Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
Release: January 10, 1967
Cover: April 1967
12 cents
Edited by: Stan Lee (Marvel’s James Bond)
Written and drawn by: Jim Steranko (Marvel’s Man Flint)
Letted by: Sam Rosen (Marvel’s Secret Squirrel)
12 pages
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And so saying, the SHIELD agent’s finger begins to tighten on the trigger… his trance-like face telling of the incredible turmoil seething within… Then, the overwhelming force of the spell sweeps over his ego, as once again, the Supreme Hydra’s command echoes through his mind…
Jim Steranko is now writing and drawing Nick Fury, Agent Of SHIELD, and credited for doing so. Wally Wood had wanted that for Daredevil but was turned down.
Does this show Lee’s faith in the newcomer Steranko? Or is it just that he’s busy and become somewhat indifferent?
Steranko delivers quite the opening splash page, so maybe he’ll do okay with this assignment.
What are we looking at? It’s called the Vortex Beam. It seems to be like a tractor beam they use as a fancy elevator. Best as I can tell, people get onto a disc on the ground and then get lifted onto the Heli-Carrier. We see some VIPs and a strange device coming on the ship that way.
For Mr. Steranko, I’d like to pay a bit more attention to his choices in laying out pages and storytelling. We’ve seen a lot of stuff by Kirby and Ditko, and by people who are imitating them to various degrees.
But Steranko is quickly starting to do his own thing. Let’s notice this 4-panel sequence atop this page.
First of all, fitting 4 panels in a row is less common in these comics based around 3×3 grids of panels, though Steranko’s done it a few times already.
But look what we do with the camera over 4 panels, moving it in closer and closer to Fury’s face, to make it clear he is feigning slumber, and waiting for his moment. It’s quite the build-up to the action of the following panel.
But Steranko’s framing choices there just differ from all the framing choices we’ve seen so far.
Apparently some of those VIPs they brought on board were Hydra agents in disguise. Oops.
Meanwhile, Agent Bronson (aka Supreme Hydra, aka… well, we’ll find out), uses his hypno-ring to gain more allies. And we get another cool Steranko effect.
Even that middle row of panels is interesting. It’s like one image broken into four.
And I really like Steranko’s depiction of Sitwell resisting the brainwashing. That middle panel there with us seeing what the brainwashing is doing to his brain, complete with a mini-Hydra logo in the middle.
While Sitwell is sweating. We’ve already seen a lot of sweat from Steranko.
The last thing I want to look at is Steranko’s use of vertical panels, also a very uncommon arrangement so far.
Beyond that bold panel layout, he really makes good use of the verticality, but in different ways. The first panel allows him to really show height, as Fury jumps through a tall ceiling. We saw a similar use of verticality to convey multiple floors of height last issue.
The second panel is turned sideways, allowing him to really show width with that machine blasting. And then we get a weirdly angled very dramatic close-up panel as Fury and the Hydra agent in disguise struggle over the machine.
I think the page represents some good storytelling choices utterly unique in our reading so far.
President Lyndon Johnson holds Fury responsible for the fiasco on the Heli-carrier and confines him to quarters. He leaves Laura Brown in the care of the only agent we can trust, Agent Bronson.
We will take a break from Fury’s story here, mainly because it’s a good break point for Dr. Strange, and a fine enough one for Fury. Though obviously Hydra is closing in, so we’ll want to check back soon.
Our word of they day is APHONIC.
So… we’ve talked a bit about the secret identity of Supreme Hydra. It will get revealed next issue. We’re pausing our Nick Fury reading here to check on the rest of the Marvel Universe, so you’ve got a while still to figure it out. But no more issues of Nick Fury to remind you of the puzzle.
So I’ll give you a big hint… it is a character we’ve met before on the Our Cast So Far page.
Now, there’s a lot of people on that page. But most of them don’t make sense. It’s not Spider-Man. It’s not Aunt May. I’m not ruling out J. Jonah Jameson just yet.
It’s not Doctor Doom. It’s not Odin. It’s not Happy Hogan.
The clues we’ve seen so far make it seem like this individual has a personal history with Nick Fury.
And that really narrows it down. Is it an old friend turned enemy? Whatever did happen to Rebel Ralston? Will it turn out Red Hargrove is really alive and has turned on Nick? Could it be Bull McGiveney?
Or is it an old enemy that’s still an enemy? How many notable enemies did Fury have? Dr. Zemo is dead. (Though in the Marvel Universe, that doesn’t rule him out.) I can think of maybe two others that are at all interesting and would have a personal grudge against Fury in particular.
Sure, there’s like Mentallo and the Fixer, who were beaten by SHIELD. But that’s hardly a personal history with Nick.
Anyways, I’ve said too much.
Rating: ★★★½, 63/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
Characters:
- Colonel Nick Fury
- President Johnson
- Professor Anton Trojak/Annihil-Agent 47
- Number 7
- Number 11
- Jasper Sitwell
- Gabe Jones
- Dum Dum Dugan
- Agent Bronson/Supreme Hydra
- Laura Brown
Story notes:
- Suspension discs take them to Vorti-control center, which houses Vortex Beam.
- Q-Ray machine loaded onto Heli-Carrier by Vortex Beam.
- President calls Nick Fury to get report. VIPS safely aboard.
- Trojak created Q-Ray.
- Fury smashes lights; infra-red system turns on. He wears infra-red contact lenses, so he can see while the attacking Hydra agents can’t.
- Agent 7 and Agent 11… 7-11 gag.
- Hydra agents accidentally shoot each other. Both dead, Fury can’t get answers.
- Several of the country’s most important men are on board.
- Fury not convinced by AUTOFAC’s claim that Laura is Supreme Hydra.
- Trojak is really a Hydra agent.
- Trojak jolts Fury.
- Aphonic Bomb will destroy Fury and the AUTOFAC.
- Fury breaks free and through the floor before the noiseless explosion.
- Electronic absorber in cuff links is how Fury survived electric jolt.
- Q-Ray was Trojan Horse… Hydra Agents snuck inside.
- Hypnotized Jones, Sitwell, Dugan now Hydra agents attacking Fury.
- E-M (epiderm-mask machine) machine gave Hydra agent face of Trojak.
- Q-Ray breaks down molecular structure of any object, scattering its atoms.
- Sitwell could never be brainwashed into betraying SHIELD.
- Fury overloads Q-Ray’s circuits.
- Exploding Q-Ray damages Heli-carrier. Fury orders a reversal of Vortex Beam to support the ship.
- Laura Brown found in AUTOFAC computer vault, unconscious in Hydra uniform.
| Previous | #624 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Strange Tales #154, Story B | Reading order | Strange Tales #155, Story B |
| Strange Tales #154, Story B | Strange Tales | Strange Tales #155, Story B |
