Comic Review: Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D – Masterworks, Vol. 3

Published: February 15th, 2018
Written by: Jim Steranko, Gary Friedrich, Roy Thomas, Archie Goodwin, Ernie Hart, Steve Parkhouse
Art by: Jim Steranko, Frank Springer, Herb Trimpe, Barry Windsor-Smith, Dick Ayers, Sal Buscema

Marvel Comics, 309 Pages

Review:

I started with Masterworks, Vol. 3 because it is a collection of what’s considered to be the most beloved work featuring Nick Fury, as the solo star of his own stories.

This also takes the character, puts him in S.H.I.E.L.D. and makes him a cool, hip superspy, as opposed to a military hero on the battlefields of war.

Marvel, like everyone else at the time, wanted to capitalize off of the ’60s spy craze that started with the first James Bond film, Dr. No in 1962. That movie inspired its own sequels, a slew of rip-offs, parodies, pulp novels and comics. So, instead of creating a new character, Marvel reworked one that was already pretty popular but existed in a genre that was drying up.

A lot of this is written and has art done by Jim Steranko. A lot of people worked on the issues in this collection, though, but Steranko is the guy that has always been given most of the credit for this groovy reinvention of Nick Fury.

Tapping into the ’60s era spy genre, this is trippy and colorful and it stands out in a really unique way when compared to the other Marvel titles of the time. I love the hell out of the art and the style in these comics and it’s why I’ve picked up a lot of the single issues, over the years.

I was never as captivated by the stories, as much as I was by the visuals, however. But the stuff featuring Nick Fury fighting Hydra and the multi-issue arc pitting him against the Hate-Monger were really damn enjoyable.

I never got to read all of these issues and experience the bigger picture. I’m glad that I finally did, though, as it’s really different than what was the standard ’60s Marvel fare. Plus, it’s also infinitely better than anything Marvel’s doing these days.

Rating: 7.75/10

Comic Review: Wolverine/Nick Fury: Scorpio Rising

Published: 1994
Written by: Howard Chaykin
Art by: Shawn McManus

Marvel Comics, 49 Pages

Review:

This graphic novel release in 1994 brought an end to the trilogy of stories that saw Wolverine and Nick Fury team up.

Fans started referring to it as The Scorpio Trilogy and I’m not sure if Marvel ever officially adopted that name. The reason it’s called that, though, is that the two bookends of this trilogy feature the character Scorpio, who has close, personal ties to Nick Fury.

Oddly enough, I think the middle story, which doesn’t feature Scorpio, is definitely the best of the trio.

With that, I’d say that this was my least favorite but I still liked it for the reasons why you should like a comic with Wolverine, Nick Fury and a style that’s not made for younger comic book readers.

This, like its two predecessors, has a much harder edge to it than a standard monthly Marvel comic and that’s one of the things that made me gravitate towards these one-off graphic novel releases.

Overall, this did a decent job of bringing the Scorpio stuff to a close and altering the character in a meaningful way. And while I wasn’t into the art in this chapter, this was still a short and action-packed tale that fits well with the other two Wolverine/Nick Fury team-ups.

Rating: 5.75/10

Comic Review: Wolverine/Nick Fury: The Scorpio Connection

Published: 1989
Written by: Archie Goodwin
Art by: Howard Chaykin

Marvel Comics, 66 Pages

Review:

I have loved the hell out of this graphic novel’s cover since I was a little kid hanging out in comic book shops with very limited funds. So I never actually bought this back in 1989 or the years that followed and I hadn’t actually read it until now.

While I enjoyed this it’s pretty average for what Marvel was putting out in their popular graphic novel series at the time. With a script by Archie Goodwin and art by Howard Chaykin, I went into it with pretty high hopes that this didn’t live up to.

Although, it’s still a pretty cool, action-packed book. I just felt like the story needed more pages to really be fleshed out and that things felt rushed and then it was over.

I did enjoy Chaykin’s art, as I usually do. I dig his character design and his patented style and it did a good job setting the tone for this story. But like the story, I wish there was more.

Still, this is beefier and a bit more adult than the standard single page comics of the era. I thought the villain was kind of neat but he barely got a chance to develop in any sort of meaningful way in just 66 pages.

Rating: 6/10