Strange Tales #151

Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
Release: September 8, 1966
Cover: December 1966
12 cents
Script: Smilin’ Stan Lee
Layouts: Jolly Jack Kirby
Illustrations: Jaunty Jim Steranko
Lettering: Adorable Artie Simek
Hood laundering: Irate Irving Forbush
12 pages

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So you’re the guys who’re gonna take over the world, huh?

A new name in the credits. Who is this Jim Steranko on the art over Kirby’s layouts?

He had apparently dabbled in comics briefly in 1957, but I have no examples of that. His first work came out for Harvey just three months earlier. He co-created several adventure heroes for them like Spyman. And perhaps contributed to varying degrees to the stories.

Per The Comics Journal, some of this work such as in Double Dare Adventures is illustrated by Steranko.

Either way, he’s new to comics. This is a pretty big assignment for a rookie. Let’s see if he makes anything of himself.

He got this job off his finishes on two tryout pages from Kirby.

Fury is on his was to Karnopolis to investigate Don Caballero and his connections to Hydra. We know Don Caballero is the new Supreme Hydra.

We learn another tidbit this issue. He’d also been “masquerading” as the Grand Imperator of Them. Another little clue in the puzzle that is the relationship between Hydra/Them/AIM/Secret Empire.

The Overkill Horn must be stopped at any cost, including Fury’s life. Once Fury has located it, Sitwell has orders to blow up the area, taking Fury with it. Dugan objects to this plan, so Gabe has to shoot him.

Fury thinks he has escaped, but it’s all part of Hydra’s plan.

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I alluded above to the try-out pages that got Steranko this gig. Those have been published in various forms. I have them in a Nick Fury collection, but I have difficulty scanning trades. You can see my best attempts here.

The text has been edited from the original to be some behind-the-scenes notes about the comic.

The blog Tales From My Spinner Rack from innocentbystander.com has a better version, including what seems to be the original text. It’s a worthwhile post generally, about Nick Fury and Steranko.

The GCD tells me the scans also appear in an issue of Marvel Age, but they don’t say which one, and I can’t figure it out. If anybody knows, I’ll see if I have the issue and can get a scan from there. I don’t know if the Marvel Age scans feature the original text or the same text the trade had.

Rating: ★★★☆☆, 56/100
Significance: ★★★★☆

The significance rating is for this rookie artist starting his work on Nick Fury.

Characters:

• Colonel Nick Fury
• Supreme Hydra/Don Caballero/Grand Imperator
• Gabe Jones
• Jasper Sitwell
• Dum Dum Dugan

Story notes:

• Fury takes SHIELD rocket pack to Karnopolis. Hydra monitors his approach.
• Caballero had been masquerading as Grand Imperator of Them.
• G-2 confident Caballero the head of Hydra reborn.
• Robot statues attack Fury.
• Gabe shoots Dum Dum in the shoulder to stop him from disobeying orders to rescue Fury.
• Fury’s clothes removed and studied; include thin layer of flexible bulletproof steel in the lining; shirt soaked with liquid explosives; printed circuits in necktie
• Hydra demonstrates with scale model of Oblivion Horn on model globe.
• SHIELD calls Horn Target O.
• Overkill Horn is an engine of the plane Fury stole. By speeding up, he activates it.

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Tales of Suspense #85, Story B	Reading order	Strange Tales #151, Story B
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