jim steranko – Coke ⊕ Comics

Strange Tales #155

Death Trap!

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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Strange Tales #154, Story B	Reading order	Strange Tales #155, Story B
Strange Tales #154, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #155, Story B

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.

Strange Tales #154

Beware… the Deadly Dreadnought!

Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
Release: December 8, 1966
Cover: March 1967
12 cents
Edited by: Stan Lee
Scripted by: Roy Thomas
Plotted and drawn by: Jim Steranko
Lettered by: Sam Rosen
12 pages

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Strange Tales #153, Story B	Reading order	Strange Tales #154, Story B
Strange Tales #153, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #154, Story B

Leave the thinkin’ to AUTOFAC…

The training wheels are off for Jim Steranko. In his first couple issues, he’d been drawing off layouts from Kirby, but Kirby has stepped away. The newcomer Steranko has drawn this all by himself.

And he even gets a plotting credit for his work. Something it took Ditko and Kirby years to get. That folks like Orlando and Wood left the company over.

Roy Thomas was also on scripting duties last issue, but this won’t be a regular gig for him. This is his second and final turn on the series.

AUTOFAC is the AI system that does SHIELD’s thinking. If they feed it what they know about Supreme Hydra, it will deduce their identity.

Can you, reader, deduce the identity of Supreme Hydra before AUTOFAC can? If not, maybe we should just surrender to AI.

We get a detailed diagram of the Heli-Carrier. Below the story notes, we recorded all the rooms and notes.

Strange Tales #153

The Hiding Place!

Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD
Release: November 10, 1966
Cover: February 1967
12 cents
Seldom-equalled editing by Stan Lee
Seldom-surpassed scripting by Roy Thomas
Seldom-lacking layouts by Jack Kirby
Seldom-rivaled rendering by Jim Steranko
Seldom-legible lettering by Artie Simek
12 pages

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Strange Tales #152, Story B	Reading order	Strange Tales #153, Story B
Strange Tales #152, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #153, Story B

The hour of Hydra has come at last– And nothing that the human race can do will cease our relentless march toward world domination!

Steranko takes on the cover solo, and does an impressive job. He probably won’t need Kirby’s handholding much longer.

Inside, it’s still the Kirby/Steranko art team, with the art seeming more and more Steranko each issue. What’s changed is the writer. Thomas has been the regular on X-Men and Sgt. Fury and occasionally filled in elsewhere. This is in that fill-in category. He won’t be a regular writer on this series.

We open in the barbershop. Not clear the status of it after the attack by AIM. Is it still a SHIELD base? Is it still secret?

We recognize the two agents working in the barbershop, but still haven’t learned their names.

Strange Tales #152

The Power of SHIELD!

The Power of SHIELD!
Featuring: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD!
Release: October 11, 1966
Cover: January 1967
12 cents
Script: Smilin’ Stan Lee
Layouts: Jolly Jack Kirby
Artwork: Jaunty Jim Steranko
Lettering: Adorable Artie Simek
12 pages

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Strange Tales #151, Story B	Reading order	Strange Tales #152, Story B
Strange Tales #151, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #152, Story B

So long as men such as you exist– men who are dedicated not merely to the cause of nationalism– but to international freedom– to global justice– so long will the lamp of liberty continue to burn bright– until men of good will, everywhere, put down their arms and come forth to reason together!

Once again, Kirby is on layouts with Steranko on art, but the character work looks more like Steranko this issue than last, perhaps suggesting looser layouts from Kirby.

Worth noting this will be Stan Lee’s final work on Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD. He remains the editor, of course.

Last issue, Nick had escaped Hydra, but was unwittingly piloting their Overkill Horn. We pick up there this issue. Sitwell is in charge of SHIELD, and manages to destroy the Horn, fearing he has killed Fury in doing so. But Nick gets free.

Strange Tales #151

Overkil!

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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Tales of Suspense #85, Story B	Reading order	Strange Tales #151, Story B
Strange Tales #150, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #151, Story B

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.