T-shirt #53: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

T-shirt #53: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Last week Marvel Comics and ABC announced that the Joss Whedon produced television series entitled Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been picked up as a regular series for the Fall.



My oft-referenced writer Charles Skaggs shared  this news at his fine blog DAMN Good Coffee...and HOT!


This is very exciting news for many reasons.

First and foremost, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will be helmed by fan favorite, and one of my personal favorite creators, Joss Whedon. I plan to give Joss more love on this blog. I have the shirts.






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Also, few Marvel comics characters have been the subject of live action television shows. Most people know the 1970s show The Incredible Hulk with Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno. Around the same time, though not as well known, The Amazing Spider-Man TV show ran from 1977-1979. Before that the only continuing live action TV appearances of Marvel heroes came with Spider-Man on The Electric Company from 1974-1977. With the exception of a few minor series and the syndicated show Mutant X, there have been no ongoing, live-action television shows about Marvel heroes. Thus, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a very special milestone for Marvel Comics and fans of Marvel Comics, especially since it's a spin-off from the successful Avengers movie, which was also well-loved by fans (and shepherded by Joss Whedon). Though Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. does not feature any super heroes in its initial cast, it would be surprising if there are no cameo appearances, especially of heroes not currently involved in the movie franchises. Though I suspect that future characters to be featured in film may show up in the Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. program. Ant man, anyone?

The news seems timely in a personal way as my family and I watched the film Zero Dark Thirty yesterday, a special intelligence and espionage tale of the pursuit and killing of Osama bin Laden. This is a side note that may only be interesting to me, but it did play a role in my choosing of the shirt for today. Then again, I would have chosen the shirt back on Saturday when Skaggs posted the news about Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but after searching my house for my S.H.I.E.L.D. shirt, I realized it must still be at my parents. I have since retrieved it after a visit to bring a gift to my mother for Mother's Day. But back to the subject of S.H.I.E.L.D.

S.H.I.E.L.D. has developed over the years in Marvel comics. According to Wikipedia: "S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage and law-enforcement agency in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales #135 (Aug. 1965), it often deals with superhuman threats.
The acronym originally stood for Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division. It was changed in 1991 to Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate. Within the various films set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as in the animated series The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the acronym stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division" ("S.H.I.E.L.D." Wikipedia, 2013).

Though S.H.I.E.L.D. was invented by Stan "the Man" Lee and Jack "The King" Kirby, in my mind and heart, it is forever associated with the beautiful comic art and storytelling of the ingenious Jim Steranko, who is another artist that really should be part of my top favorites. I am surely going to have to revise my list again.

Steranko served as Kirby's immediate successor on Strange Tales chronicling the stories of S.H.I.E.L.D. Steranko added a fine art aesthetic to comic book art, melding the best of comics (Kirby, Wally Wood) with Pop Art and Surrealism (as his Salvador Dali cover swipe makes clear). Steranko's work was heavily influenced also by the Bond movies and Bond girls that became prominent in the 1960s. Also, Steranko is famous in comics circles for his definitive (and for a long time the only) history of comic books. Read about Steranko if interested on Wikipedia or at this cool blog devoted to Steranko: Existentialist Man.


I will not be surprised if Joss Whedon (who is awesome and a genius) is as big a fan of Steranko as I am (and as are many, many rabid comic fans) and plans to give his Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. program a Steranko/Kirby flair.

Sign me up.

- chris tower - 1305.13 - 9:35