Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
Release: July 7, 1966
Cover: October 1966
12 cents
Edited by: Stan Lee
Layouts by: Jack Kirby
Script by: Denny O’Neil
Art by: Ogden Whitney
Lettering by: Artie Simek
Ammunition by the Forbush Pyrotechnic Co.
12 pages
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Hydra can never be killed! Althrough you have captured Hydra’s body, its head is still free… It shall last forever! It has resources you have not dreamed of… resources that will insure its ultimate triumph!
It’s rare that the scripter doesn’t get credited ahead of the artists. When Lee was scripting, his name always came first. Now that Lee is editing, the editor’s name comes first. But then he put Kirby’s layouts ahead of the scripting and art in the credits.
The credits claim this issue’s writer and artist are surprises.
At this point, we know Denny O’Neil. He’s been taking over the scripting duties on Dr. Strange. But the name Ogden Whitney is new to us.
He’s not new to comics, however, having been writing and drawing for the medium since the 1930s. His earliest works are in collaboration with scripter Gardner Fox, first on the classic DC hero Cotton Carver in Adventure Comics.
Then taking over art duties on Sandman in the same title.
At Columbia, he co-created Skyman and Rocky Ryan in Big Shot Comics, the former with Fox, who also scripted much of the Rocky Ryan issues.
He had a brief break after enlisting in World War II and was welcomed back with Big Shot #67.
He did a couple features from Blue Bolt in a series on true tales in a feature, “Old Cap Hawkins’ Tales”; with famed pulp writer Mickey Spillane, they offered a bio of World War II aviator Jimmy Doolittle.
In the late 1940s, he became involved with ACG, drawing romance, science fiction, war, horror, spy, humor, and western stories.
His most famous creation is the beloved super-powered Herbie Popnecker with Richard Hughes for ACG.
He did occasional work for Marvel in the 1950s as well, in a similar gamut of genres.
We’d previously looked at the story of Waku in Jungle Tales #1, as he was the first Black character to star in an ongoing Marvel feature.
This story marks his return to Marvel after over a decade. He’ll soon become a regular penciller on Two-Gun Kid and Millie the Model.
A long intro, but Ogden Whitley seemed like a sufficiently legendary creator to justify it. Now let’s see how he illustrates the final battle between SHIELD and AIM.
AIM noted last issue SHIELD’s LMD technology was superior to their own, so they’ve captured an LMD of Nick Fury to study.
Or have they?
Stan Lee is appreciating more and more that the fans care about continuity, and he’s paid more attention than usual these past couple months. In particular, without fanfare, Gabe Jones has just been quietly absent from these stories these last 6 issues.
Not necessarily something you’d notice. Nick Fury is the only real main character. But we’d come to expect to see Dugan and Jones around, with Sitwell being the newest addition. But these last few issues, Dugan and Sitwell were hanging out with Fury, but not Gabe.
This issue points out his absence, and will explain it.
I’d been confused about the relationship between AIM and Them. For a moment, I thought they were the same organization. Then it seemed like AIM was part of Them.
We now learn the Secret Empire is also part of Them. So Them and AIM are not interchangeable; Them is the larger organization.
The Secret Empire story has been paralleling the AIM story in Hulk’s comics. But to my mind it completely fizzled. The Secret Empire self-destructed before Hulk ever even met them.
Number 1 of the Secret Empire remains at large and is manipulating Namor into revenge of the Hulk. Who had nothing to do with the downfall of the Secret Empire. The Secret Empire fell because Number 9 betrayed them and took out Numbers 2 through 8.
And now, that same Number 9 is rescuing escaping AIM agents.
Can they trust him?
No, they cannot.
Number 9 is Gabe Jones. That’s why he’s been absent. He was undercover with the Secret Empire and destroyed them from within.
That’s a more satisfying ending than we saw in the Hulk stories.
And learning about the connections to AIM and Them makes the Secret Empire almost interesting. Almost.
But AIM had conspired to get Fury removed as the head of SHIELD, and Nick Fury escaped from his own hearing by jumping out the window of the Heli-Carrier. His main crime was not shaving.
Now Fury is clean-shaven and even wearing a suit to greet the suits who wanted to remove him. They’ve changed their mind.
Sitwell takes a NAP (Noiseless Air Personnel vehicle).
He’s followed Royale to AIM headquarters only to see it get completely obliterated.
AIM is defeated. The Secret Empire is defeated, except that Number 1 is running loose.
Them. AIM. Secret Empire. All connected. All branches of one organization. All arms of a single body. A single, many-armed body.
Nick Fury has almost cracked the mystery.
In old files, Hydra refers to itself as “It”. The plural of “It” is… “Them”.
Now I’m suspecting Hydra is back. And I’m going to have the same questions. Is Them another name for Hydra? Or is Them a branch of Hydra? Or is Hydra a branch of Them?
Oh, dear.
I was so sure they’d defeated Hydra when the Supreme Hydra was killed. It was basically like cutting off its head. You’d think that would have been final.
With AIM defeated, we have a good breaking point for Nick Fury’s saga. The latter half of this issue will focus on Dr. Strange’s battle with Kaluu, which will take until the next issue to resolve.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 55/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
Characters:
- Colonel Nick Fury
- Dum Dum Dugan
- Count Royale
- Jasper Sitwell
- Gabe Jones/Number Nine
Story notes:
- AIM Agents capture LMD X-4512 of Nick Fury, or so they think.
- AIM Micro-ionic Jammer blanking SHIELD’s alarm system.
- AIM technicians will be able to analyze LMD and it will get them access to SHIELD installations through the world.
- SHIELD responds with Plan Blue.
- Three Stooges reference.
- Dugan pilots magnetic-powered SHIELD craft.
- Agents note Gabe Jones is not with them.
- Fury’s gun a Tony Stark weapon, the Nitrogen Projectile.
- Helicopters search for Fury’s body after he jumped from the Heli-carrier, using Search Pattern M.
- Sitwell an inventor himself; see the Respiratory-powered Projectile Hurler, a bean shooter projecting a radio transmitter; Royale tagged with it.
- Sitwell reveals Fury’s plans to military leaders.
- Both AIM and the Secret Empire are branches of Them.
- Secret Empire agent arrives in car to help AIM agents retreat. He identifies himself as Number 9.
- Car is a trap; Number 9 is Gabe Jones. Editor’s note that Gabe defeated the Secret Empire in Tales to Astonish #83.
- Huntley and Brinkley reference.
- Suits decide Fury will stay the head of SHIELD and receive an award for extreme heroism, and the president will be grateful.
- Sitwell follows Royale to AIM HQ concealed behind boulder.
- Sitwell radios he has located AIM in Sector J Area 17.
- AIM HQ explodes.
- No radiation; a conventional explosive.
- Fury suspects someone bigger than AIM finished them off.
- Fury refers to Red Skull’s gang Captain America has been tangling with, and suspects a connection to AIM and Secret Empire. Gabe heard someone at the Secret Empire mention Them.
- Fury leads Dugan and Jones to SHIELD Museum to check Hydra files.
- Hydra evidence destroyed by outside ray, which triggered Fury’s high explosive threads.
| Previous | #582 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Strange Tales #148, Story B | Reading order | Strange Tales #149, Story B |
| Strange Tales #148, Story B | Strange Tales | Strange Tales #149, Story B |
