Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a 1965 comic series from Marvel Comics, published as one of the stories in later issues of the Anthology Comic Strange Tales. It was initially written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Jack Kirby.
Set in the shared Marvel Universe, it stars titular super-spy Nick Fury (the original version of the character) and introduces the hi-tech spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D.. and its recurring enemies, the villainous organisations HYDRA and A.I.M..
A much younger Fury was already starring in Marvel's World War II Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos series, and Fury had been briefly introduced to the modern setting as a CIA agent (via a guest appearance in Fantastic Four).
His Strange Tales series immediately took a different direction, with the first issue establishing S.H.I.E.L.D. as a hi-tech secret organisation with flying cars, a flying base and robot duplicates (Life Model Decoys). Despite his loud protestations that he doesn't know the science and isn't suited to run that sort of agency, Fury is appointed as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new leader and immediately rises to the challenge.
The relatively short Strange Tales stories often keep the focus tightly on Fury himself but, in later issues, Gabe Jones and Dum Dum Dugan, two ex-soldiers from the Sgt. Fury series, also join S.H.I.E.L.D. — and a number of brand new characters are also introduced as agents to expand the supporting cast.
Jim Steranko eventually became both writer and artist, with plots that sometimes shifted the threat away from the usual villains A.I.M. and Hydra. As part of this he also reintroduced characters from the short-lived 1950s Yellow Claw series (published by Marvel's predecessor Atlas Comics) into the growing Marvel Universe - most notably FBI agent Jimmy Woo and the titular villain, the Yellow Claw.
The first Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. story was published in Strange Tales #135, released on May 4, 1965. The series was successful, and eventually moved out of Strange Tales after #168 (published February 1, 1968), launching its own Sequel Series (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.), which initially kept the same creative team.
Many characters and elements from the original Strange Tales stories have since become very long-running, well-known aspects of the Marvel Universe, especially after versions of Fury, Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As of 2022, Nick Fury himself is now far better known as head of S.H.I.E.L.D. than for his original role in World War II commando stories.
The Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. stories in Strange Tales include the following tropes:
- Airborne Aircraft Carrier: The S.H.I.E.L.D. Heli-carrier is a huge flying base. The Reveal in the first story is when Fury, brought onboard without seeing his destination, throws a bomb out of a window and suddenly realises where he is...
- Canon Welding: The Yellow Claw, Jimmy Woo, Suwan and Fritz Voltzmann all come from the 1950s Yellow Claw series by Atlas Comics, and weren't connected to the Marvel Universe until their appearance in the Strange Tales Nick Fury stories.
- Cool Car: The first issue sets the tone by introducing a fireproof, Flying Car Porsche. Equipped with miniature Sidewinder missiles.
- Eyepatch of Power: Nick Fury's now iconic eyepatch was introduced in the first story (he wasn't wearing one in the original Sgt. Fury series or his previous Fantastic Four appearance).
- Flying Car: Introduced in the first issue, when Fury's initially being taken to S.H.I.E.L.D., and a regular feature of later stories.
- Foil: Agent Jasper Sitwell is young, prim and by-the-book, in contrast to the grizzled ruggedness of Fury and the other ex-Howlers.
- Fun with Acronyms: Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-enforcement Division.
- Government Agency of Fiction: S.H.I.E.L.D. is a huge international law enforcement agency. With Tony Stark running its special weapons division.
- Hubcap Hovercraft: The flying cars are portrayed this way, with wheels that fold under the car to provide lift.
- Involuntary Battle to the Death: The penalty for any Hydra agent who fails a mission. A potential replacement gets a shot at Klingon Promotion in a formal duel. The trope's played with, as it's involuntary for the incumbent, but not necessarily the challenger — who also gets a weapon, unlike the incumbent.
- Klingon Promotion: Downplayed and invoked. Hydra's formalized this as a You Have Failed Me ritual, which their leader invokes in the very first story. An agent who fails once gets a duel with their would-be replacement. The replacement is armed, the incumbent isn't. If the incumbent wins but later fails again, they don't get another chance to fight their way out of the consequences.
- Mook Chivalry: In issue #157, Fury is confronted by a group of Hydra goons, who are instructed to use 'Plan K-11': "Attack him one at a time and exhaust him for the kill!" Sure enough, they each go at him one at a time, allowing him to beat them all up one at a time. This is also an excuse to have a nine-panel page where Fury defeats one mook each panel
◊. - Ray Gun: Hydra sometimes uses electric pistols.
- Samus Is a Girl: It's only after Hydra's Agent H gains her Klingon Promotion that she unmasks - and their leader congratulates her on being the first female to attain such a high rank.
- Supernatural Fear Inducer: In issue #157, Fury throws a "Hallucination Cube" at a bunch of Hydra mooks, which emits a vapor that induces hallucinations of their greatest fears. It's really just an excuse for Jim Steranko to draw something really creepy and surrealistic◊.
- Villain with Good Publicity: A.I.M. poses as a legitimate weapons and technology company but is secretly a front for Hydra.
- You Have Failed Me: Hydra arranges a Klingon Promotion duel (with the challenger armed and the incumbent unarmed) the first time an agent fails. If they're able to win but subsequently fail a second time, this trope's played murderously straight.
