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Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury is a fictional World War II army hero and present-day superspy in the Marvel Comics universe

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Fury first appeared in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 (May 1963), a combat series that portrayed the cigar-chomping Fury as leader of an elite U.S. Army unit.

The modern day Fury, initially a CIA agent, debuted a few months later in Fantastic Four Vol. 1, #21 (Dec. 1963). Then, beginning with Strange Tales #135 (August 1965), the character was completely transformed into a suave, James Bond-like spy and leading agent of the fictional espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D. Although artistically influential, the series Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. did not outlast the 1960s and subsequent Fury series have been sporadic and unremarkable.

Still, the character makes frequent appearances in Marvel comic books as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and an intermediary between the U.S. government or the United Nations and various superheroes.

History

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos

Nicholas Joseph Fury was the eldest of three children born to Jack Fury. His father was a United States citizen who enlisted in the United Kingdom's Royal Flying Corps during World War I. Jack had enlisted in 1916 and was stationed in France under the Third Republic. He reportedly shot down Manfred von Richthofen early in his flying career, and was a highly decorated combat aviator by the end of the War in 1918.

Discharged after the War, Jack returned home, married an unnamed woman, and became the father of three children. Nick, probably born in the late 1910s or early 1920s, was followed by Jacob "Jake" Fury (later the supervillain Scorpio, who co-founded the Zodiac cartel), and their sister, Dawn.

All three children grew up in the neighbourhood known as Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City, New York. Nick was an amateur boxer. With his friend Red Hargrove, he eventually left the neighborhood to pursue his dreams of adventure, eventually settling on a daring wing-walking act. Their death-defying stunts caught the attention of Lieutenant Samuel "Happy Sam" Sawyer, who enlisted them for a special mission in the Netherlands. Nick and Red later joined the U.S. Army, with Fury undergoing basic training under a Sergeant Bass. Red was stationed at Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii when the Imperial Japanese Navy ambushed the base on December 7, 1941, and was among the many killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Sawyer, now a captain, assigned Fury the command of the First Attack Squad, nicknamed the "Howling Commandos" and stationed in a military base in England to fight specialized missions in the European Theatre of World War II. The Howling Commandos consisted of Corporal Thaddeus Aloysius Cadwallander "Dum Dum" Dugan, Private Gabriel Jones (the first African-American to serve in an integrated unit), Private Robert "Rebel" Ralston, Private Dino Manelli (modelled after Dean Martin), Private Isadore "Izzy" Cohen (the first demonstrably Jewish American comic book hero), and Private Jonathan "Junior" Juniper — who, in an unusual and daring move for comics at the time, was killed in action after a few issues. He was replaced by Private Percival "Pinky" Pinkerton, a British solider. Later, Private Eric Koenig, a defector from Nazi Germany, joined the squad. Occasional other members would join for an issue or two before being killed, transferred, or otherwise leaving.

The Howling Commandos' earliest chronological (but not first-published) assignment occurred in the autumn of 1942. They were to recover British rocket scientist Dr. MacMillan from a German military base near occupied Paris. Their success brought the attention of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who incorporated the unit into the British Army.

The adventures of Nick Fury and the First Attack Squad were brought to life in the series Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, in which the unit fought the likes of the Red Skull (Adolf Hitler's bellboy turned supervillain), Baron Strucker, the first Baron Zemo, and many other Axis villains. They also fought alongside Captain America and Bucky in issue #13, and Reed Richards (later Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four) in issue #3. The series lasted 120 issues before going into reprints (the last original story, #120, was published in 1974). After 47 reprint issues, the series finally ended in 1981. The series ran concurrently with another, short-lived Marvel World War II book, Capt. Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders (later titled Captain Savage and his Battlefield Raiders). An issue of the later series featured the foundation of HYDRA in Japan.

According to Stan Lee, the Sgt. Fury series came about as a result of a bet with his publisher, Martin Goodman, that Lee could write a book with the worst title he could think of, and still it would sell.

Interregnum

At the end of World War II in Europe, Fury was severely injured by a landmine in France, and was found and healed by a Berthold Sternberg, who used him as a test subject for his Infinity Formula. After making a full recovery, Fury began working for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), precursor of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Six months into his service, he learned the extent of Sternberg's life-saving operation: The Infinity Formula retarded his aging, and if he did not receive annual doses, he would age rapidly and die. The doctor began a 30-year period of extorting large sums of money from Fury in exchange for the injections. These events, culminating in the end of said extortion, were detailed in Marvel Spotlight #31 (Dec. 1976): "Assignment: The Infinity Formula," by writer Jim Starlin and artist Howard Chaykin.

Fury segued into the CIA as an espionage agent, gathering information in Korea, where he earned a battlefield promotion to colonel. Much later, the CIA used him as a liaison to various super-powered groups that had begun appearing, including the Fantastic Four, whom CIA agent Fury first encountered in Fantastic Four Vol. 1, #21 (Dec. 1963). Fury had met future FF leader Reed Richards briefly during combat in World War II, though Marvel has never retconned an explanation for that chronological discrepancy.

During his time with the CIA, Fury began wearing his trademark eyepatch. An issue of Howling Commandos had revealed that Fury had taken a screwdriver to one eye during the war, which caused him to lose sight in it over the course of years.

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

In Strange Tales Vol. 1, #135 (Aug. 1965), Fury, now a colonel, became a James Bond-esque Cold War spy, with Marvel introducing the covert organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-enforcement Division) and its nemesis HYDRA. (The name, for unexplained reasons, is not an acronym but capitalized regardless, according to Marvel.) An international terrorist organization, HYDRA was created by Fury's worst enemy of the Second World War, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker (after retconning of the original continuity).

The 12-page feature was initially by Lee and Kirby, with the latter supplying such inventive and enduring gadgets and hardware as the Helicarrier — an airborne aircraft carrier — as well as human-replicant LMDs (Life Model Decoys), and even automobile airbags. Writer-penciler-colorist Jim Steranko began on the feature in Strange Tales #151 (initially over Kirby layouts), and quickly became one of the comics' most acclaimed and influential artists. In some of the creative zeniths of the Silver Age, Streranko introduced or popularized in comics such art movements of the day as psychedelia and op art; built on Kirby's longstanding work in photomontage; and created comics' first four-page spread — again inspired by Kirby, who in the Golden Age had pioneered the first full-page and double-page spreads. All the while, he spun plots of intense intrigue, barely hidden sensuality, and hi-fi hipness — and supplying his own version of Bond girls, essentially, in skintight leather, green hair with matching eyeshadow and accessory whip, pushing what was allowable under the Comics Code at the time.

The feature ran through #168 (sharing the split book with the occult feature "Doctor Strange" each issue), after which it was spun off onto its own series of the same title, premiering with a June 1968 cover date. Four of its first five issues were written and pencilled by Steranko. Upon his departure, several other creators, both veterans and newcomers, worked on the increasingly directionless series; it was canceled with issue #15 (Nov. 1969). Three reprint issues followed from November 1970 to March 1971.

Fury continued to make appearances in the other Marvel books, from Fantastic Four to The Avengers. In 1972, Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos celebrated its 100th issue with a present-day reunion of the squad, sponsored by Stan Lee and the creative team behind the title. (Lee, like other comics professionals, has made occasional cameos, in a tradition going back to the Golden Age of comic books.)

In 1988, Marvel produced the six-issue Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. miniseries, following it up with a second Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. series. In 1991, Marvel changed S.H.I.E.L.D. to stand for "Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage and Logistics Directorate". A pivotal event of the second series was "the Deltite Affair," where S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were replaced with Life Model Decoy androids. The second series lasted 47 issues (Sept. 1989 - May 1993). The books also resurrected (again) Baron von Strucker.

In 1994, the Fury one-shot retconned the events of Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. and the second Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. series into a series of events designed to distract Fury from von Strucker's resurrection plans. The following year, Howard Chaykin wrote the four-issue limited series Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. (April-July 1995).

In the one-shot Over the Edge: Omega (Oct. 1995), the Punisher is captured and sent to a maximum-security facility with a S.H.I.E.L.D. escort. During a hypnosis session with Doc Samson, a character named Spook interrupts and has the Punisher conditioned to believe Fury was responsible for the murder of the Punisher's family. An escaped Punisher eventually killed Fury, who was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Fury/Agent 13 two-issue limited series (June-July 1998) then retconned that the Nick Fury the Punisher "killed" was a highly-advanced Life Model Decoy and that Fury was never dead. Fury has since made a number of appearances in such Marvel series as Captain America, Deathlok, Iron Man, and Fantastic Four, and books in the "Marvel Knights" imprint.

In the 2005 "Secret War" crossover, Nick Fury launched a covert assault on the leadership of Latveria, who were plotting a massive attack on America. One year after the assault, the Latverian forces launched a counter-attack, which resulted in Luke Cage being hospitalized, Fury's friendship with Captain America becoming strained, and Fury being removed as S.H.I.E.L.D. commander and forced into hiding, with numerous international warrants out for his arrest. His successor as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. is Maria Hill.

Alternate versions

Different versions of Nick Fury, not part of the regular Marvel Universe, have appeared from time to time, including:

• In the Ultimate Marvel Universe, General Nick Fury is a significant figure. His characteristics are similar, although he ranks General and is portrayed as African American, with his features modelled after those of Samuel L. Jackson, with the actor's consent (according to liner notes in one Ultimates book collection).
• The Fury miniseries under the Marvel MAX imprint imagined a world where Fury was a burned-out Cold War veteran unable to cope with the modern world. This version, created by Garth Ennis, continues to appear in Ennis' Punisher. In February 2006 Ennis started a prequel to this Fury under the Marvel Knights imprint. It is slated to run for six installments.
• In the 1996 Marvel/DC Amalgam comic Bruce Wayne: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Nick Fury appeared as a retired army colonel alongside General Frank Rock.
• In the miniseries 1602 Nick Fury appears as Sir Nicholas Fury, Queen Elizabeth I's chief of intelligence. His character was modeled after Elizabeth's real life spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham.
• A throw-away scene in Planetary #11 shows a character with an eyepatch and a cigar being shot in the head by a villain in a flashback introducing John Stone, Agent of S.T.O.R.M. (himself a pastiche of Nick Fury and James Bond).
• In Marvel comics's Earth X continuity, Nick Fury is dead. However several LMDs (Life Model Decoy) exist and seek to fight Cold War-era "no-good pinko commies".
• The Nextwave team, in the comic of the same name, often have to contend with Dirk Anger, head of H.A.T.E, parodies of Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D.

Other media

• David Hasselhoff portrayed Fury in the 1998 Fox TV movie Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Paramount is developing a live-action theatrical film for possible 2007 release, according to trade reports.
• Philip Abbott did Fury's voice in the 1994 Spider-Man and Iron Man animated series. After Abbott's death, voice actor Jack Angel took over the role.
• Jim Byrnes did Fury's voice in the X-Men: Evolution animated series.
• Mark Gibbion did Fury's voice in Spider-Man Unlimited TV series.
• Andre Ware did Ultimate Nick Fury voice in the direct to video animated feature Ultimate Avengers (2006) (in which the character of Nick Fury was portrayed as an African-American), and in the video game Fantastic Four,
• Dave Fennoy provided the voice of the Ultimate version of Fury in Ultimate Spider-Man.
• Khary Payton voiced Fury in X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse.
• In the video game Fantastic Four, Nick Fury witnesses the Fantastic Four saving a fire truck, and arrests them after they've destroyed a giant robot. After watching them escape from the Vault, he asks them to investigate a bizarrely mutated SHEILD laboratory.
• Nick Fury is the second player's character in The Punisher arcade game.
• The Tick animated series has included secret agent Jim Rage, Agent of SHAVE. Unlike Nick Fury, there's nothing wrong with his eye; he wears the patch just to look cool.
• The satirical magazine National Lampoon parodied Nick Fury in "Nick Penis and the Brassball Brigade".
• Nick Fury and his S.H.I.E.L.D organisation appears as NPC in the Punisher game, interesting note is that Nick is smoking a cigar the whole time.
• Nick Fury also made a brief appearence in Marvel's Godzilla series (1977-1979).

References

• Marvel Directory: Nick Fury
• Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• The Unofficial Home Page of Nick Fury
• Comics 101 (column, March 3, 2004): "Secret Agent, Man", by Scott Tipton
• E. Favata's Comic Book Movies: Nick Fury
• ComicBookMovie.com: Nick Fury
• Sneak Peek TV: Nick Fury

External links

• Iconian Fonts: Nick Fury Freeware Nick Fury fonts, screensavers, etc.

• Fictional secret agents and spies
• Fictional soldiers
• Marvel Comics heroes, non-superpowered
• Fictional World War II veterans
• World War II fictional beings
• Fictional colonels
• Fictional sergeants
• Fictional New Yorkers
• Fictional eyepatch wearers
• Marvel Legends
• Fictional military organizations