Book Review: Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. : Who Is Scorpio

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Who is Scorpio? by Jim Steranko

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book collects the Jim Steranko written and drawn stories from the first Nick Fury series in Issues 1-3 and 5.

While it may look like this is a Scorpio themed book, Scorpio only appears in the first and last issues in the book. The other two issues include fighting a megalomaniac of the month and then Nick Fury deal with (of all things) a haunted castle.

The stories are not great. In some ways, this book's stories are a step down from the Nick Fury tales in Strange Tales which were usually 3-4 half issues long to resolve an arch. Here, limited to one issue per story, the plots are weaker. In addition, Fury lacks much of the wise-cracking form that was so endearing in early books. That's not to say they're bad, but they're merely average in terms of story.

This is a book to read for the art and that art moves this book from 3 stars to 4 stars. Each page is a showcase as Steranko tries unusual art motifs, odd coloring, and spectacular full page splashes to tell the stories. The crazy stylized art makes this book worth reading but readers expecting some complex plot involve Scorpio should forget about it. Rather, you get 4 average spy stories with far above average art.




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