Colonel Nicholas J. Fury has seen a lot in his time as a soldier, spy, and superhero confidante. But no one could have prepared him for the answer to one simple question: Who is Scorpio? Your Major Spoilers Retro Review of Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 awaits!

NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. #1

Writer: Jim Steranko
Penciler: Jim Steranko
Inker: Joe Sinnott
Colorist: Jim Steranko
Letterer: Sam Rosen
Editor: Stan Lee
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: 12 Cents
Current Near-Mint Pricing: $300.00
Release Date: February 29, 1968

Previously in Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD: One of the earliest of Marvel’s character stable, Nick Fury first appeared as Sergeant Fury, fighting in the trenches of WWII in his own title in March of 1963. It was only six months later that he guest-starred in the pages of Fantastic Four, teaming with his war buddy Reed Richards against The Hate Monger. That adventure was apparently popular, as by 1965, the modern-day Nick Fury was co-starring in the pages of Strange Tales as the ramrod of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-enforcement Division). It was the era of Matt Helm, Derek Flint, and other James Bond wannabes, and Nick’s adventures were a hit, especially once Jim Steranko took over as writer/artist, leading to Nick getting his own series… again. Like so many Fury stories, it begins with him getting killed.

Of course, the Fury who got killed was an LMD (Life Model Decoy), and three of the shots were fired by the real Fury himself. At the same time, we are shown the lives of struggling comedian Flip Mason in a sleazy nightclub in San Francisco, and his double, Mitch Hackett, a low-level thug in Kansas City. Their parallel stories are balanced out by one Count Julio Scarlotti winning a road rally in Monza, Italy, while S.H.I.E.L.D. comes up blank on the strange “Scorpio” sigil. An unspecified amount of time later, our hero tests out new forcefield equipment in the Nevada desert, having set aside the matter of his mysterious foe.

Once again, though, there is an attempt on Nick’s life, forcing him to literally ride a rocket sled out of the desert, crashing through the wall of the S.H.I.E.L.D. base to find his team unconscious and defeated… by Scorpio! At the same time, Flip Mason and Mitch Hackett both travel to Las Vegas (one as a desperate attempt to make his fortune, the other as part of his big plan to move up in the underworld), and as luck would have it, their fortunes become intertwined, just like Scorpio and Fury.

Fury and Scorpio battle mano-a-mano to death for reasons that Nick can’t understand. Steranko’s layouts through this issue are flat-out legendary, but the beauty of the battle sequence really has to be seen and absorbed for any fan of sequential comic art. The half-page spread showing the power of the EPB G-System is likewise crazy, but I can’t show you the whole issue. Fury can’t understand why the mysterious cowled man wants to kill him, swearing revenge for unknown crimes. At the same time, Hackett and Mason’s lives collide.

As Flip Mason sneaks away with the two hundred grand, Mitch Hackett starts a running gun battle over where the money has gone, ending with Mitch shooting down Scorpio’s escape craft entirely by chance, ending his own life AND Scorpio’s vendetta… or so it would seem.

As for Flip Mason, everything is finally coming up roses.

That last page is a gut-wrencher for me, especially his fantasy of his happy wife and son, as Flip Mason finally puts it all together… or so he thinks. Though this comic came out before I was born, it would be easy to mistake Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 for a book from the ’80s, with script and layouts decades before their time, earning a near-perfect 4.5 out of 5 stars overall. The real heartbreaker of this comic is that Steranko’s run is sadly truncated, with only issues 2, 3, and 5 containing his work, and the mystery of Scorpio becoming a kludged-together series of retcons over the years. (Spoilers: He’s actually Nick’s brother, Jake Fury. Shhhhhh.)

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