S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism government agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, this agency first appeared in Strange Tales #135 (August 1965), and often deals with paranormal activity and superhuman threats to international security.
The acronym originally stood for Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage and Law-Enforcement Division. It was changed in 1991 to Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate. Within media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as multiple animated and live-action television series, the backronym stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.
The organization has heavily appeared in media adaptations as well as films and shows that take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Publication history S.H.I.E.L.D.'s introduction in the Strange Tales featuring "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." occurred during a trend for action series about secret international intelligence agencies with catchy acronyms, such as television's The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which Stan Lee stated in a 2014 interview, was the basis for him to create the organization. Colonel Fury (initially the lead character of Marvel Comics' World War II series Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos) was reimagined as a slightly older character with an eyepatch (which he lacked in his wartime adventures) and appointed head of the organization. Some characters from the Sgt. Fury series reappeared as agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., most notably Timothy "Dum-Dum" Dugan, Fury's bowler hat-wearing aide-de-camp.
Its most persistent enemy is Hydra, a criminal organization founded (after some retcon) by Baron Strucker.
S.H.I.E.L.D. was presented as an extant, full-blown entity in its first appearance, with Tony Stark in charge of the Special Weaponry section and Fury seeing "some of the most famous joes from every nation" (then "half the leaders of the free world" a page later) at a meeting of the Supreme International Council.Strange Tales #135: "The Man For The Job!" Much was revealed over the years to fill in its labyrinthine organizational history. Stan Lee wrote each story, abetted by artist Kirby's co-plotting or full plotting, through Strange Tales #152 (January 1967), except for two issues, one scripted by Kirby himself (#148) and one by Dennis O'Neil (#149). Following an issue scripted by Roy Thomas (#153), and one co-written by Thomas and new series artist Jim Steranko, came the sole-writer debut of soon-to-become industry legend Steranko—who had begun on the feature as a penciller-inker of Kirby layouts in #151 (December 1966), taken over the every-other-issue "Nick Fury" cover art with #153 two months later, and full writing with #155 (April 1967).
Steranko quickly established the feature as one of comics history's most groundbreaking, innovative, and acclaimed. Ron Goulart wrote,
Larry Hama said Steranko "combined the figurative dynamism of Jack Kirby with modern design concepts. The graphic influences of Peter Max, Op Art, and Andy Warhol were embedded into the design of the pages—and the pages were designed as a whole, not just as a series of panels. All this, executed in a crisp, hard-edged style, seething with drama and anatomical tension".
The series won 1967 and 1968 Alley Awards and was inducted in the latter year to the awards' Hall of Fame. Steranko himself was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2006. The 12-page feature ran through Strange Tales #168 (sharing that "split book" with the occult feature "Doctor Strange" each issue), after which it was spun off onto its own series of the same title, running 15 issues (June 1968 – Nov. 1969), followed by three all-reprint issues beginning a year later (Nov. 1970 – Mar. 1971). Steranko wrote and drew issues #1–3 and #5, and drew the covers of #1–7.
New S.H.I.E.L.D. stories would not appear for nearly two decades after the first solo title. A six-issue miniseries, Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. (June–November 1988) was followed by Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (vol. 2). This second series lasted 47 issues (September 1989 – May 1993); its pivotal story arc was "the Deltite Affair", in which many S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were replaced with Life Model Decoy androids in a takeover attempt.
A year after that series ended, the one-shot Fury (May 1994) retconned the events of those previous two series, recasting them as a series of staged events designed to distract Fury from the resurrection plans of Hydra head von Strucker. The following year, writer Howard Chaykin and penciler Corky Lehmkuhl produced the four-issue miniseries Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. (April–July 1995). Various publications have additionally focused on Nick Fury's solo adventures, such as the graphic novels and one-shots Wolverine/Nick Fury: The Scorpio Connection (1989), Wolverine/Nick Fury: Scorpio Rising (October 1994), Fury/Black Widow: Death Duty and Captain America and Nick Fury: Blood Truce (both February 1995), and Captain America and Nick Fury: The Otherworld War (October 2001).
Titles
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics, that first premiered in Strange Tales and later became several ongoing series.
Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.
Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a comic book miniseries published by Marvel Comics, that first premiered in 1988.
Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a comic book miniseries published by Marvel Comics, that first premiered in 1995.
Kitty Pryde, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Kitty Pryde, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics, that first premiered in 1997.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a comic book title published by Marvel Comics. The first series premiered with a first issue cover dated June 2010. It details the secret history of the occult organization S.H.I.E.L.D. aka "The Brotherhood of the Shield". The series is written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Dustin Weaver. The second series premiered with a first issue cover dated December 2014. Loosely based on the TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., it was written by Mark Waid. It was superseded by Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics, premiering with a first issue cover dated in 2015.
S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th anniversary To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the organization's creation, Marvel in 2015 released five one-shots each focusing on different aspects of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Agent Carter: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary, The Cavalry: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary, Fury: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary, Mockingbird: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary and Quake: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics, premiering with a first issue cover dated in 2016.
Fictional organizational history Usually led by Nick Fury as executive director (although he reports to a twelve-member council, whose identities even he does not know), this organization often operates as much as a covert agency as a quasi-military one, initially depicted as affiliated with the United States government. Later, S.H.I.E.L.D. was depicted as under the jurisdiction of the United Nations, with vast technological resources at its disposal, with U.N. General Assembly Resolutions and legislation passed in signatory nations aiding many of their operations.Amazing Fantasy (vol. 2) #7 (June 2005) However, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been inconsistently portrayed as under U.S., rather than UN, control—for instance, in Astonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #3, Nick Fury explains S.H.I.E.L.D.'s inaction during an incident of genocide by stating that it did not occur on American soil.Astonishing X-Men (vol. 3) #3 (September 2004)
S.H.I.E.L.D. started off as a top-secret international organization (Fury was unaware of them when he was in the CIA) with a Supreme International Council made up of top officials and minds from across the world, including Tony Stark. Its first director was Rick Stoner, former head of the CIA, but he was quickly assassinated by Hydra,Fury #1 (1994) and the President of the United States recommended Nick Fury take the role.Strange Tales #135: "The Man For The Job!" (page 2: "Spy guys like me are a dime a dozen!" "The White House thinks differently, Fury!" Later on, the ultimate authority of S.H.I.E.L.D. is revealed to be a cabal of 12 mysterious men and women who give Fury his orders and operational structure, leaving Fury to manage the actual implementation of these orders and stratagems.
One of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s unique technological innovations, the LMD (Life Model Decoy)—an extremely lifelike android used to replace people in imminent danger of being killed—was the basis for two major upheavals. First, the supervillain Scorpio stole the technology and used it to create the second team of villains called the Zodiac. Later, some LMDs known as the Deltites achieved sentience and infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra both, replacing key members until Fury defeated them. This led to the disbanding of the original organization and its replacement by a new task force with the same acronym under the control of the U.N. ("Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage and Logistics Directorate") The new S.H.I.E.L.D. was meant to be more streamlined so Fury could personally oversee it, but would soon become a large organization again.
In the wake of a disastrous unauthorized mission in Latveria, Fury effectively resigned as executive director, with international warrants out for his arrest. His first successor was not one of his closer associates but a relatively unknown newcomer to the S.H.I.E.L.D. hierarchy, Maria Hill. A transcript of a conversation between Hill and the President of the United StatesSecret War #5 (December 2005) revealed she was chosen for the post by United Nations consensus to keep Fury loyalists out of the job and to keep relations with the superhero community to a minimum. The President also expected Hill—an American—to be loyal first to the U.S., despite S.H.I.E.L.D. being a UN-chartered organization.
The passage of the United States Superhuman Registration Act and the subsequent superhero "Civil War" created an additional political and ethical irritant between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the superhuman community, with S.H.I.E.L.D. tasked to lead enforcement and to take on registered superheroes as operatives.Civil War #1–7 (Jul. 2006 – Jan. 2007), and related series
Toward the end of the conflict, Hill concluded she had been made director with the intent that she fails at the job, and she proposes to Tony Stark that he assume the post himself, with her as deputy. Stark accepts the appointment as director upon the conclusion of the superhuman Civil War and undertakes a series of initiatives, including the construction of a new gold-and-red Helicarrier in the motif of his Iron Man armor designs, the introduction of a daycare center in the Helicarrier, and an employee suggestion-box. While accused of treating S.H.I.E.L.D. as a Stark Industries subsidiary, he succeeded in streamlining the organization and raising morale.Iron Man (vol. 4) #15 (April 2007) S.H.I.E.L.D. fought a wave of global superhuman terrorism and was manipulated into two international incidents that almost saw Director Stark arrested until they revealed the Mandarin to be behind it and stopped him from committing genocide with an Extremis pathogen.