Over the last six decades, Nick Fury has starred in many of Marvel Comics' greatest espionage stories, been at the centre of some of its most iconic events, and served as the keeper of the biggest secrets in the Marvel Universe. Now, we'll get to celebrate his milestone anniversary with a whirlwind saga set across his most iconic eras in Fury #1.
Arriving in May, the one-shot will be written by Al Ewing and illustrated by a dynamic group of leading industry artists: Scott Eaton, Tom Reilly, Adam Kubert, and Ramon Rosanas. This intricate tale will kick off when Fury's son and successor, Nick Fury Jr., is targeted by a new foe using the name S.C.O.R.P.I.O.!
Fans will know that codename has deep roots in Fury's past and a series of top-secret missions will be revealed, each offering a key to unlocking an overarching mystery. Each artist will tackle a different period of Fury's history including his early adventures in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos and his present-day role as the all-seeing “Man on the Wall."
No stranger to radical character transformations, the one-shot will present a key turning point for the character and in the end, both father and son will emerge with fresh purpose.
Hopefully, that means the original Fury will find some redemption and make his long-awaited return after Marvel Comics delivered the most convoluted and ridiculous explanation for Nick Fury Jr.'s introduction (despite already having a Samuel L. Jackson-inspired version of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Director in the Ultimate Universe) and the original's sudden absence.
"Nick Fury is an entire history of comics in one character," Ewing said. "Shifting from a tough-talking WWII Sergeant specializing in impossible missions, to an U.N.C.L.E.-esque secret agent beating James Bond at his own game, to a machiavellian man in the shadows making the grey moral choices we've come to associate with the evolving espionage genre."
"And when the original Fury went cosmic, his son followed in those same footsteps, doing all that with a modern spin and an eye on the silver screen portrayal of our favorite sci-fi spy-guy," the writer continues. "So how to celebrate sixty years of Nick Fury?"
"With 40 story pages of twists, turns, action, gadgets and old-school thrills - pitting the Fury family against a new menace with a mysterious connection to the earliest days of the Howling Commandos and setting both Nicks up for the adventures of a lifetime!"
You can check out Adam Kubert's cover below ahead of Fury #1 going on sale on May 24.