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Strange Tales (1951) #135-168
S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Complete Collection Omnibus by Marvel Comics
It's one of Marvel's most innovative series, now in one complete volume! With international threats on the rise, a council of global powers taps Nick Fury to protect us from Hydra, A.I.M., Baron Strucker and the Yellow Claw! The greatest team in comics, Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, dove into the world of covert ops, mixing Cold War drama with the mighty Marvel manner - but when Steranko took over, he rewrote the entire rulebook. Strange Tales 135-168, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1968) 1-15, Fantastic Four 21, Tales of Suspense (1959) 78, Marvel Spotlight (1971) 31, Avengers (1963) 72
Hardcover
First published October 20, 2015
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85 people want to read
About the author
Stan Lee
7,554 books2,335 followersStan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 17, 2015
After waiting literally decades to read this, I have to say I was a little disappointed.
The first few issues were halfway decent being done by the magic creative team of Lee and Kirby. Stan added his usual flair of action and drama coupled with Kirby's fantastic art.
Then along comes Steranko, whose contributions to both Fury and SHIELD as well as the entire comics medium cannot be understated. I did like the changes he made to Fury, making him more of a sleeker, suave spy then the sergeant seemingly out of place in charge. Steranko made plenty of artistic changes as well, my favorite being his two page spreads with an incredible amount of depth. As wonderful as his stuff was, it was fairly short with maybe a little over a year of material.
While Steranko's a tough act to follow, there's a mix of writers and artists that come after, with varying degrees of success and none quite capturing that magic of Steranko. I found most of these issues boring and had some trouble staying focused on them.
I think Fury and SHIELD is a pretty tough thing to write. You can only have so many end of the world scenarios and moles in the organization stories and anything else just doesn't seem "big" enough for Fury and SHIELD. Perhaps it best if Fury stayed in the background, popping up when you least expect him.
The first few issues were halfway decent being done by the magic creative team of Lee and Kirby. Stan added his usual flair of action and drama coupled with Kirby's fantastic art.
Then along comes Steranko, whose contributions to both Fury and SHIELD as well as the entire comics medium cannot be understated. I did like the changes he made to Fury, making him more of a sleeker, suave spy then the sergeant seemingly out of place in charge. Steranko made plenty of artistic changes as well, my favorite being his two page spreads with an incredible amount of depth. As wonderful as his stuff was, it was fairly short with maybe a little over a year of material.
While Steranko's a tough act to follow, there's a mix of writers and artists that come after, with varying degrees of success and none quite capturing that magic of Steranko. I found most of these issues boring and had some trouble staying focused on them.
I think Fury and SHIELD is a pretty tough thing to write. You can only have so many end of the world scenarios and moles in the organization stories and anything else just doesn't seem "big" enough for Fury and SHIELD. Perhaps it best if Fury stayed in the background, popping up when you least expect him.
February 23, 2016
The early years of S.H.I.E.L.D. (and Hydra and A.I.M) are collected in this omnibus. The work is incredibly uneven with some greatness and some blandness. It's never really bad, but vast sections are just uninteresting. The Fantastic Four issue is further down with the other Hate Monger stories, so I start with the proper start of the series.
S.H.I.E.L.D. vs. Hydra (Strange Tales #135-141) 4.5 Stars
Nick Fury is recruited to top the global threat of Hydra and their super weapon! This arc is Stan Lee and Jack Kirby firing on all cylinders. It brings gruff soldier Nick Fury into the spy business and puts a working man spin on the spy business. The first issue is a great spy piece with the fantastic splash of the iconic S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. These issues are a must read for S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury fans.
Brain Slave (Strange Tales #141-143) 3 Stars
Mentallo and the Fixer team up to take down S.H.I.E.L.D. by mentally controlling Nick Fury. This one introduces the underused E.S.P. division and links to the "Them!" arc. It's okay enough with some clever action by Nick Fury, but becomes more of a let down by how little follow up any of it actually receives.
The Day of the Druid (Strange Tales #144-145) 1/5 Stars
The Druid sends eggs to kill S.H.I.E.L.D... The Druid and his group bring a sense of the supernatural to S.H.I.E.L.D. that is completely unneeded and unwanted. This arc is where the series goes stale. The Druid is an uninspired enemy with a lame defeat. Skip these issues and miss nothing.
Them! (Tales of Suspense #78, Strange Tales #146-149) 2/5 Stars
A group that manufactures androids seeks to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. while a new defense group puts political pressure on S.H.I.E.L.D. The mystery of "Them" returns with sadly little mystery. It is more mysterious why Fury seems so tied up by red tape that he can't just investigate A.I.M. However, A.I.M. makes it easy by being incredibly stupid.
Hydra Lives! (Strange Tales #150-158) 3/5 Stars
Hydra's back with more cunning and a vicious new leader! This arc starts with the same languid pace that the series has been hobbling on since the end of the first Hydra arc. Then, Jim Steranko takes over and the series gets a shot of adrenaline. The end of this arc isn't perfect, but it certainly has better twists and more fantastic visuals than the series has seen since it's opening issue. While it can be tough to get through, it's worth the read.
Spy School (Strange Tales #159) 3.5/5 Stars
A nice break between long arcs. It breaks up the old guard and reshuffles it for Steranko's run proper. Fury reuses a device that he picked up at the end of the "Hydra Lives" arc, has a fight with Cap, and meets his new love interest.
Yellow Claw (Strange Tales #160-167) 2/5 Stars
The old villain Yellow Claw returns to kill S.H.I.E.L.D.; weirdness follows. This arc has some more awesome art, but it goes on for far too long. One can only take so much Yellow Claw bamfing out before it just gets tired. The final few issues have some inspired work, but the twist ending is just headscratching. It's somewhat skippable, though Agent Jimmy Woo returns later in the series. Perhaps read the first few and the last few.
Today, Earth Died! (Strange Tales #168) 2.5/5 Stars
Nick Fury faces an unstoppable alien. Worth the read for Steranko's trippy visuals. The story and disappointing ending are almost undone by the possible character insight, but it doesn't quite recover.
[Issue 1 is reviewed with issue 5 further down]
So Shall Ye Reap... Death! (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #2) 1.5/5 Stars
Nick Fury vs. Evolution... Sternako's love of the weird gets the better of him. The knock-off High Evolutionary is no better than the real one. The visuals are kind of cool, but this one becomes skippable given both of the episodes surrounding it meld story and style with panache.
Dark Moon Rise, Hell Hound Kill! (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #3) 4.5/5 Stars
Nick Fury unravels a Sherlock Holmes style mystery. The biggest problem with this story is that it isn't twice as long. For some reason, Sternako's best stories seem criminally short while his worst drag on and on. The mind-bending art bends with a creepy tale that ultimately manages to feel like a S.H.I.E.L.D. story. Bravo!
And Now It Begins... (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #4) 2/5 Stars
A fill-in story that re-tells the first S.H.I.E.L.D. story from Strange Tales #135-136. It's worth thumbing through from for the art.
Who is Scorpio?/Whatever Happened to Scorpio? (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1, 5) 5/5 Stars
Steranko's Scorpio stories are what he's remembered for and rightly so. Scorpio is a mysterious bad ass and his final fate (which came too soon) leaves the mystery on a superb note. The art merges with the tale, raising Scorpio's threat. The start of issue one echoes the end of issue five. These are the pair of issues to read in this volume.
Doom Must Fall/Hours of Madness, Day of Death (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #6-7) 3/5 Stars
Archie Goodwin and Frank Springer attempt to mimic Steranko and partially succeed. The art is cool and the stories are fine if a bit routine sci-fi spy.
Thus Speaks Supremus (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #8) 1/5 Stars
Skip this uninspired sci-fi crap. Next.
Hate Monger (Fantastic Four #21, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #9-11) 2/5 Stars
The Hate Monger story at the start of this volume brought Fury into the current Marvel timeline. It was a below average story at a time when Fantastic Four really was the world's greatest comic magazine. Then, being clearly out of ideas (I'm looking at you Supremus), they repeat the Hate Monger story with increasingly diminishing returns and meaning (what little there was).
Target: Fury (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #12-14) 1.5/5 Stars
Speaking of reusing ideas, this one take "Today, Earth Died!" and strips it of the art and character insight. Issue 14 is somewhat enjoyable though tarnished by its connection to the prior material. Skip it.
The Assassination of Nick Fury (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #15) 2.5/5 Stars
This one is somewhat worth a read if only to see the writer frustratingly try and end the floundering series.
Did You Hear the One About Scorpio? (The Avengers #72) 2/5 Stars
Hey, remember previous issue and the awesome mystery of Scorpio, let's "fix" all that in one issue of The Avengers. It's basically the Avengers going to a place and beating up some dudes before backstory dump and Nick Fury reveal. It's a real let down as a Scorpio conclusion and a sub-par Avengers story even for the time. Read it as the introduction to the joke that the Zodiac will become.
Assignment: The Infinity Formula! (Marvel Spotlight #31) 3/5 Stars
The volume ends with a decent Fury spy-noir tale that effectively brings back the Countess from "Spy School" and the Scorpio arc. Read it for a decent end to this mixed bag of Fury tales.
S.H.I.E.L.D. vs. Hydra (Strange Tales #135-141) 4.5 Stars
Nick Fury is recruited to top the global threat of Hydra and their super weapon! This arc is Stan Lee and Jack Kirby firing on all cylinders. It brings gruff soldier Nick Fury into the spy business and puts a working man spin on the spy business. The first issue is a great spy piece with the fantastic splash of the iconic S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier. These issues are a must read for S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury fans.
Brain Slave (Strange Tales #141-143) 3 Stars
Mentallo and the Fixer team up to take down S.H.I.E.L.D. by mentally controlling Nick Fury. This one introduces the underused E.S.P. division and links to the "Them!" arc. It's okay enough with some clever action by Nick Fury, but becomes more of a let down by how little follow up any of it actually receives.
The Day of the Druid (Strange Tales #144-145) 1/5 Stars
The Druid sends eggs to kill S.H.I.E.L.D... The Druid and his group bring a sense of the supernatural to S.H.I.E.L.D. that is completely unneeded and unwanted. This arc is where the series goes stale. The Druid is an uninspired enemy with a lame defeat. Skip these issues and miss nothing.
Them! (Tales of Suspense #78, Strange Tales #146-149) 2/5 Stars
A group that manufactures androids seeks to destroy S.H.I.E.L.D. while a new defense group puts political pressure on S.H.I.E.L.D. The mystery of "Them" returns with sadly little mystery. It is more mysterious why Fury seems so tied up by red tape that he can't just investigate A.I.M. However, A.I.M. makes it easy by being incredibly stupid.
Hydra Lives! (Strange Tales #150-158) 3/5 Stars
Hydra's back with more cunning and a vicious new leader! This arc starts with the same languid pace that the series has been hobbling on since the end of the first Hydra arc. Then, Jim Steranko takes over and the series gets a shot of adrenaline. The end of this arc isn't perfect, but it certainly has better twists and more fantastic visuals than the series has seen since it's opening issue. While it can be tough to get through, it's worth the read.
Spy School (Strange Tales #159) 3.5/5 Stars
A nice break between long arcs. It breaks up the old guard and reshuffles it for Steranko's run proper. Fury reuses a device that he picked up at the end of the "Hydra Lives" arc, has a fight with Cap, and meets his new love interest.
Yellow Claw (Strange Tales #160-167) 2/5 Stars
The old villain Yellow Claw returns to kill S.H.I.E.L.D.; weirdness follows. This arc has some more awesome art, but it goes on for far too long. One can only take so much Yellow Claw bamfing out before it just gets tired. The final few issues have some inspired work, but the twist ending is just headscratching. It's somewhat skippable, though Agent Jimmy Woo returns later in the series. Perhaps read the first few and the last few.
Today, Earth Died! (Strange Tales #168) 2.5/5 Stars
Nick Fury faces an unstoppable alien. Worth the read for Steranko's trippy visuals. The story and disappointing ending are almost undone by the possible character insight, but it doesn't quite recover.
[Issue 1 is reviewed with issue 5 further down]
So Shall Ye Reap... Death! (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #2) 1.5/5 Stars
Nick Fury vs. Evolution... Sternako's love of the weird gets the better of him. The knock-off High Evolutionary is no better than the real one. The visuals are kind of cool, but this one becomes skippable given both of the episodes surrounding it meld story and style with panache.
Dark Moon Rise, Hell Hound Kill! (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #3) 4.5/5 Stars
Nick Fury unravels a Sherlock Holmes style mystery. The biggest problem with this story is that it isn't twice as long. For some reason, Sternako's best stories seem criminally short while his worst drag on and on. The mind-bending art bends with a creepy tale that ultimately manages to feel like a S.H.I.E.L.D. story. Bravo!
And Now It Begins... (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #4) 2/5 Stars
A fill-in story that re-tells the first S.H.I.E.L.D. story from Strange Tales #135-136. It's worth thumbing through from for the art.
Who is Scorpio?/Whatever Happened to Scorpio? (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1, 5) 5/5 Stars
Steranko's Scorpio stories are what he's remembered for and rightly so. Scorpio is a mysterious bad ass and his final fate (which came too soon) leaves the mystery on a superb note. The art merges with the tale, raising Scorpio's threat. The start of issue one echoes the end of issue five. These are the pair of issues to read in this volume.
Doom Must Fall/Hours of Madness, Day of Death (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #6-7) 3/5 Stars
Archie Goodwin and Frank Springer attempt to mimic Steranko and partially succeed. The art is cool and the stories are fine if a bit routine sci-fi spy.
Thus Speaks Supremus (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #8) 1/5 Stars
Skip this uninspired sci-fi crap. Next.
Hate Monger (Fantastic Four #21, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #9-11) 2/5 Stars
The Hate Monger story at the start of this volume brought Fury into the current Marvel timeline. It was a below average story at a time when Fantastic Four really was the world's greatest comic magazine. Then, being clearly out of ideas (I'm looking at you Supremus), they repeat the Hate Monger story with increasingly diminishing returns and meaning (what little there was).
Target: Fury (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #12-14) 1.5/5 Stars
Speaking of reusing ideas, this one take "Today, Earth Died!" and strips it of the art and character insight. Issue 14 is somewhat enjoyable though tarnished by its connection to the prior material. Skip it.
The Assassination of Nick Fury (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #15) 2.5/5 Stars
This one is somewhat worth a read if only to see the writer frustratingly try and end the floundering series.
Did You Hear the One About Scorpio? (The Avengers #72) 2/5 Stars
Hey, remember previous issue and the awesome mystery of Scorpio, let's "fix" all that in one issue of The Avengers. It's basically the Avengers going to a place and beating up some dudes before backstory dump and Nick Fury reveal. It's a real let down as a Scorpio conclusion and a sub-par Avengers story even for the time. Read it as the introduction to the joke that the Zodiac will become.
Assignment: The Infinity Formula! (Marvel Spotlight #31) 3/5 Stars
The volume ends with a decent Fury spy-noir tale that effectively brings back the Countess from "Spy School" and the Scorpio arc. Read it for a decent end to this mixed bag of Fury tales.
December 10, 2016
This was a weird one for me.
In my oppinion there are 3 phases in this book: The Stan Lee issues- The Steranko run- and the post-Steranko.
The first phase IMHO was neat, there was some magic that made me appreciate this stories even though i recognize there are some flaws in it and in the end the art got lazy. The second part thought, "The Steranko run", made a huge impact on me because I don't know if I'm going to see such passion and well made storytelling in a comic page ever again. The art is astonishing, specially in the first 3 issues of the Nick Fury, agent of S.H.I.EL.D solo.
However, after the second part is where i had all the problems with this book, because after Steranko left the character the quality of this went down in an impressive way. I don't want to name the people who made them because I don't want to speak bad of anyone, but man, those issues where awful. The ONLY issue that I quite enjoy was the Starlin/Chaykin one, which I thought was pretty enjoyable and well made.
I'll recommend this book only for the Steranko work because is incredible, but beware what comes after, because it may turn some people off.
In my oppinion there are 3 phases in this book: The Stan Lee issues- The Steranko run- and the post-Steranko.
The first phase IMHO was neat, there was some magic that made me appreciate this stories even though i recognize there are some flaws in it and in the end the art got lazy. The second part thought, "The Steranko run", made a huge impact on me because I don't know if I'm going to see such passion and well made storytelling in a comic page ever again. The art is astonishing, specially in the first 3 issues of the Nick Fury, agent of S.H.I.EL.D solo.
However, after the second part is where i had all the problems with this book, because after Steranko left the character the quality of this went down in an impressive way. I don't want to name the people who made them because I don't want to speak bad of anyone, but man, those issues where awful. The ONLY issue that I quite enjoy was the Starlin/Chaykin one, which I thought was pretty enjoyable and well made.
I'll recommend this book only for the Steranko work because is incredible, but beware what comes after, because it may turn some people off.
March 22, 2022
This is what you might call "a slog" to get through. There are a lot of stinkers in this and while the idea of Nick Fury - as a character - and SHIELD as the "Marvel spy organization" is great for some side stories - nobody has really cracked the code on how to make it a series.
The good - Stan Lee and Jack Kirby do an amazing job setting the stage and moving Sergeant Fury of WWII to rough around the edges spy leader in charge of SHIELD and their helicarrier (aircraft carrier in the skies). As well as setting up their foe Hydra. It is an amazing origin story. But then...the stories don't really go anywhere, I think partly because they have Nick Fury as leader but they also want him as their main spy and main guy on the ground - so he is almost single handedly taking on Hydra. They needed to either make him the spy or the leader and build up the other agents ot do the job. We do eventually get Jasper Sitwell (sadly used poorly in the MCU as a Hydra spy) who adds a nice touch but the stories all run together.
In comes Jim Steranko. Now I have most of his SHIELD work in another collected edition so while it is worth having I think I would recommend getting the Steranko centric editions over this. A lot has been written about Steranko and I think this is his best run in comics. I don't think I love it as much as others but I can appreciate how he broke new ground. And that 4 page fold out still wows today. The satire Brand Ecch is included at the end and it is funny how they poke fun at the things I noticed about Steranko. The overly long narrative boxes - the interesting but weird forced angles.
Sadly his run ended prematurely (he didn't have that long of a run on comics considering how much he is talked about) and his Scorpio story-line was never finished by him and instead is taken over by Roy Thomas and finished in Avengers (included here) and perverts Steranko's intention by making Scorpio one Twelfth of a Zodiac gang of super-villains. Steranko was writing Nick Fury as a Bond super spy and Scorpio was a slick spy villain NOT a run of the mill super villain. So that ending was jarring. But the early Steranko - they are fun and have some great moments. But I think people over inflate his writing abilities - the stories are good but sometimes very disjointed (see the ending of Dark Moon Side, Hello Hound Kill where he crams a whole novel into the last two pages).
The non-Steranko issues are run of the mill for the most part with the one exception being the Jim Starlin (writer) Howard Chaykin (artist) issue where we learn how Nick Fury stays so young - it stood out as a highlight. The worst of the lot is when - for some stupid reason - Roy Thomas redoes the first SHIELD origin story with a new artist. It screams "we have a deadline!! get something out the door!!"
I like that this collection exists but I rate it low because the reading enjoyment is on the low end. These writers (with the exception of Steranko who turned him into a grittier James Bond) never got a handle on how to write this series - or provide SHIELD with some good villain-spies to go against. Nick Fury works better in small doses and as a side character (I love when he works with Wolverine).
The good - Stan Lee and Jack Kirby do an amazing job setting the stage and moving Sergeant Fury of WWII to rough around the edges spy leader in charge of SHIELD and their helicarrier (aircraft carrier in the skies). As well as setting up their foe Hydra. It is an amazing origin story. But then...the stories don't really go anywhere, I think partly because they have Nick Fury as leader but they also want him as their main spy and main guy on the ground - so he is almost single handedly taking on Hydra. They needed to either make him the spy or the leader and build up the other agents ot do the job. We do eventually get Jasper Sitwell (sadly used poorly in the MCU as a Hydra spy) who adds a nice touch but the stories all run together.
In comes Jim Steranko. Now I have most of his SHIELD work in another collected edition so while it is worth having I think I would recommend getting the Steranko centric editions over this. A lot has been written about Steranko and I think this is his best run in comics. I don't think I love it as much as others but I can appreciate how he broke new ground. And that 4 page fold out still wows today. The satire Brand Ecch is included at the end and it is funny how they poke fun at the things I noticed about Steranko. The overly long narrative boxes - the interesting but weird forced angles.
Sadly his run ended prematurely (he didn't have that long of a run on comics considering how much he is talked about) and his Scorpio story-line was never finished by him and instead is taken over by Roy Thomas and finished in Avengers (included here) and perverts Steranko's intention by making Scorpio one Twelfth of a Zodiac gang of super-villains. Steranko was writing Nick Fury as a Bond super spy and Scorpio was a slick spy villain NOT a run of the mill super villain. So that ending was jarring. But the early Steranko - they are fun and have some great moments. But I think people over inflate his writing abilities - the stories are good but sometimes very disjointed (see the ending of Dark Moon Side, Hello Hound Kill where he crams a whole novel into the last two pages).
The non-Steranko issues are run of the mill for the most part with the one exception being the Jim Starlin (writer) Howard Chaykin (artist) issue where we learn how Nick Fury stays so young - it stood out as a highlight. The worst of the lot is when - for some stupid reason - Roy Thomas redoes the first SHIELD origin story with a new artist. It screams "we have a deadline!! get something out the door!!"
I like that this collection exists but I rate it low because the reading enjoyment is on the low end. These writers (with the exception of Steranko who turned him into a grittier James Bond) never got a handle on how to write this series - or provide SHIELD with some good villain-spies to go against. Nick Fury works better in small doses and as a side character (I love when he works with Wolverine).
February 15, 2017
I never realized how far ahead of his time Jim Steranko was until I read this collection. The early Jack Kirby stuff is amazing as well. Unfortunately, it all loses it's steam those last 8 or so issues when the writers try to introduce lame spandex villains that don't really fit. No wonder the series ended so quickly...
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews