MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel
WRITER: Mark Waid
PENCILS: Carlos Pacheco
INKS: Mariano Taibo with Jason Pax
COLORS: Dono Almara
LETTERS: VC's Joe Caramagna
COVER: Julian Totino Tedesco
VARIANT COVERS: Mahmud Asrar with Dono Almara; John Tyler Christopher; Mike Deodato with Edgar Delgado; David Marquez with Laura Martin; Steve McNiven with Marte Gracia; Sara Pichelli with Dono Almara; Valerio Schiti with Laura Martin; Ryan Stegman with Rom Fajardo; Skottie Young
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (January 2015)
Rated “T+”
S.H.I.E.L.D created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
“Perfect Bullets”
S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, law-enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency that appears in Marvel Comics titles. The agency often deals with paranormal and super-human threats. This agency was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Strange Tales #135 (cover dated: August 1965). The acronym, S.H.I.E.L.D., originally stood for “Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division,” but changed in 1991 to “Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate.”
S.H.I.E.L.D. plays a prominent role in the films and television series (live-action and animated) that are part of the “Marvel Cinematic Universe.” Currently, the S.H.I.E.L.D. acronym stands for “Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.”
S.H.I.E.L.D. is the star of an ABC television series, “Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” On the last week of the 2014, Marvel Comics launched a new S.H.I.E.L.D. comic book series. Mark Waid will write the series with the art provided by a rotating roster of popular comic book artists, beginning with the first issue's penciller, Carlos Pacheco.
S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (“Perfect Bullets”) introduces Phil Coulson, the star of the ABC series. This is his first day on the job as S.H.I.E.L.D. Special Ops Supreme Commander, and waiting for him is a full-on invasion of Earth. It seems that the hordes of the “Norse World” (Thor's stomping grounds) have arrived on Earth to unleash some destruction.
Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, Black Knight, Blue Marvel, Hercules, Hyperion, Nova, Sunfire, Valkyrie, and The Vision have their hands full. So it's up to Coulson to head to Sharzhad, a country beset by terrorists, and one of those terrorists may be the reason for the invasion. Now, Coulson will need to align the “perfect bullets” to save the day.
I picked up a copy of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 because I knew a friend of mine would like to read it. After reading it, he didn't seem impressed. I'm not, either.
S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 isn't a bad read. It's just nothing special or even worthy of much notice. I have said this in other reviews I've written: when Mark Waid is good, he's really good, but when he is not, he is mediocre. I won't call him mediocre on S.H.I.E.L.D. #1, but he is in the sub-par zone.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is up to the third issue, as of the last time I looked. I might try another issue, especially as characters from the ABC series will appear in the comic book.
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux
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