S.H.I.E.L.D., Vol. 1: Perfect Bullets

I really enjoyed ABC's Agents of SHIELD. Sure, a lot of it has to do with me being a big fan of Nick Fury and the spy elements of the Marvel Universe. Regardless, Agents of SHIELD was a show that got better with age. Ironically, as the series progressed, it strayed further from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That's because it was established that despite Agent Phil Coulson dying at the hands of Loki, everything that happened afterwards followed a slightly different timeline on another universe. So despite what you think about Spider-Man: No Way Home introducing the multiverse to Marvel movie fans, it was Marvel's Agents of SHIELD that did it first.

And before I get into my review of this book, can I just comment on the actor who brought Phil Coulson to life on many occasions? Clark Gregg is just wonderful as the walking Encyclopedia Britannica of superheroes and their adversaries. I may not agree with all of the actor's politics. But I thought he brought such an energy to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the show. I hope he's not truly retired from the role. I'd love to see him interact with Tom Holland's Spider-Man and Cumberbatch 's Sorcerer Supreme.

This series, penned by Mark Waid, was Marvel's attempt to bring the Agents of SHIELD into the Marvel 616 Universe. Waid's been known to make some controversial changes to established DC and Marvel canon. But he did a fantastic job here. 

One of the smartest moves was to essentially have each issue be a team-up with at least one superhero. Coulson, May, Fitz and Simmons conduct missions with the likes of Spidey, Ms. Marvel, The Invisible Woman and many others. The first assignment has Phil Coulson spread extremely thin when creatures from all of the nine realms begin an all out invasion of Midgard. There's literally dozens of comics brightest stars in that story, including Tony Stark who's in his Superior Iron Man stage of life. 

6 different artists pencil an issue in this book. My favorite was Alan Davis' work in the Spider-Man story that takes place in Doctor Stranger's Sanctum Sanctorum. He evoked a mix of Steve Ditko and Steve Englehart's tenures on the good doctor's title. 

The book concludes with an odd little segment of comic strips about Agent Fitz and his new artificial intelligence program H.E.N.R.Y., which takes the holographic form of a green Capuchin monkey. I felt like there were clues or maybe some Easter eggs that were hinting to what will occur in Volume 2. However, if that's the case, I was a really bad detective.

I really enjoyed this volume. Too bad, I don't have the next volume immediately on hand. But I've got trade credit and a hole burning in my pocket. So maybe I'll continue these adventures real soon.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #158

A brand new group of heroes are introduced in this issue of MCP. Created by Excalibur's Alan Davis, it's a visually appealing group called Clan Destine. But some of the characters are rather ridiculous.  

For example, there's the character of Argent. Right now, she's got giant blades for arms. How does she go to the bathroom? Eat? Get dressed? If the character has arms and hands, it's just not revealed.

The idea is that the Destine family is a group of immortals. Their father is an immortal Scottish noble who mated with imps, genies and other mythical creatures to create a clan of nearly indestructible warriors. It's like if Highlander decided to go the Captain Kirk route and get busy with anything with legs and magical powers...

As for the other 3 segments in this issue...

The only New Warrior to appear in the New Warrior story is still just Kymaera (Namorita). In all honesty, this story could have concluded as just an 8-pager. It's really getting to be a dull mulit-part story that just spins in circles.

Vengeance's encounter with a female Spirit of Vengeance is epic. Right now there's a massive fire in which Badilino is trying to save some of the members of his new meta-human task force. But it's kinda hard to do with this new Ghost Rider in his way!

The Shang-Chi story finally comes to an end. And now I start to recall some elements of it. An old flame from Shang-Chi's days as a member of Mi-6 is involved. The Master of Kung-Fu recalls his turbulent history with father Fu-Manchu. Things don't end happily for Shang-Chi. But at least it's not a tragic ending as with his previous story that occurred in the pages of the very 7 or 8 issues of this anthology series.

An okay offering of characters and stories. But still not the best the MCU has to offer readers either.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.