Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
Release: March 10, 1966
Cover: June 1966
12 cents
Writer: Stan Lee
Designer: Jack Kirby
Penciller: Don Heck
Inker: Mickey Demeo
Letterer: Sam Rosen
Badge polisher: Irving Forbush
12 pages
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A simple smoke grenade should do the job nicely in this instance… and it won’t cost the taxpayers as much as a noisy, explosive grenade! For we guardians of the public trust must ever have the average citizen’s interests close to our hearts!
Quite the opening page. Somewhat disturbing.
Curious if it inspired images in the modern horror series, Locke & Key.
Where were we? The Druid wants to destroy SHIELD for some reason. He pretends to have mystical powers, but technology underpins everything he does. Oh, and we just met the eager new recruit, Jasper Sitwell.
In his own comics, Tony Stark has been busy with Congressional investigations, financial problems and traveling all over the world to fight one threat after another.
But he’s still managed to invent plenty of new tech for SHIELD use.
The Druid and Nick Fury are going to settle their differences in single combat. This is becoming an overused Marvel trope.
Tying into recent and upcoming arcs, they question the Fixer to learn what he knows about the Druid. He’s their prisoner from a couple issues back. He worked for an organization called Them we’ll be hearing more about. He doesn’t know much about this secret organization, but he’s pretty confident they didn’t use Eggs for weapons.
We get a note that we’ll learn more about Them in this month’s Captain America story. So we’ll read that promptly. There’s something about a miniature brain that’s likely to come up.
While Fury fights the Druid, Sitwell gets to drive Stark’s weaponized car.
I appreciate that the Druid’s cult seem mainly concerned with questions of salary and unemployment insurance.
Fury notes Sitwell is ambitious and wonders if he’s to be replaced. This seems a bit silly. You’re a Colonel with 20 years of military experience. It’s his first day on the job.
Here’s June’s Bulletin.
Some highlights:
- The great Italian director Federico Fellini (8½, La Dolce Vita) visited the Marvel offices and is a fan.
- Adam Austin revealed as Gene Colan. I think we already knew that.
- Stan promotes Romita’s interpretation of Spidey when he guest stars in Daredevil.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 54/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
Characters:
- Colonel Nick Fury
- Dum Dum Dugan
- Agent Jasper Sitwell
- The Druid
- The Fixer
Minor characters:
- Charlie (SHIELD scientist)
Story notes:
- Dozen Nick Fury robots ready for action.
- Tony Stark created a fully operational miniaturized TV viewer to fit in robot Fury’s head.
- Fury robots are called LMDs (Life Model Decoys).
- LMDs meant to draw fire from Eggs while SHIELD investigates.
- Sitwell was Valedictorian of SHIELD Academy Class of ’66.
- Laurel ‘n Hardy reference.
- Fury was Sitwell’s idol since his youth.
- Betty Grable reference.
- Druid-controlled Egg smashes LMD with Thermo Ray.
- Roots of tree are hydraulic lifts
- Druid’s trappings of black magic a deception.
- Druid decides to offer Fury a challenge to single combat.
- Fury and Dugan question prisoner, The Fixer.
- Fixer worked for Them; they have limitless wealth and secret identities.
- SHIELD found miniature brain on Fixer; he does not know what it is for.
- Cop notes Fury outranks everyone but LBJ, suggesting the current president is Johnson.
- Sitwell impresses Nick by being fast with an infra-red blaster.
- Prototype light-absorber makes Druid invisible.
- Druid takes a special elixir to get the power of a pile-driver.
- Fury beats Druid in a fight.
- Sitwell releases sensi-gas into woods to flush out Druid’s men.
- Tony Stark designed cannons to fit in the trunks of cars.
- Sitwell notes a smoke grenade is cheaper than an explosive.
- Druid notes Fury hasn’t found main headquarters as he’s arrested.
- Sitwell investigates Druid’s true identity.
| Previous | #509 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Strange Tales #144, Story B | Reading order | Strange Tales #145, Story B |
| Strange Tales #144, Story B | Strange Tales | Strange Tales #145, Story B |
