The above issue of "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." issue 6 was published in November 1968 however, it wasn't until 1972 when I first saw this Sternako cover printed in an old US Marvel comic advertising its release. It’s fair to say I was immediately intrigued by the cover art and made it my goal to track down a copy as soon as I could. That task would take me some time!
It wouldn't be until 1983, when Marvel reprinted the Steranko illustrated/written S.H.I.E.L.D. comics in a 2 issues limited series (see covers below) that I eventually obtained a copy of that amazing cover. But like most comic fans I craved a copy of the original comic book and I finally tracked down a reading copy of “Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." issue 6 (for only £4!) in a local book stores closing down sale last week (50 years after first seeing the cover in 1972). Although I was pleased to eventually find this issue I was slightly disappointed to see that the story was illustrated by Frank Springer and not Sternako whose last internal artwork and story appeared in issue 5. In the story itself (plotted by Roy Thomas & written by Archie Goodwin) an asteroid is hurtling towards Earth and only Nick Fury can stop it. However, there are alien forces that will stop at nothing to ensure that the asteriod finds it target, planet Earth!
This issue of S.H.I.E.L.D also featured an advert for "Hulk King Size" issue 1 featuring that s
tunning Hulk cover by Steranko.
Above, the covers to the 2 issue limited "Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." 1983 series featring Steranko's run on the series. Issue 2 cover taken from Marvel Wiki (I can't find my issue!)
Steranko's cover to "Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D" issue 6 has been usued in many comics including the first issue of Marvel UK's "Future Tense" comic (with awful colouring).
I was probably about seven years old when I walked into my local newsagents in Cambuslang (near Glasgow) with my pocket money firmly he...
Following on from my last post featuring some of my favourite Marvel comic book covers from 1973, I thought I would show some of DC's ...
Nearly a half-century on I still consider 1973 to be the year that cemented my destiny in becoming a lifetime comic book fan. It was a yea...
It always amazes me when Steranko's work comes up how important his work is given how relatively little he did of it. I was most fortunate to be just getting into comics when these SHIELD covers were hitting the stands and they were truly flabbergasting events. There was a tiny period later when Steranko just did covers for Marvel and then he went off to pursues his own interests, leaving behind a small but powerful legacy.
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine how stunning Steranko's art must have looked in the late '60s when it first appeared. Of course it would have especially appealed to students/older readers who were starting to enjoy comics, which probably led to Steranko's cult status. The lack of comic work he created didn't hurt his cult status either, then afain he was pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI know this is heresy but I've never really understood the fuss about Steranko. I do like the Nick Fury and Hulk covers though.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw his art in the early 1970s, I thought his art was exciting and fresh. But looking at it now it does look a bit dated in a way Adams, Buscema's etc art has not dated as much. But he was without doubt a major trailblazer and influence for comic art abd his art and design was very much of its time so perhaps its that element rather than his art that looks a bit dated.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a Nick Fury fan, but those covers drawn by Steranko are amazing pieces of art. I only picked up a reading copy of #6 myself a couple of years ago, purely on the cover alone. Looking back at his early work for Marvel, so many of his figures are drawn in very awkward poses with limbs drawn incorrectly, yet they have a real power, in much the same way that Kirby drew some very strange poses which still work.
ReplyDeleteI was also a fan of his MediaScene magazine, and of course, the wonderful covers of the Shadow paperback reprints from the late 1970s.