S.H.I.E.L.D. (2010 series)

For other uses, see S.H.I.E.L.D. (disambiguation).
S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (June 2010)
Cover art by Gerald Parel.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
ScheduleMonthly
Genre
Publication dateApril 2010 – February 2012
No. of issues13
Main character(s)Brotherhood of the Shield:
Archimedes
Galileo Galilei
Jābir ibn Hayyān
Zhang Heng
Imhotep
Isaac Newton
Nostradamus
Nathaniel Richards
Howard Stark
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonid Newton
Creative team
Written byJonathan Hickman
Artist(s)Dustin Weaver
Letterer(s)Todd Klein
Colorist(s)Christina Strain
Editor(s)Daniel Ketchum
Irene Lee
Nick Lowe

S.H.I.E.L.D. is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics, premiering with a first issue cover dated June 2010. It details the secret history of the occult organization S.H.I.E.L.D. The series is written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Dustin Weaver.[1][2][3]

Publication history

The series was published from 2010 to 2012.[4] The series was renumbered after issue 6.

Plot

The series details the secret history of an occult organization called the Brotherhood of the Shield, with a history extending back to ancient Egypt.

The main story of the first issue is set in 1953 shortly after the death of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, during the height of the Cold War. Shield agents Nathaniel Richards and Howard Stark enlist a young man named Leonid with unspecified superpowers into the organization, taking him to Shield's High Council in the Immortal City under Rome. The High Council reveals that they know "the final fate of Man", and their mission is to ensure nothing threatens the world before this occurs. They have chosen Leonid because he has a destiny. Flashbacks reveal that the Shield was founded by Imhotep following a battle (alongside Apocalypse and the original Moon Knight) against the Brood, and that previous agents include Zhang Heng (who tricked a Celestial into using the sun to give birth to its child instead of destroying the Earth or the Moon to do so), Galileo Galilei (who fought against Galactus) and Leonardo da Vinci (who is shown with a mysterious device, flying off in an ornithopter).[5]

Leonid spends three years working with the Shield before being visited by his father, a superhuman named the Night Machine who has encountered the Shield before, and apparently been killed by them.[volume & issue needed] The Night Machine gives Leonid the key to a secret area of the headquarters, saying his destiny cannot be dictated by others.[volume & issue needed] The issue ends with Leonid meeting Leonardo da Vinci, who has apparently traveled through time to use his device to save the world.[volume & issue needed] Leonardo's return was met with resistance from Isaac Newton who saw it as a threat to his reign as leader of the organization.[volume & issue needed] This eventually leads to a great schism that divides the Shield into two factions; one led by Leonardo da Vinci and one led by Newton. Meanwhile, the child of a Celestial, the Star Child, is picked up by Leonardo from the sun.[6]

Also connected to the story are Renaissance man Michelangelo who as The Forever Man has amazing superhuman powers of time and space manipulation and Nostradamus who was doused with the Infinity formula and tortured for centuries by Newton to tell the future for centuries. It is later discovered that The Night Machine is really Nikola Tesla who received his cybernetic implants from Michelangelo.[7] Tesla is also discovered to be Leonid's adoptive father and that his biological father was Newton. The reader learns that Newton murdered Galileo Galilei and a host of others to meet his needs.[8]

Night Machine, Stark, and Richards return to the city, and put a stop to the conflict by deciding to put the decision to Leonid on who is right, he chooses Leonardo da Vinci. Newton escapes to the future.[9] Meanwhile, the Star Child goes mad on seeing that the world will end.[volume & issue needed] The second volume stalled at issue 4, with the 5th issue completed not to be published until the 6th issue is ready to be started.[10] Jonathan Hickman (writer) and Dustin Weaver (artist) were tied up with the Marvel summer crossover events for 2013.[10]

Reception

The first volume of the series holds an average rating of 8.0 by forty-one critics and the second a rating of 8.6 by thirteen critics according to review aggregation website Comic Book Roundup.[11][12]

Prints

Issues

Name Title Publication date Comic Book Roundup rating
S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 "The Unholy Resurrection of Leonardo da Vinci" April 2010 9.1 by eleven critics[13]
S.H.I.E.L.D. #2 "Newton's Theory of Eternal Life" June 2010 9.0 by six critics[14]
S.H.I.E.L.D. #3 "The Theory of Eternal Life" August 2010 7.6 by three critics[15]
S.H.I.E.L.D. #4 "The Madness, the Star Child, and the Celestial Madonna" October 2010 7.9 by eight critics[16]
S.H.I.E.L.D. #5 "The Forgotten Machines of Nikola Tesla" December 2010 7.5 by three critics[17]
S.H.I.E.L.D. #6 "The Master's Hand" February 2011 8.1 by five critics[18]
S.H.I.E.L.D. Volume 2 #1 "Terribilità" June 2011 8.1 by five critics[19]
S.H.I.E.L.D. Volume 2 #2 "Fire" August 2011 8.5 by one critic[20]
S.H.I.E.L.D. Volume 2 #3 "The Fall" October 2011
S.H.I.E.L.D. Volume 2 #4 "All Together Now" December 2011
S.H.I.E.L.D. Volume 2 #5 "Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow." May 2018 9.1 by four critics[21]
S.H.I.E.L.D. Volume 2 #6 "I Am the Sun" June 2018 9.3 by five critics[22]

One-shots

Name Tie-in to Pages Variants Publication dates UPC Comic Book Roundup rating Estimated sales
(first month)
"S.H.I.E.L.D. - Infinity" Infinity 48 1 2011[23] — 8.0 by one professional critic[24]

Collected editions

Name Material collected Pages Cover Publication dates ISBN Comic Book Roundup rating
S.H.I.E.L.D.: Architects of Forever S.H.I.E.L.D. (2010) #1-6 and material from S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 DIRECTOR'S CUT 192 SC November 2, 2011[25] 978-0785144229 8.0 by one professional critic[26]
S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Human Machine S.H.I.E.L.D. (2011) 1–4, S.H.I.E.L.D. BY HICKMAN & WEAVER 5–6, S.H.I.E.L.D. INFINITY 192 SC April 30, 2019[27] 978-0785152507

See also

References

  1. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (February 23, 2010). "The Secret Masters of the Marvel Universe". IGN. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  2. ^ Mahadeo, Kevin (April 6, 2010). "Tuesday Q&A: Jonathan Hickman". Marvel.com. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  3. ^ Arrant, Chris (April 7, 2010). "Writer Hickman Reveals the History of Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D." Newsarama. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  4. ^ "Comic Book DB - the Comic Book Database". Archived from the original on 2017-01-10. Retrieved 2017-01-09.
  5. ^ S.H.I.E.L.D. (vol. 1) #1
  6. ^ S.H.I.E.L.D. (vol. 1) #5
  7. ^ S.H.I.E.L.D. Infinity
  8. ^ S.H.I.E.L.D. (vol. 2) #1
  9. ^ S.H.I.E.L.D. (vol. 2) #2
  10. ^ a b Dustin Weaver (6 April 2013). "Dustin Weaver: Entry 176: S.H.I.E.L.D. Update #5".
  11. ^ "S.H.I.E.L.D. (2010)". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  12. ^ "S.H.I.E.L.D. vol 2". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  13. ^ "S.H.I.E.L.D. #1". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  14. ^ "S.H.I.E.L.D. #2". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  15. ^ "S.H.I.E.L.D. #3". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  16. ^ "S.H.I.E.L.D. #4". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  17. ^ "S.H.I.E.L.D. #5". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  18. ^ "S.H.I.E.L.D. #6". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  19. ^ "S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol. 2 #1". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  20. ^ "S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol. 2 #2". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  21. ^ "S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol. 2 #5". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  22. ^ "S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol. 2 #6". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  23. ^ Shield Infinity One-Shot. Marvel Comics. January 2011.
  24. ^ "S.H.I.E.L.D. Infinity". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
  25. ^ S.H.I.E.L.D.: Architects of Forever. Marvel. 2 November 2011. ISBN 978-0785144229.
  26. ^ "S.H.I.E.L.D.: Architects of Forever". Comic Book Roundup. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
  27. ^ S.H.I.E.L.D. By Hickman & Weaver: The Human Machine. Marvel. 30 April 2019. ISBN 978-0785152507.