Even though Nick Fury and SHIELD was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby...
Even though dozens of talented writers and artists have put the World War II hero turned secret agent through thick and thin...
-You just cannot explore this cloak and dagger corner of the Marvel universe without mentioning Jim Steranko.
Steranko's time at Marvel might have been brief. But the time Steranko spent at the House of Ideas not only changed Marvel Comics but the entire medium as well. He loved to fuse psychedelic art with optical illusions. There was also a little bit of Dali's surrealism infused with the dynamic posing created by Jack Kirby and Will Eisner's love of playing with story titles within the artwork.
When it came to the writing style, Steranko's Nick Fury was like Ian Fleming's James Bond on acid and steroids. The gadgets were more far out. The women were more exotic. And the baddies were so much more deadlier. Plus, Steranko wasn't afraid to kill off characters. Nor was he afraid to literally destroy SHIELD headquarters in every issue (only to miraculously have the agency built back up the next issue.)
One thing Steranko did that I wasn't a fan of was that he broke up the team. Gabriel Jones and Dum Dum Dugan both disappear midway through this book. Thankfully, Dum Dum's absence wasn't very long. But Gabe stays MIA. He was always a favorite of mine in the pages of Howling Commandos. So to not have Gabe around was a disappointment. (BTW- Gabe was the star of one of the first Marvel features to involve a black main character; posing as a AIM agent. When will those historic issues ever get collected and published?)
I'm trying to read my way through the complete adventures of Nick Fury. I seem to be going more in a chronological order of publication rather than through Nick's timeline. But I don't mind. Fury is a favorite, always has been. I can't experience the true story of Nick Fury without this period of comics history. And if you are wanting the full course of Nick Fury stories, neither should you!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
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