Nick Fury, Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D.  #38-41 "The Cold War of Nick Fury"

Writer: Eliot Brown & Bob Sharp (#38-39), Scott Lobdell (#40-41)
Penciler: Jerry DeCaire (#38), Don Hudson (#39), Paul Abrams (#40-41)
Inker: Don Hudson
Colorist: Kevin Tinsley
Letterer: Micheal Higgins (#38-39), Philip Felix (#40-41)

Henry Gyrich drags Fury for a series of interrogations concerning his recruitment into the OSS and the CIA; one mission involving the capture of Ishi, a renegade Japanese colonel with radical bio-weapons. Weary of the sessions, Fury has the "Super Agents" break in and Fury is finally told the reason behind the interrogation; Ishi was back and producing a deadly virus. Fury and the "Super Agents" track him to his lair and find Ishi dead at the hands of his employer, Crossfire. Crossfire intends to spread the virus through relief aid missions to the Third World. The Super Agents take on Crossfire and his robot minions while Fury sabotages Crossfire's control nexus.

• Continuity Notes
• Appearances by Henry Gyrich and the villain Crossfire
• Issues #38-39 detail Nick Fury's recruitment into the O.S.S.
• Storyline actually begins in the last few pages of issue #37.
• Crossfire would later tangle with Nick Fury Jr. in Secret Avengers (2) #2.
• Story reprinted in S.H.I.E.L.D.: Hydra Reborn.
• For more, check out our interview with Don Hudson
• For more, check out our interview with Scott Lobdell

Review
Excellent premise is slighlty letdown by its two final installments illustrates the dilemma of the two directions this title seemed to always struggle with. The first two issues open with great promise and delivers on the story arc's title with a rare look into Fury's pre-S.H.I.E.L.D / post Howler career. The pair of 50's tales are a solid throwback to the character's war comic roots and writers Bob Sharp and Elliot Brown cook some great stories and solid action. The sparse pencils by Don Hudson and Jerry DeClaire are straightforward and realistic with some great layouts reminiscent to Jackson Guice's earlier work on the book.

The last two issues shift into the modern day and its a bit jarring when suddenly we're treated to Paul Abrams more muscular pencils, which matches Lobdell's more super-hero oriented storytelling. There is some nonsensical layouts where people shoot their laser guns at nothing for no reason other then it "looks" exciting. The last two issues could easily been summed up in two pages with more excitement, since as villains go, Crossfire is about as one-note as they come; not helping is his costume makes him look like a overzealous ER officer. The art team delivers a standout page in issue #41 where Fury is underwater (pg.27) and Lobdell digs deep into Fury's psyche with a well written monologue.

Rating