a marvellous milestone
Steranko, Kirby and Lee join birthday celebration
ABoUT To CELEBRATE ITS 50Th anniversary with a special oversized issue, Marvel’s central espionage organisation SHIELD, which first appeared in August 1965’ s Strange Tales # 135, finds itself more popular than ever thanks to its prominent role in films like The Avengers. however, according to Mark Waid, who pens Marvel’s SHIELD book, the cinematic success of Agent Coulson and co hasn’t influenced their comic book incarnations.
“We have the freedom in comics to adapt from the TV show and the movies without sacrificing 50 years of continuity,” he tells Red Alert. “The goal is always to make those fans welcome while still embracing Marvel history.”
Also featuring contributions from Al Ewing and Stan Lee, SHIELD # 9 will see Waid “collaborating ” with none other than Jack Kirby and Jim Steranko on a previously unpublished three- page sequence. “I’m lucky enough to be dialoguing over art that they produced in the 1960s that has never seen print before,” he says. “And it’s all folded into the main story for a seamless reading experience.”
Illustrated by Lee Ferguson, “The Man of DEATH” introduces a new villain, who dates back to SHIELD’s formative days. “The title comes from Jack Kirby’s original pitch for what became SHIELD in 1965,” reveals Waid. “So he’s a character who is simultaneously brand- new, 50 years old and 550 years old.”
With the nature of terrorism and international crime having changed significantly, the threats that SHIELD now faces have also been updated. “The storylines are absolutely influenced by real- world events,” says Waid. “A good example of that is SHIELD # 11’ s guest- starring of a surprise long- time Marvel character.”