Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (feature)

Strange Tales #135 (Aug 1965) had the first 12-page story featuring S.H.I.E.L.D. and the terrorist organization HYDRA[1] with Nick Fury, now a superspy instead of a soldier as in most of his previous appearances. This was to take advantage of the contemporary The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and James Bond fad.[2] Written by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, with Kirby also providing the artwork, it introduced many iconic features of the Marvel Comics universe.[3] Kirby and Lee created the Helicarrier and the Life Model Decoys, which became trademark gadgets and recurring plot devices for almost all future Nick Fury stories. The debut cover was drawn by Kirby and Frank Giacoia.

"Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." was taken over by Jim Steranko in issue #155 (April 1967), who had previously done penciling and coloring for the feature beginning in Strange Tales #151 (Dec. 1966).[4] Steranko was an innovative new talent that emerged at Marvel during the late 1960s, as he helped revolutionize the look of the comic book page with his "pop" artwork.[5] Steranko pioneered art movements of the day such as and op art psychedelia in the comic, built on the longtime work of Kirby with photomontage, and created comics' first four-page spread[6] – this also was inspired by Kirby, who in the Golden Age of comics had introduced the first full-page and double-page spreads. Steranko's plotlines involved adult intrigue, sexuality that was barely hidden away from the page, and hip sci-fi that was in vogue at the time of psychedelics in the 1960s. He also created his own version of the Bond girls, essentially, in skintight leather, pushing what was allowed under the Comics Code at the time. The Comics Code Authority demanded several panels in one landmark issue be to redrawn and censored.[7] Many times during his run on the feature, his art was censored, especially on the female characters. Nick Fury's love interest La Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine often had line and coloring removed from the art on her body to decrease buttocks or cleavage, many times with the cleavage lines erased altogether. In one story, her buttocks were completely blanked in the published issue.[8] "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." was the first Strange Tales feature to receive its own cover logo below the main title with Strange Tales #150 (Nov. 1966).[9]

• Son of Origins of Marvel Comics includes "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." story from Strange Tales #135, 249 pages, October 1975, ISBN 978-0-671-22166-9
• Marvel Masterworks: Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
  • Vol. 1 collects Strange Tales #135–153, Tales of Suspense #78, and Fantastic Four #21, 288 pages, September 2007, ISBN 978-0-7851-2686-7
  • Vol. 2 collects Strange Tales #154–168 and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1–3, 272 pages, December 2009, ISBN 978-0-7851-3503-6
• Steranko is Revolutionary! collects Nick Fury stories from Strange Tales #135–168, 336 pages, September 2020, ISBN 978-1302922894

• 1965: Strange Tales was the 53rd best-selling comic book series in the United States with an average of 230,285 copies sold per issue.[14]
• 1966: Strange Tales was the 36th best-selling comic book series in the United States with an average of 261,069 copies sold per issue.[15]
• 1967: Strange Tales was the 45th best-selling comic book series in the United States with an average of 241,561 copies sold per issue.[16]
• 1968: Strange Tales was the 32nd best-selling comic book series in the United States with an average of 266,422 copies sold per issue. This includes sales of the series after the title changed to Doctor Strange as of issue #169 (June 1968).[17]