Marvel to re-issue Steranko’s S.H.I.E.L.D. stories

Jim Steranko’s cover for Strange Tales No. 167, climax of the Yellow Claw storyline.

Marvel Comics is re-issuing artist-writer Jim Steranko’s classic run on Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. in September in time for a new S.H.I.E.L.D. series on ABC.

The trade paperback is priced at $34.99 but can be PRE-ORDERED ON AMAZON.COM FOR $24.79. It reprints the Nick Fury stories from Strange Tales Nos. 151-168 and issues 1-3 and 5 of Fury’s own title. (No. 4 was an expanded re-telling by Roy Thomas and Frank Springer of the S.H.I.E.L.D. origin story by first done by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales No. 135.)

Steranko took over as S.H.I.E.L.D. artist with issue 151. Jack Kirby, Fury’s co-creator, did rough layouts with Steranko doing finished pencils and inks. Eventually, Steranko took over as writer as well.

Steranko came in the middle of a storyline started by Stan Lee involving a new mysterious Supreme Hydra who was a master of disguise. Steranko eventually revealed the character to be none other than Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker, Fury’s nemesis from World War II.

Steranko had another long storyline reviving a 1950s villain, the Yellow Claw. The politically incorrect named villain is revealed in the last installment to be merely a robot. It was all part of an elaborate, chess-like game played by Dr. Doom and a sophisticated robot.

007’s “cameo” in Strange Tales No. 164

Steranko clearly was a James Bond fan. One of his stories featured a weapons expert named Boothroyd. In Strange Tales No. 164, the Sean Connery version of Bond pays a one-panel visit to a S.H.I.E.L.D. barber shop front.

The new paperback is coming out on Sept. 24. Walt Disney Co.’s ABC will air its new S.H.I.E.L.D. series this fall, built around Clark Gregg’s agent seen in a number of Marvel movies, including 2012’s The Avengers. When last seen, it appeared Gregg’s Agent Coulson had died. Then again, the audience only had the word of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) about that. The S.H.I.E.L.D. series is overseen by Whedon, who directed the Avengers film.

Meanwhile, here’s a tip of the cap to TANNER’S DOUBLE O SECTION BLOG, where we first read about this.

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