Pick of the Week
What did the
iFanboy
community think?
Pulls
Art by Dustin Weaver
Colors by Christina Strain
Letters by Todd Klein
Cover by Gerald Parel & Dustin Weaver
Size: pages
Price: 2.99
One of the reasons why I like S.H.I.E.L.D. so much is because it’s downright crazy on so many levels. It’s the kind of comic book where I wonder how it even got green-lit, much less how they’re continuing to get away with it from issue to issue. It’s the kind of comic book that challenges you as a reader and makes you commit to it in order to drive enjoyment from it. And finally, it’s the kind of comic that so depends on your willingness to have an imagination, because that’s the only way you can make sense of it all. And those are the kind of comic books I like.
I understand that S.H.I.E.L.D. has left some people confused, and scratching their heads. You see, when it launched you had the combination of a rising star in the comics industry, Jonathan Hickman, writing the book and it had a title that carried a heavy reputation. When I heard Hickman was doing a book called S.H.I.E.L.D., I can admit that I immediately had a preconceived notion of what that book would be. I thought it would involve Nick Fury and the other commonly used S.H.I.E.L.D. supporting cast like Dum Dum Dugan and the rest. That would be a pretty badass book, right? Especially coming out of Hickman’s previous run on Secret Warriors, it just made sense. But after seeing teaser art from his collaborator and artist, Dustin Weaver, and issues began to be released, I realized (as did everyone else) that this was nothing to do with what we already knew of the acronym S.H.I.E.L.D. At all.
If you had came to me a year ago and told me that Hickman’s S.H.I.E.L.D. would be an epic tale involving Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Nikola Tesla, Michaelangelo, and the fathers of Tony Stark and Reed Richards, I would have laughed in your face. No way Marvel would be publishing that. Take away Stark and Richards and that sounds like a book Hickman would do at Image (which in talking to Hickman at C2E2 last year, he confirmed that he had this idea outside of the Marvel Universe). And yet somehow, not only has he taken those iconic people, he’s added them to the tapestry of the Marvel Universe in a way that I would never have guessed, much less thought would ever see the light of day. And yet, here we are at issue #6, the conclusion of the first story arc and my head has been left spinning.
In this issue, we see the culmination of several plot threads, as the army of Isaac Newton and their belief in fate square off the army of Leonardo da Vinci and their belief in man’s will, with our young protagonist Leonid stuck in the middle of the conflict. Meanwhile, Howard Stark and Nathaniel Richards (fathers of Tony Stark, Iron Man and Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four) are trapped in the future along with an enemy that turned out to be none other than Nikola Tesla. Finally, Leonid comes into contact at the end of the story with a being known as the Forever Man, or as he’s also known as, Michelangelo. Is your head spinning yet? Good, because it’s supposed to be.
Now, I’m a total sucker for these sort of stories that take real people like Newton, da Vinci, Tesla and Michelangelo and turns them into mythical beings. I mean, they are already are to a certain extent, long gone with their legacies left for us to analyze and understand. Hickman takes our built up ideas about these people and casts them in a story that is able to tie into the grander history of the Marvel Universe in a way that I would never have thought possible. It’s just so outrageous, that it’s unbelievable, and yet now after the concluding chapter, it all makes sense (well, as much as it can at this point in the story) and left me excited and impatient for the next issue, for the next chapter to unfold to see just where this story will go. Because as of right now, I know that Hickman is working without limits and it’s amazing to watch.
When we discuss the art in comic books, we often use a term to describe a really good job by an artist in the form of “They’re killing it.” It’s been a while for me since I’ve been able to say, without too much hyperbole, that an artist is killing it as much as Dustin Weaver has been on this series. Some of the settings and specifics that Hickman as dreamed up in S.H.I.E.L.D. aren’t particularly simple. In fact they’re about as complicated as it gets and Weaver has handled it like a pro from issue to issue. This issue particularly featured both some sweeping landscapes and settings, as well as battling action and vibrant technology, as well as character emotion and reactions. Further enhanced by the coloring from Christina Strain, S.H.I.E.L.D. is a book that is alive with energy, both metaphorically and actually alive with energy. When Tesla and attacks, his suit becomes alive with energy and you can almost hear it crackling. Page after page comes alive with the outrageous concepts Hickman dreamed up coming to live on the page and makes this book not only gripping to read, but so much fun to look at.
Now I know after my last pick with Fantastic Four #587, I’m coming off like a total Hickman fanboy. But what can I say? The guy makes great comics. Going back to my thoughts above, sometimes I want to be challenged by the comics I read, and I know when I read one written by Hickman, I’m going to get a challenge. What’s so delightful about S.H.I.E.L.D. is that it’s challenging me in the world of the Marvel Universe I could never have anticipated. Because of its scale and impact, S.H.I.E.L.D. may go down to be one of the most important comics in Marvel’s history, and I love that I will remember the moment I read S.H.I.E.L.D. #6 and had to sit down after reading it and say, “Whoa.”
Ron Richards
So how does the world end?
ron@ifanboy.com
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This book explodes my brain every issue. It’s also just about the only book I don’t fully understand, but for some reason that heightens its appeal for me.
Marvel books I’m currently reading: Fantastic Four, SHIELD, X-Factor, whatever the next DnA cosmic project is. One Hickman fanboy to another I guess.
You nailed it Ron. I’m so glad I hopped on this in the early goings. Waiting two months for each issue has not been frustrating either. Rather, it has been an invigorating challenge … like when I was young on Christmas Eve, waiting for presents the next morning. I don’t buy very many comics these days (allow myself two from each publisher). My two Marvel books are S.H.I.E.L.D. and X-Factor … they’re both well worth the wait each and every issue.
This run is going to make a beautiful Omnibus volume when it comes out in the year 2032.
I can’t wait to read it tonight!
I just ordered the first HC (1-6) from Previews. I haven’t read past the 1st issue, so I’m pretty excited about this. In the over-sized trim too!
Soft week — didn’t read this one, but I trust Ronxo’s judgment.
@WilliamKScurryJr Curious. What does “soft week” mean?
I think this issue really signified for me that I’ve had enough of the slow pacing of this book.
This was a good issue, there wasn’t anything really ‘bad’ to say about it. But, to me, nothing really happens in this book and Hickman goes for the ‘big identity reveal’ for an issue’s end for the 2nd or 3rd straight time here. Other then giving us backstory for issue 3 on Issac Newton, I feel like I haven’t gotten any type of real threat or justifable reason to keep reading the book in issues.
But hey, we have now have three months to get another issue out of this thing. So maybe my opinion will change by that time. Considering it’s Hickman I probably will.
i’ve been trade waiting on this for a while. Can’t wait to check it out. Love Hickman’s stuff overall.
Hickman is a perfect trade writer
As good as his ideas are I just can’t hang in theri for individual issues- i get just straight up bored with his writing.
But when you go back read it all together something great comes out of it.
@ericmci I’ve had to return to his work a lot once arcs were finished. You’re right. His work is better comprehensively.
Wow … Hannibal Tabu @ CBR just RIPPED on this issue …
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=30891
“‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’ #6 tries to create “real” science heroes and villains from names like Tesla and Michelangelo, but name dropping is not shorthand for character development, and no matter how many times you say the names “Stark” and “Richards,” it doesn’t make Howard or Nathaniel any more interesting.“
@cahubble09 You’re invoking that name as if it means something. Anything.
Hannibal Tabu is terrible, he’s everything wrong with comics commentary. Every week he just tries to get a rise out of someone.
I kind of see Hannibal’s point on this (one of the rare times I agree with him on ANYTHING), but that said I still really really really like SHIELD.
Yes, name-dropping “Richards”, “Tesla”, “Newton” is kind of a shock’n’awe campaign used to bring superficial grins to the faces of 30-somethings in our niche audience.
But the lack of character (let alone character development) isn’t really the point.
SHIELD isn’t about characters so much as it’s about the playing out of ideas. The ideas are BIG and ABSTRACT, but they’re no less interesting or lively because of that.
The whole 6-issue run was told so elegantly. It was like a symphony, the way certain snatches of ideas were heard for a few seconds one issue…only to return and echo with greater coherence a few issues later.
I could care less about developing Leonid (an obvious cipher) or Leonardo Da Vinci as “real people”. I care about these ideas and personages being manipulated in order to reveal and play out awesomely huge and intricate concepts about the idea of knowledge being used to protect and rule and advance the human species. SHIELD does that stuff awesomely.
I do think Hickman has been overrated lately. I find his FF run utterly pedestrian–not “bad”, but often boring, with plot-turns that aren’t earned or explored in any depth. But SHIELD? SHIELD’s something very very unique that I’m real grateful for having read. It reminds me so much of Morrison’s Batman stuff leading up to RIP. The storytelling and the exploration of concepts and ideas is so skillful.
Great pick, Ron.
@TheNextChampion
I can’t understand that nothing happenned.
People got shot and brought back to life via engineering. There was a huge war between two factions that fight for the literal annihaltion of opposing ideas. We travelled back and forth through time. A hidden underground city crumbled.
What else were you expecting to happen?!
It was no celestial egg baby (really clever bolt from the blue) but it was a solid issue. I gave my first four issues to a dude so I can’t go back but it would be interesting to read these in one sitting. Issue #1 and the egg baby being my favorites.
Ho hum… it was OK. Hickman’s writing is stronger on FF than here though Dustin Weaver’s art is great. I’ve not read any of the other issues so I guess I could be out the loop to appreciate it. I’ll wait for a trade.
Hickman’s Secret Warriors and S.H.I.E.L.D. (shift letter, period, shift letter, period, shift letter, period…I hate typing the SHIELD title correctly) are very interesting in that while I read them I feel like they are amazing, yet when I look back at them the next day I never feel like there is any closure to his story arcs. I have gotten every issue of Secret Warriors, and as I read them all I can think is, “don’t you end like this, don’t you end”…flip the page…end. “Son of a!” That’s kind of how I felt about S.H.I.E.L.D. (the second time you get the copy-paste luxury).
I guess a sign of a skilled comic book writer is the ability to make a reader consistently coming back for more. Hickman does so by never really giving me a payoff…or so I think. I believe there are 2 more Secret Warriors issues left, so I will come back for 2 more and hopefully feel some closure when the title itself closes.
will there be a trade of the first arc or…? Is the first arc even finished?
@kidCharlemagne This is the last issue of the first volume. The hardcover comes out in May.
great pick! Been loving this series
@Conor- much appreciated! Sounds like an excellent series
This is one of the only Marvel books I buy and though I’m not as steeped in the Marvel Universe as others it is an amazing work (and will be a gorgeous trade). I do wish it was coming out more frequently but weeks when it shows up on my pull list it is among the very first books I read.
@PaulMontgomery: I invoked nothing … just tend to be meticulous in my citations. Hannibal’s critique was interesting to me only because his opinion about the book diverges from my own.
waiting to read this when the first trade drops.