InsaneJournal

It seems the universe has conspired to make me eat crow. Just last week, I was making such bold pronouncements as, "Marvel's probably a little hesitant to put any more Steranko work out in trade...", only to have the September solicits announce this:

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. VOL. 2 HC
Written by JIM STERANKO with ROY THOMAS
Penciled by JIM STERANKO
Cover by JIM STERANKO
Don’t yield, True Believers, because the MARVEL MASTERWORKS are backing one of the most influential series in comics history by one of the art form’s prime movers, Jim Steranko’s Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.! Blending together influences from Pop art to Salvador Dali and across comics’ history from Will Eisner to Wally Wood, Steranko’s boundary-breaking style is an incomparable visual language that influences and inspires storytellers decades later. Chock full of high-stakes espionage and larger-than-life villains, from Baron Strucker and his Hydra hordes to the Yellow Claw and the horrific Hell Hound of Ravenlock, each adventure will have you on the edge of your seat. Topped with guest appearances from Captain America and the Fantastic Four—not to mention from out of the Atlas Era, the Marvel debut of agent Jimmy Woo—Steranko’s S.H.I.E.L.D. is an uncontested high-water mark that every devotee of the medium must experience. Collecting STRANGE TALES #154-168 and NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD #1-3

No word yet on whether Marvel learned their lesson and is actually paying Steranko this time around, but I've sent off a few e-mails inquiring about that, and I'll keep you posted. I'm a little irked that they're cutting it off at NF #3, just because Steranko's last interior work on the book was in #5, and continued a story started in #1. Seeing as how #4 was a fill-in issue by Frank Springer, I don't see why they couldn't have just put #5 in this volume, and left #4 for a hypothetical next volume. I know the Masterworks are pretty staunchly chronological, but come on.

Anyway, to celebrate, have a picspam of my favorite moments from those issues!

From ST #155:



What's happening here? Oh that's right, Nick Fury is just being a BAMF, as usual. And this is some pretty sweet use of perspective.

From ST #156:

This is the issue where Steranko unveils the now trademark SHIELD bodysuit. We're so used to it now that I think it's easy to forget that it's pretty damn sexy:



There's something so sastifyingly symmetrical about that page, especially the last panel.

Also, this was the issue where Steranko unveils his prediliction for getting Nick Fury shirtless. And tied up.




From ST #157:



Steranko blends MC Escher with a Pop aesthetic while Fury takes out six HYDRA agents at once.



Say no to drugs, kids!

From ST #159:




Fun with photocollage and unfortunate consequences of '60s color printing (poor Gabe!)



The introduction of Val! (And people wonder why I was pissed off by her last appearance in Secret Warriors, which mostly consisted of her buging Fury about ~commitment~)

I think I'll leave it here for now, as I have a life to get back to, but I'll be back with another post or two of Steranko-spam.