Set Description:
As a comic collector you really cant pass up the chance to have an important part of Marvel History without having the Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD collection. For me its the cover art that has always attracted me to this series, which captures the essence of the 1960s in the cover art from Steranko. I had the chance to meet and hear him speak, fascinating man and very much a showman of his time.
Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury created by writer/artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, Fury first appeared in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 (May 1963), a World War II combat series that portrayed the cigar-chomping Fury as leader of an elite U.S. Army unit.
The modern-day Fury, initially a CIA agent, debuted a few months later in Fantastic Four #21 (Dec. 1963). In Strange Tales #135 (Aug. 1965), the character was transformed into a spy like James Bond and leading agent of the fictional espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. The character makes frequent appearances in Marvel books as the former head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and as an intermediary between the U.S. government or the United Nations and various superheroes.
Writer-penciller-colorist Jim Steranko began on the feature in Strange Tales #151 (Dec. 1966), initially over Kirby layouts. He quickly became one of comic books' most acclaimed and influential artists. In some of the creative zeniths of the Silver Age, Steranko established the feature as one of comic books' most groundbreaking and innovative. He introduced or popularized in comic books such art movements of the day aspsychedelia and op art; built on Kirby's longstanding work in photo-montage; and created comic books' first four-page spread. All the while, he spun plots of intense intrigue, barely hidden sensuality, and hi-fi hipness and supplied his own version of Bond girls, pushing what was allowable under the Comics Code at the time.
The 12-page feature ran through Strange Tales #168 (sharing that "split book" with the occult feature "Doctor Strange" each issue), after which it was spun off into its own series, titled Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. This ran 15 issues (June 1968 - Nov. 1969), followed by three all-reprint issues beginning a year later (Nov. 1970 - March 1971). Steranko wrote and drew issues #1-3 and #5, and drew the covers of #1-7.
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| Slot: |
Nick Fury 1 |
| Item: |
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2138386001
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Owner Comments
Cover by Jim Steranko. First appearance of Scorpio in "Who Is Scorpio?", script by Jim Steranko, pencils by Jim Steranko, inks by Joe Sinnott; Fury sneaks into an island fortress, only to get shot in the back. Surprise!; It's an L.M.D., and the shooter is the real Fury!; But on examination, Dugan informs Fury the L.M.D.'s been shot 4 times, not 3 - which means, someone tried to assassinate him!; The only clue is a tiny badge with a "Scorpio" symbol on it; In San Francisco, comic Flip Mason's on the run from gambling debts; In Kansas City, racketeer Mitch Hackett looks forward to joining the mob. In NYC, Fury & Val walk in the rain; At the Monza Autodrome, Count Julio Scarlotti wins a race - and we see he has a Scorpio tattoo on his wrist; Days later in Nevada, Fury helps test an "EPB G-System" (Entrope Phase Barrier Guard System), a force field which is hoped may one day protect entire armies. As SHIELD prepares one final test (with an H-Bomb!) we see the tech firing the missile has a Scorpio tattoo on his wrist; Fury suddenly realizes the EPB's down, and nobody answers his comm; He races across the desert to a rocket sled used by NASA to escape as the missile descends on the spot he was relaxing; At the U.S. Government Research Center in Las Vegas, everyone's been put to sleep with gas by Scorpio - when Fury arrives via motorcycle.
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| Slot: |
Nick Fury 2 |
| Item: |
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. 2 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0254349010
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Owner Comments
Cover by Jim Steranko. "So Shall Ye Reap... Death!", script and pencils by Jim Steranko, inks by Frank Giacoia and Joe Giella (assist); (Page 5, panels 9 and 11 redrawn by John Romita Sr. to allow the issue to pass the Comics Code Authority); Jimmy Woo goes through a death-trap laden "fun house" as his initiation as a SHIELD agent; Later, in his apartment, Fury & Val get romantic; The next day, off the Pacific Coast, en route to the Heli-Carrier in a bizarre twin-bodied jet, Fury & Jimmy are knocked out of the sky and wind up on a volcanic island transformed into a "Garden of Eden" and biological laboratory by "Centurius" - formerly Dr. Noah Black, a scientist who disappeared in the 1930s when his theories were scoffed at; After creating both new & extinct forms of life and sending them into space, he plans to rain down fire on the entire Earth, for forty days and forty nights, cleansing it so his creations can start anew on a world "without the threat of mass murder, intimidation, fear"; With the help of a visiting movie company and their robot gorilla prop, Fury & Woo put the kibosh on his plans.
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| Slot: |
Nick Fury 4 |
| Item: |
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. 4 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1337846007
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Owner Comments
Cover by Jim Steranko. SHIELD origin retold in "And Now It Begins...', script by Roy Thomas (plot, dialogue) and Frank Springer (plot), art by Frank Springer; HYDRA repeatedly tries to murder Nick Fury before he can recruited to head SHIELD; The agent in charge of the operation, Agent L, is executed for his failure by Agent H; After reminiscing about his days in WW2, Fury meets Tony Stark, who introduces him to the SHIELD board of directors, then shows him a film detailing HYDRA's operations; After Fury uncovers a bomb in the room and dispatches it, along with the spy who planted it, he realizes the danger facing the free world and takes the job.
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| Slot: |
Nick Fury 7 |
| Item: |
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. 7 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0349233007
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Owner Comments
Cover by Jim Steranko (his final for the series). "Hours of Madness, Day of Death," script by Archie Goodwin (plot, dialogue) and Frank Springer (plot), art by Frank Springer; Nick gets into a fight at an unnamed foreign embassy, and winds up being injected with a drug that will cause hallucinations, "hyper-intense paranoia", and death after 6 hours; He wanders the streets of NYC, hoping to reach a set rendezvous point for a scheduled pick-up via the Heli-Carrier's vortex beam. However, he's mistaken by a cop as a drunk, and when his felow agents show up, the drug causes him to see them as 3 of his worst enemies!; Jimmy Woo comments that other agents have been going berzerk, which was what Nick was investigating in the first place; Nick is found by Sister Angela, who offers to help get him to the pick-up point; However, they're intercepted by 2 of the spies, who tie them up and send their car racing downhill on a dangerous mouontain road!; Dum Dum, Jimmy & Gabe, who've been following in their van, almost crash head-on, when suddenly the vortex beam picks up both vehicles!
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| Slot: |
Nick Fury 9 |
| Item: |
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. 9 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
2020917019
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Owner Comments
Cover by Jim Steranko. "The Name Of The Game Is... Hate!", script by Gary Friedrich (plot, dialogue) and Frank Springer (plot), art by Frank Springer; While at a doctor's appointment, Fury is the target of an assassin, who misses him but hits the doctor instead; Escaping via aircraft, Fury recognizes the "H" symbol and realizes The Hate-Monger is somehow back in action; After rendezvousing at the Heli-Carrier, Fury, Dugan, Jimmy & Gabe pursue the aircraft & wind up in an aerial dogfight; After shooting down the enemy jet, they follow, only to find themselves in a bizarre prehistoric landscape filled with dinosaurs!; Fury plunges into a gigantic underground laboratory and comes face-to-face with The Hate-Monger, who reveals the other SHIELD agents are really victims of the "Psychotron," which is creating illusions in their minds; The Hate-Monger plans to use nuclear missiles to "deal a death-blow to every nation on Earth," and also shows him a "Brain-Bank" chamber containing the "active brains" of all his former advisers and associates, whose mentalities live on even while their bodies are long dead.
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| Slot: |
Nick Fury 11 |
| Item: |
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. 11 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
0956801009
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Owner Comments
Cover by Frank Springer. "The 1st Million Megaton Explosion," script by Gary Friedrich (plot, dialogue) and Frank Springer (plot), pencils by Frank Springer, inks by Mike Esposito (uncredited); Against his will, Laura Brown drags Fury to a disco in the East Village to see "The Million Megaton Explosion", who she calls "the hottest new group on the scene"; But high in orbit, monitoring the "scene", The Hate-Monger uses his hate-ray to begin a riot, setting young against old!; Fury barely escapes with his life with Laura, then high-tails it to the Heli-Carrier; The hate rays continue to pour forth, and gangs of youths seize power in NYC and at an ICBM base in New Jersey; They plan to "wipe out the establishment" if the country isn't turned over to them; Conferring with the President, Fury asks for a space capsule at Cape Kennedy so he can knock out the Hate-Monger's threat; Once more entirely on his own, Fury invades the orbiting space station, and confronts the Nazi villain face-to-face.
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| Slot: |
Nick Fury 14 |
| Item: |
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. 14 Universal |
| Grade: |
CGC |
| Cert #: |
1396708010
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Owner Comments
Cover pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by Sam Grainger. "Nick Fury... A Day In the Life," script by Gary Friedrich (plot, dialogue) and Herb Trimpe (plot), pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by Sam Grainger; Aboard the Heli-Carrier, the "Psycho-Projector" is used on Fury, to put him thru his paces while unconscious and learn what's really going on in his mind; It turns out EVERYTHING involving "The Super-Patriot" was just a dream! Later, with no knowledge of this, Fury wakes up back in his NY apartment, where Val has a morning Alka-Seltzer waiting for him; His new secretary, Agent Huff, contacts him to let him know the Munitions Department wants him for a briefing; But someone has sabotaged his apartment, and TWICE he barely escapes death!; Elsewhere, HYDRA agent Number 72 plots Fury's death; Fury skips breakfast, then is ambushed on the way to his car; in route to the Heli-Carrier, a fault develops in one of the anti-grav wheels of his Ferrari, causing him to bail out and parachute to land.
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