Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
Release: January 11, 1966
Cover: April 1966
12 cents
Story: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby
with an assist by: Howard Purcell
Inking: M. Demeo
Lettering: A. Simek
12 pages
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| Strange Tales #142, Story B | Reading order | Strange Tales #143, Story B |
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Howard Purcell is a new name to us, but he’s been in the business since 1940, mostly doing work for the companies that would become DC. He’s not going to be a regular Marvel artist. It’s not even clear what he did this issue. Some form of finishing Kirby’s pencil art before handing it off to Mike Esposito to finish in ink.
Here’s a sampling of his work for DC.
- Adventure Comics #53, featuring Mark Lansing of Mikishawm, 1940
- World’s Finest Comics #2, feat. Lando Man of Magic, 1941
- All American Comics #25, 1941
- All American Comics #26, feat. Sargon the Sorcerer, 1941
- Sensation Comics #1, feat. The Gay Ghost, 1942
- Comic Cavalcade #15, feat. Johnny Peril’s Surprise Story, 1946
- Green Lantern #26, 1947
- Mr. District Attorney #6, 1948
- Mystery in Space #1, 1951
- My Greatest Adventure #29, 1959
- The Brave and the Bold #51, 1964
- Sea Devils #16, 1964
We pick up with Fury a prisoner of Mentallo and Fixer. Tony Stark has taken over SHIELD in his absence. This should presumably take place during some gap in Iron Man’s adventures. In particular, it doesn’t fit quite where we left off with Iron Man, who is a prisoner of Mandarin. Iron Man’s saga is pretty go-go-go, and it’s hard to figure out where his time with SHIELD fits in. The MCP places this issue prior to Tales of Suspense #72. Where there is a bit of a breather at least in his stories. But he still has a lot going on. Happy was in the hospital, and Senator Byrd has been hounding him continuously. If it doesn’t fit there, it would need to be after his battle with Ultimo.
I did make some effort to read the Tony Stark stories here where they fit in Iron Man’s story. But ultimately I wasn’t sure where they fit, and I had enough trouble aligning the ongoing sagas of Nick Fury and Dr. Strange, as well as those of Iron Man and Captain America, particularly when Cap and Fury’s stories will intertwine, and Cap’s need to intertwine with Avengers. And I’m trying to also tie in Dr. Strange with Spider-Man so we get to Ditko’s departure at the right time, and am quite curious how the Ditko comics align with the Fantastic Four, as both titles feature creators at the top of their game. All that influenced the reading order, and I decided we could just talk a bit about how Fury and Iron Man’s stories align.
This Neutralizer is a cool Kirby gizmo.
It’s difficult to tell because the coloring is so inconsistent, but these ESPers may be the agents we met in the previous issues. None have been named. The pipe-smoking man, the woman, and the old man might be the same trio. Maybe there are only three of them. But the woman’s been a redhead, brunette, and blonde. Again, coloring in these old comics is inconsistent. And people can dye their hair… I think the intention is these are the same three people, and I’ll record them as such in the character listings.
Fury finds himself attached to an H-Bomb that Fixer received from Them. He whistles a tune. “Johnny get your gun…” The song is called “Over There” by George Cohan.
Mentallo and Fixer are taken out by an ESP attack. Fury is caught in it too, but he can take it. The threat of Mentallo is ended.
I assume that’s Gabe Jones in the picture. The MCP seems to agree it is.
This is a pretty clean ending, with Mentallo and the Fixer defeated. They use the last few panels to tease the next arc, but that’s a fine time for a pause.
There is of course the looming threat of Them, and then the secrets of Inferno 42 and Batroc. But first let’s finish this comic. When we left Dr. Strange, he had just escaped Mordo’s stooges, but still had his face and hands bound.
Rating: ★★★½, 62/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
Characters:
- Dum Dum Dugan
- Colonel Nick Fury
- Mentallo
- Fixer
- Gabe Jones
- Anthony Stark
- ESPer male agent
- ESPer female agent
- ESPer older male agent
Story notes:
- Mentallo hints at the true power behind Fixer, who we learned last issue is called Them.
- Tony Stark has taken control of planning in Fury’s absence.
- SHIELD updating a General, the White House, and NATO.
- Stark has built Neutralizer.
- ESP Division tries to contact Fury with Brainwave Simulator.
- Stark’s heart issues affect him. Doctor realizes this and Stark swears him to secrecy.
- Fixer received miniature H-Bomb from Them.
- Fury freed of mask, but hands welded around H-Bomb; he asks for a cigar.
- Fury mentally signals tune, “Johnny Get Your Gun” to ESPers.
- Stark calls for Plan D.
- Agents make helmets too hot, leaving Mentallo and Fixer helpless against ESP attack, which catches Fury too.
- Stark sends C Squad and G Squad to positions.
- Neutralizer takes out H-Bomb.
- Metronome Unit draws fire.
- Mental attack wiped out Mentallo’s powers.
- Fury had mental transmitter to contact ESP division.
- Mysterious orb shoots a plane out of the sky, hinting at the threat of the Druid.
| Previous | #480 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Strange Tales #142, Story B | Reading order | Strange Tales #143, Story B |
| Strange Tales #142, Story B | Strange Tales | Strange Tales #143, Story B |
