of decades ago. Today, such prime real estate is instead reserved for today’s younger stars, most of whom possess less long-term wattage (and suffer many more public embarrassments that sell issues).

But Madonna’s appearance on the cover of Out magazine’s first-ever “Ladies We Love” issue (April 2011) is noteworthy because that nail-biter of an image and the shots inside represent some of the earliest photos of the nascent pop star. Most taken in 1982 when she was still living in a walk-up in New York City’s East Village, Roger Corman captured a grittier side of Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccione now lacquered over by the glitz, gym, and glamour in the years since she’s ruled the world.

Corman contributed a short essay that accompanies his photographs, all incredibly published for the first time (the web edition of the story features 40 images). In addition to several solo shots, some showcase Madonna posing with both neighborhood kids and the elderly residents of a nearby nursing home, while others were taken on the sets of Desperately Seeking Susan and Vision Quest. Seeing Madonna at this stage of her career, and having heard stories of what New York City was like in those days, I can’t help but wish I could have been part of the scene if I’d just been a bit older.

Returning to the thought from the start of this post, Madonna is actually the second cover subject for Out magazine’s “Ladies We Love” issue. Appealing to a younger demographic (they still buy magazines, right?), Britney Spears was given dibs in this dual-cover diva-off. With a new album to promote, Femme Fatale, she also found time to subject herself to an email “interview.”

Madonna may have infamously kissed Britney at the 2003 VMAs with the intention of passing her energy on to the “baby pop star,” but it appears the younger blonde icon still has some growing up to do. In the Out “interview,” Britney comes off as either dismissive (“all of my songs are f-ing amazing”) or disingenuous (Natalie Imbruglia’s Left Of The Middle was a life-changing album?). But she (or Spears’ handlers) gets at least one thing right in the email exchange, calling Madonna “an amazing entertainer.”

Nothing to it? Even in her days as a denizen of Alphabet City, Madonna knew that striking a pose took a whole lot more. And that may very well be her lasting legacy.

Look for Out magazine’s “Ladies We Love” issue on newsstands March 29.