Marvel has quite a busy spring planned when it comes to launching new comics, one being Nick Fury, the first ongoing series to focus on elite S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Nick Fury, Jr. That series has a promising creative team in writer James Robinson and artist ACO. But it also faces a massive uphill battle. Five years after his debut, the younger Nick Fury still isn't the compelling character he needs to be. This is the make or break moment for Mr. Fury.
Nick Fury #1 cover by ACO. (Marvel Comics)
I've argued before about the dangers of publishers arbitrarily changing comics to bring them more in line with other media. And as far as Marvel is concerned, no franchise has suffered more from pointless corporate synergy than the S.H.I.E.L.D. franchise. I reread Jonathan Hickman's Secret Warriors recently, which only served to reignite my frustration over how the S.H.I.E.L.D. comics have been handled since. Hickman ended that series on a nicely open-ended note. Nick Fury finally left the life of a spymaster behind him in order to "break his girl outta jail," leaving the reformed S.H.I.E.L.D. in the hands of his protege, Daisy Johnson. It was a clear case of a torch being passed and a legacy being honored.
Sadly, Marvel's subsequent S.H.I.E.L.D. stories failed to catch that baton and run with it. Instead, Marvel began a long, ponderous process of bringing the S.H.I.E.L.D. comics more in line with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Daisy was quickly ousted as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. in favor of Maria Hill. Agent Coulson and his team made the jump from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. And a new Nick Fury appeared to replace the old one, one who bore a much closer resemblance to Samuel L. Jackson.
Fury and Coulson make their comic book debut. Art by Carlos Pacheco. (Marvel Comics)
The creation of a more movie-like Nick Fury resulted in what is easily one of the more pointlessly convoluted stories Marvel has published in the last decade. The mini-series Battle Scars introduced a character named Marcus Johnson, who, it turned out, was the long-lost son of Nick Fury. By the end of Battle Scars, Marcus lost an eye, shaved his head, took his father's name and suddenly became the spitting image of Sam Jackson's Nick Fury.
The reasoning behind this decision, presumably, was that Marvel didn't want to confuse fans of the MCU who might gravitate towards the comics. We'll ignore the fact that Marvel's movies seem to have little impact on book sales in the first place. Why would such a superficial element make any difference? Couldn't it be argued that this new Fury would only be more confusing to MCU fans? He may look like Sam Jackson, but his role within S.H.I.E.L.D. is very different from Jackson's Fury. He's a field agent, not a director, and a relatively young one at that. He's really a completely different character in every way that matters, which makes his clunky origin story all the more perplexing. Why didn't Marvel simply port Ultimate Nick Fury over to the regular Marvel U if having an MCU-friendly Fury was so important? Why didn't they allow Marcus Johnson to be his own character rather than a pale imitation of his father?
Plenty of good characters have overcome bad origin stories. That has yet to happen for the new Nick Fury. He's popped up in all sorts of books since the Battle Scars days, often serving as connective tissue for Marvel's shared comic book universe in the same way Fury has for the MCU. But he rarely stands out as a very deep or memorable character. Maria Hill has her caustic personality and her willingness to bend the rules and breach ethical boundaries in pursuit of the greater good. Agent Coulson has his fanboy-like adoration for the superhero community. What does Fury bring to the table beyond being your standard tough-as-nails secret agent who always gets the job done? He doesn't even have the benefit of the deep, well-established relationships with heroes like Wolverine and Captain America that his father does.
Interior art from Nick Fury #1 by ACO. (Marvel Comics)
It's been five years now, and Marvel has done surprisingly little to justify the existence of Nick Fury, Jr. Rectifying that problem needs to be the main goal of this new Fury comic. Robinson and ACO certainly seem to be on the right track, based on what little Marvel has shown of the book so far. It's clear that the book is very much paying homage to Jim Steranko's classic Nick Fury work, what with the trippy visuals and the younger Fury acting as a James Bond-worthy, globetrotting secret agent. But how will the new series stand apart? What can it do to give Fury a depth and complexity he currently lacks? What stories can Robinson and ACO tell that they couldn't also tell in the form of a flashback comic starring the '70s-era Nick Fury?
It's important for Nick Fury to quickly establish itself as a unique and daring comic along the lines of Jeff Lemire and Greg Smallwood's Moon Knight or Mark Waid and Chris Samnee's Black Widow. It needs to prove to Marvel readers that this character has value and that he can be a compelling protagonist in his own right. It needs to show that S.H.I.E.L.D. comics can do more than simply pattern themselves after the MCU. The low sales and short shelf life of the recent Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. comic are evidence enough that readers don't want that. Above all, Nick Fury needs to prove once and for all that the Marvel Universe needed a new version of Fury in the first place.
"Between the Panels" is a bi-weekly column from Jesse Schedeen that focuses on the world of comics. You can see more of his thoughts on comics and pop culture by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.
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