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S.H.I.E.L.D. by Steranko (not actual cover)

by Robert Greenberger

Stan Lee discovered well from publisher Martin Goodman, whose timely Comics had thrived during the 1940s by capitalizing on whatever trend was in the mainstream as well as flooded the newsstands with titles on the topic up until tastes changed. By the 1960s, with a restricted number of releases, Lee, then editor-in-chief of the renamed marvel Comics, had to be more selective however continued to keep his finger on the American pulse. By 1964, it was evident that espionage was right here to stay thanks to the blockbuster numbers pulled in by the James Bond thriller Thunderball. In the cinema, Bond fought SPECTRE as well as on television the guy from U.N.C.L.E. was battling T.H.R.U.S.H. to top ratings. It was time to bring a few of that pizzazz to comics as well as who much better to lead the recently produced S.H.I.E.L.D. than the grizzled professional Nick Fury?

Now sporting an eye patch as well as graying temples, Fury was recruited in the pages of 1965’s strange Tales #135 to head up the new organization. Why him? since in the waning days of world war II, he composed a report suggesting a worldwide peacekeeping force be organized to thwart the growing threats on a big scale. The report sat in a data up until the green-hooded threat in the type of Hydra ended up being as well fantastic to ignore.

The series, from Lee as well as Jack Kirby, was energetic as well as serviceable, an strange buddy to the occult doings of physician Strange. It was definitely more creatively fascinating than the Human Torch solo function it replaced however it was still lacking something.

That something was named Jim Steranko. The artist had tried to discover work at marvel in 1965, however wasn’t prepared yet so he took his interest to Harvey where he offered Editor Joe Simon on Spyman as well as other characters. None of them succeeded however Steranko, like Goodman, understood exactly how to checked out a altering culture.

“Coolly arrogant, wickedly handsome, surmounted by a grand pompadour as well as soon noted for appearing at conventions with voluptuous as well as exotic women, he was a self-made ‘60s playboy, a master of flash as well as misdirection in his personal as well as his art, a type of working-class Orson Welles. With an eye for pop culture as well as a brilliant for discovering anything in an instant, he saw that marvel was the location to be as well as master a glitzy imitation of Kirby’s style,” composed Gerard Jones as well as will Jacobs in The Comic book Heroes.

Strange Tales #165

Historian Sean Howe composed that the artist returned to the marvel offices in the summertime of 1966, fresh samples in tow. partner Editor Roy Thomas liked what he saw as well as ushered the young artist into Lee’s office. To Lee, with the much better trained artist’s eye, the work was crude however something tugged at him. He explained to Steranko he liked the pages’ “raw energy” as well as wished to provide him work. By then, Lee’s workload was such that he was handing off the lower series to others much as Kirby was throttling back on his exhausting schedule. Steranko was offered his option of assignments as well as opted for the awesome spy, Nick Fury.

Kirby, as had ended up being habit with all recently shown up artists, provided rough designs for the very first three installments which Steranko turned into completed art. At first, Lee provided the stories then let Thomas take the strip up until Steranko persuaded them he had sufficient concepts as well as skill to compose it himself. just like that, in the area of five issues, the series had altered hands as well as visitors were in for a treat. Steranko’s verve as well as style triggered people to sit up as well as pay attention, the very first stylistically different artist to work at the home of Ideas, breaking free from the Kirby style.

The total Steranko run is now being collected in S.H.I.E.L.D. by Steranko, including strange Tales #151-168 as well as Nick Fury, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1-3, as well as 5.

Strange Tales #167

What made the work so fresh as well as captivating? Howe composes in marvel Comics the Untold Story, “…he threw himself into experimenting with the type – slowly, at first, as well as then relentlessly. He complied with Kirby’s lead with collage work, which he supplemented with strobing as well as shimmying impacts of cutting-edge Op Art. He approached his pages more like a designer than an illustrator, paying special interest to the functions of the panel grids as well as spatial grids. Concentric circles, perspective-plane diagrams, as well as other geometric trickery conspired to make Nick Fury Marvel’s most psychedelic comic since Ditko’s physician Strange. Steranko reached back to will Eisner’s Spirit as well as Johnny Craig’s EC horror comics for inspiration, as well as the futurist bent of the series enabled for high-tech toys on every page, rendered in the intensively elaborate Kirby style., however where Kirby had full-page drawings, Steranko had double-page spreads – as well as then quadruple-page spreads, for which you’d have to buy two copies as well as lay them together if you wished to take in the full vista. There were nods to Salvador Dali, Eadweard Muybridge, Richard Avedon, as well as the films of Robert Siodmak as well as Michael Curtiz, as well as contemporary industrial artists like Richard M. Powers as well as Bob Peak.”

“When I took S.H.I.E.L.D. on, Fury was just an older version of his wartime persona: rumpled, cigar-chomping, unshaven…I cleaned him up, provided him the kinky black leather zipsuit rippling with clips, buttons, cartridge belts, as well as the shoulder holsters – so he might contend visually with Marvel’s super-heroes. I provided him a character as well as a sex life,” Steranko was quoted as stating in Arlen Shumer’s The Silver Age of Comic book Art.

Nick Fury, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #5

Fury was now a hunk, cavorting with Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine when he wasn’t fighting the threat from Scorpio. The globe-hopping adventures were slick as well as largely set apart from the larger marvel Universe, providing Steranko free regime to tell stories in his inimitable style. It likewise meant, though, that such experimentation slowed down his productivity, so much to ensure that Lee begged him to be a bit more traditional to get his work in on deadline. By 1968, as Marvel’s contract with Independent news ended, they were able to broaden as well as suddenly Fury was provided his own title. The 20 pages a month freed Steranko to get even more experimental, hence the remarkable covers, however it played havoc with the routine so he was lastly not able to create the book to his requirements as well as the publishing schedule.

“I introduced psychedelic art to mainstream comics, experimented with surrealistic passages, emphasized typographic aspects on pages, stressed a graphic style approach – particularly with covers — that was missing from comics at the time, as well as utilized picture methods to improve the kinetic drama inherent in the form,” he proudly told Michael Dean in The Comic Buyer’s Guide. They stay a highlight of Marvel’s very first age as well as hold up incredibly well. His broadened roster of agents, friends, as well as foes have lingered ever since as well as many have been influenced by his creative techniques as well as approach to storytelling.

Classic comic covers from the Grand Comics Database.

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S.H.I.E.L.D. by Steranko: The total Collection SC

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