Strange Tales #137

The Prize is… Earth!

Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
Release: July 8, 1965
Cover: October 1965
12 cents
Story: Stan Lee
Layouts: J. Kirby
Art: J. Severin
Lettering: Art Simek
12 pages

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Well, we can’t just stand here cryin’ in our soup, like kids! That won’t bring those joes back! We gotta make sure they didn’t cash in their chips for nothin’!

It’s a pretty big deal that Severin is given the cover. Even when Stan’s used different interior artists, he’s wanted Kirby on the cover. Heck’s been the regular artist on Iron Man since day 1, but Kirby’s almost always done the covers. All but one, so far. Kirby got all the Giant-Man covers, whether it was Heck or Ayers on art. But the artist base is starting to expand. Colan’s been doing the Sub-Mariner covers, and now Severin gets a SHIELD cover.

We get something new with the credits. The art attempts to integrate them into the story. Rather than a separate box, they show up on a computer screen at SHIELD HQ.

We see the “Q” scene as Nick Fury gets his fancy gadgeted clothing. The dialogue is pretty rote at this point. “Why are you giving me an ordinary hat?” “Ho ho, it just looks like an ordinary hat…”

I think the hat is cool because it seems like it might actually work. There’s nothing too fancy going on in their diagram. A hat whose brim works like a periscope to allow you to see what’s going on behind you.

I’m not sure I would want to wear a suit made of explosive fabric.

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