To capitalize on the current ABC series, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel decided to cobble together a 1-shot reprint volume, S.H.I.E.L.D. Origins, collecting recent storylines that help explain to the mainstream audience why Nick Fury looks more like Samuel L. Jackson.
When Marvel launched the Ultimate line several years ago, writer Brian Michael Bendis, taking a radical approach, opted to reimagine Fury as an African-American, modeled after Jackson, who had himself taken on another classic hero, "Shaft", in the movies in 2000. That Jackson would be cast as Fury in the "Avengers" family of movies that started with "Iron Man" 8 years later was just a happy coincidence, it seems. 5 years after that, Marvel decided that they needed to phase out the original Fury, a Silver Age creation of Stan Lee & Jack Kirby who fought in World War II and was kept alive by something called the Infinity Formula, an anti-aging serum introduced in a Fury 1-shot in Marvel Spotlight more than 30 years ago, and introduce the new Fury as a long-lost, illegitimate son of the original. Fury 2.0 had been an Army Ranger named Marcus Johnson, which tells us this was a son that Nick Fury never knew until recently.
Unfortunately, the reprint includes a couple of issues of Superior Spider-Man, and the less space given to that atrocity, the better. It's balanced out by a Lee-Kirby reprint from Strange Tales (1st series) that explains how Fury (the original) joined S.H.I.E.L.D. in the first place.
Rating: C.
Marvel is also making news and taking a huge chance with another of their characters.
Ms. Marvel is getting a makeover, more than 35 years after her debut. Carol Danvers, introduced in Captain Marvel (1st series) in 1968, became Ms. Marvel 8 years later, and has gone through a number of identity changes, including inheriting the mantle of Captain Marvel herself. That leaves Ms. Marvel unaccounted for, as far as Marvel's concerned, so they're taking a risk by reimagining the character as a Muslim female. Given the cultural & political tensions involved, it's safe to say Marvel is looking at this as a move toward cultural diversity, along the same line as the racial reimagining of Nick Fury noted above. Marvel has had several countries represented in their books over the years, from England & Ireland to Israel and China. I believe the new Ms. Marvel, though, won't be the first hero of Arab descent. I recall a 1-shot character who appeared in Incredible Hulk back in the early 80's, the Arabian Knight. We'll just have to see how this plays out.
Meanwhile, over at DC, there exists a major disconnect within the "New 52". When the line was rebooted two years ago, certain ideas that had just begun to develop before the changeover were retained. That would explain the continuing existence of Red Lanterns, as well as those who've wielded the blue & orange lanterns. Pin that on Geoff Johns, who was promoted to a front office position around the time of the "Green Lantern" movie, and didn't want to see his newest creations retconned out before they actually had a chance to get off the ground. Batwoman's series had been promised before "New 52", but was delayed so that it would launch with the rest of the books, but exists in its own "bubble", if you will, with little interaction with the rest of the Bat-family, though a recent creative change might fix that problem.
Wonder Woman is also in her own bubble. Writer Brian Azzarello (ex-100 Bullets) decided that Princess Diana of the Amazons wasn't made of clay after all, but instead the product of forbidden love between Zeus & Hippolyta. However, this has not been addressed in Justice League or in Diana's new joint series with Superman. Yet. On a lark, I was able to obtain trade paperback volumes 1 & 2 of the current series. I'm a firm believer that if it's not broken, there's no need to fix it. Azzarello has his vision, and I'm assuming that DC, in order to keep him happy, decided to give him total autonomy. I'm sorry, but this also threatens to key into certain rumored subtexts, that would do more harm than good to Wonder Woman's image.
Rating: C.
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