SHIELD – Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Gene Colan — Agent Of Sleep

May 30, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Captain America #120, December 1969

Concluding our look at SHIELD on the eve of its 55th anniversary.

Gene Colan was a polarizing storyteller when it came to artistic style.

Fans either really loved his work (count me in that group) or didn’t like it at all. I could never figure that out. Of course his work didn’t look anything like the rest of Marvel Bullpen, but that was cool; his dynamic storytelling and extraordinary use of light and shadows was astonishing. To me, at least.

Colan’s run on Captain America came after both Kirby and Steranko, and that was a definite change of pace. But Gene’s reality-defying physics felt like a perfect fit for Cap, Marvel’s own reality-defying super powered acrobat.

Inking Gene Colan was one of the most challenging assignments in comics, but the legendary Joe Sinnott delivers here.

Nick Fury, of course, is the most important supporting character in the Marvel Universe. After Kirby and Steranko’s run was completed, the character couldn’t sustain his own title, but SHIELD was an important part of the entire Marvel Universe, primarily with Captain America in the latter part of the Silver Age.

And of course that dynamic repeats — brilliantly — in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

And for the record, even though it appears Fury’s up to absolutely no good by hypnotizing Steve Rogers in this scene, he actually did have a higher purpose in mind.

Ultimately it didn’t work. The man is Captain America, after all.

Inking Gene Colan was one of the most challenging assignments in comics, but these two issues stand out: Issue #127, inks by Wally Wood, and #135, inked by Tom Palmer. The Palmer splash is a wonderful harbinger of monstrous things to come on the Wolfman/Colan/Palmer Tomb of Dracula series, while the Wood issue is simply spectacular looking from start to finish.

Meta Fury: Fury is retooled as a black character in the Ultimate Marvel line in the early 2000s, and writer Mark Millar **ultimately** utilizes the likeness of Samuel Jackson for the role — neglecting to tell him that. But Jackson held no grudge — ultimately playing the character in 11 films and counting.

*Fury and Cap share a special bond early on, as discussed here.*

Frank Springer — Death To Fury!

May 28, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #10, March 1969

Continuing a look at SHIELD on the eve of its 55th anniversary.

Jim Steranko is not a hard act to follow.

He’s an impossible one.

But on the SHIELD solo series, Frank Springer gave it a try. And in possibly another circumstance, it probably would have been fine.

But, like I said, all of sudden SHIELD transformed into an inadvertent real life version of another spy series: Mission Impossible.

Springer, who broke into Marvel with his work on this series actually captured some of the Steranko vibe in these issues. Barry Smith also managed to capture some it in one issue as well, and even Herb Trimpe had a few cool stories before it became a moot point, and the series died.

In a vacuum, the Springer Fury issues, as exemplified by this page, are well told and illustrative. Clear storytelling and panel variety move us through the action quickly and creatively.

But coming off the Kirby-meets-Krigstein pop-psychedelic acid trip of Steranko’s earlier issues, it wasn’t enough to keep the series going.

But of course, Nick Fury, and SHIELD, lived on.