Sgt Fury and his Howling Commandos 96 cover by Gil Kane

I recently came across this cover I had never seen before - probably because I never collected that many war comics - Sgt Fury and his Howling Commandos 96, March 1972 (probably hit the newsstands 3 months before in December 1971).

This is a smashing cover illustration by Gil Kane and John Severin! The overhead view perspective on the three figures as gunshots rain down on them - as Dum Dum Dugan tries to carry an injured Nick Fury - wow. John Severin, a veteran of many war comics, inks Kane here.

However - Severin wasn't the first choice to ink this cover! The editors originally gave Kane's pencils to Ralph Reese to ink. This version was printed as a pin-up in the next issue. You can see that Reese's inks are superb as well, but they make the figures covered in shadows. It really increased the horror factor. I can only assume the editors didn't want this effect. Interesting that someone objected to it so strenuously that they had another inker do it before the publication deadline. Nuff Said!

Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. 6 cover recreation by Steranko

We all remember this classic cover to Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #6 by Jim Steranko...

The first issue with only a cover and with the interiors done by other creators, sob!  Still this became an iconic cover, was homaged by Superman once, and I think it was also a poster.  I loved the design and execution of it.

Steranko did a recreation of this cover, sans the logo and stuff, in the 1980s according to The Drawings of Steranko.  The recreation is cool, especially for the coloring, but somehow I prefer the original cover.  How about you?  Nuff Said!

Nick Fury, Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D. on Jim Steranko Christmas Card

Here is the cast of Jim Steranko's 1960s Marvel Comics on a Christmas Card...

No idea what year this was created in, but you can see all the heroes from Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D.  Nick is pretty cool with Val on his arm, but personally I think Dum Dum Dugan is even cooler.  I retrieved this one from Albert Moy on ComicArt who also has a fantastic site selling original comic artwork.  Nuff Said!

Marvel Funnies for April Fools Day: Forbush-Man, Nick Fury, Thor vs Silver Surfer

Here are few pieces to drive you Marvelously Crazy this fine April Fools Day…

This cover to Crazy #1 (1972) by Marie Severin features Forbush-Man summing up the spirit of the early 1970s anti-war protests:  Support peace, you super-baddies, or we’ll clobber ya! 

Forbush-Man: a character I thought would have taken off more!  He looks to be making a comeback in next week’s parody special (of Captain America), Who Won’t Wear the Shield? 

What happens when Nick Fury goes scuba diving on vacation?  As Bruce Timm sees it, he just can’t stop taking all of his gear along with him, much to Val’s chagrin.  Perhaps Hydra was about to strike?  It’s a fine homage to Steranko’s covers and penchant for pockets and gear.

It really cracks me up that Fury is smoking a cigar inside that helmet!

Bruce Timm again, drawing the scene that John Buscema forgot in Silver Surfer #3.  Silly, but as a kid, I did always wonder why the Surfer never rammed anyone in the gut.

Last and certainly least, a terribly Inhuman pun.  Nuff Said!

Michael Golden Marvel Fanfare 47 wraparound cover featuring Hulk, Spider-Man and Nick Fury

Some of Michael Golden's best work appeared in Marvel Fanfare, such as this gem from 1989.



Issue #47 contained a unbelievable Marvel Team-Up (and perhaps this story was originally meant for that title) between Spider-Man and the Hulk with a guest appearance by Nick Fury. 



Written by Golden's Micronauts partner, Bill Mantlo, the Hulk went berserk in a mind-controlled frenzy.  Golden's artwork in this story is top-notch as usual, the above two panels being a great example.  You can probably get this issue very cheap at a convention!  Nuff Said!

Update: Comments from my old MT blog...

2 Comments

By Sanctum Sanctorum Comix on March 20, 2010 12:09 PM

(too lazy to sign into my account.)

I remember reading an interview with Al Milgrom (It may even have been mentioned somewhere IN this very issue itself [the Editori-Al segment, perhaps?]) where he states that this tale was originally commissioned with Golden after Golden knocked the first few issues of Marvel Fanfare out of the park.

This story was meant to run soon thereafter.

However, it took Y-E-A-R-S for Golden to eventually finish it and thus it ran in this late ish.

If I'm not mistaken this anecdote is also mentioned by Golden himself in some book or DVD that I have of the man and his works (huge Golden fan right here or at least Golden of the 1980's-1990's).

~P~
PTOR

By Richard Guion on March 22, 2010 11:57 PM

Interesting story! Editori-AL did have to wait a looong time for Golden to finish didn't he? Oh well, if Golden were more prolific...
Richard

Steranko's SHIELD reprint covers

By the time I started reading Marvel Comics, around 1970, I had missed Steranko's great runs on Captain America and SHIELD.  I first encountered Nick Fury in the pages of the Avengers and Captain America.  I thought he was ultra-cool, to say the least, the first time I saw the Helicarrier in Cap's book.  During the Kree-Skrull war, Cap and the Avengers met with Fury in a space-orbital carrier.  Fury had all the toys a boy could want, a radical girlfriend in Val (with her crazy Bride of Frankenstein hair), and his best friend was called Dum Dum Dugan.

I was primed for a SHIELD solo title.  Nick Fury and his Agents of SHIELD in 1972 was my first.

Steranko's cover was amazing to me.  Fury and the other agents were in underwater gear, attacking a base full of crazed AIM agents in glass-enclosed secret base.  I had seen Diamonds Are Forever the year before and just gotten in James Bond.  This cover brought that Bondian style into comics, shaken and stirred with a Marvel twist.

The stories inside were Jack Kirby and Don Heck reprints.  Sure, it was a bit disappointing that the cover artist didn't draw the stories inside.  But I was thrilled to learn the early history of Nick Fury.  Whenever I read a Marvel reprint book, I felt like an archeologist opening up an undiscovered Egyptian tomb.

The cover to Nick Fury and his Agents of SHIELD #2 was a bit more in the classic Steranko mode.  In addition to Fury, I was able to learn about SHIELD's supporting cast: Gabe Jones, Clay Quartermain, and my favorite, the bookish Jasper Sitwell.  Sitwell's rallying cry, Don't Yield, Back SHIELD!  still rings in my memory.  I can't figure out why Sitwell has dropped of the face of Earth 616.

This reprint title only lasted five issues, not long enough to cover Steranko's Strange Tales run.  Years later I would discover Steranko's 1960s work and be blown away once again.  Nuff said.

Nick Fury, Nixon, and Femme Force One!

Step into the shoes of Nick Fury, leader of S.H.I.E.L.D.

You’ve got thousands of agents, Helicarriers that constantly seem to fall from the sky, Life Model Decoys, and lots of super-gadgets to pay for.  Who pays for that?  Tax-paying True Believers!  And once in a while, Nick Fury has gotta do something great to show our government how these well these billions are actually spent.

In 1971 (Captain America #144), Fury gave President Richard Nixon, Vice President Spiro Agnew, and Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird this little show.

Presenting the newest S.H.I.E.L.D. squad, Femme Force One!  Led by Sharon Carter, Captain America’s girlfriend.  It’s her big chance to prove that women are as valuable to S.H.I.E.L.D. as men, in their skintight super-suits.  Diamondback was never this ambitious.

It sure doesn’t hurt that John Romita drew Femme Force One.  Right on, Sisters!  These girls look like supermodels! It only lasted for two panels, but it made me forget about the Femizons for a while.  Keep in mind, the Wonderbra had not been invented at this point in time.  Right on Sisters!

Nixon’s grinning from ear to ear, but he makes one thing perfectly clear to Fury, by explaining how the government really works.  I really didn’t like Nixon after reading this—he’s treating Fury like a high school dropout!  Basically by the time this proposal makes it through all stages of government, Nixon’s out of office and it’s dropped like a hot potato.

Defense Secretary Melvin Laird also insults Nick Fury in this panel.  You can see why these guys lost the war in Vietnam, they are totally ignoring the dude who saved our bacon time after time.  Spiro Agnew, however, appears to be so sexually excited that he is speechless!  What a horndog he appears to be, grinning from ear to ear.  Hopefully these images were a comfort to Agnew after he resigned in disgrace.

I wonder if Quentin Tarentino read this issue of Captain America?  Uma Thurman makes a reference to a fictitious TV show called “Fem Force Five”. 

I’ll bet anything that John Romita voted for George McGovern.  Nuff said.