More and more I'm loving these S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th anniversary specials. The one-shot nature allows the spotlight to shine on different characters with different creators able to step in as well. With this issue, the focus is on Nick Fury Jr. It seems the character is still trying to find his footing in the Marvel Universe but David Walker does a great job with the mission and story carved out here.
If you're caught up with your Nick Fury reading and have read ORIGINAL SIN, you know the current status of Nick Fury is...complicated. That doesn't stop the story from happening. Starting out, we see the two Nick's at different time periods. In the current day we see Fury Jr and we also see Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan and Gabriel Jones back in 1965. There's a couple reasons for this but one is to show the parallels between to two men and how some things in society haven't changed much for the better.
Walker gives a pretty straight forward narrative on a serious problem but it doesn't necessarily come across as preachy. There often has to be a divide between actual events in the world and trying to mention or depict them in comics. The fact that the year 1965 once again anchors the original Nick Fury and there's the possibility that reading this comic at a later date will make Nick seem even older. There's also the use of 2015 as the specific year and one major aspect of the story that could make this story feel dated in just a few months. For the sake of the story, it's easy to overlook these things. This story isn't meant to change or reform the entire Marvel Universe so we can simply immerse ourselves and enjoy what's going on.
As mentioned in the solicitation, there is a team up between Nick and Nick Jr. It's something that seemed couldn't exactly happen after Original Sin. The hows and whys are executed brilliantly. The set up and how everything plays out is solid. You'll have to see it for yourself.
Lee Ferguson's art and Jason Keith's colors make it so you don't want the story to end. The different time periods and the action are fantastic. I would've loved to have this extend into a miniseries just so I could get more.
Teaming up Nick Fury and Nick Fury Jr is currently a sort of tricky thing to do. David Walker has no problem setting it all up and making it happen in a brilliant fashion. Seeing the various characters in their roles and having the two Nick's team up is a blast. Lee Ferguson's art and Jason Keith's colors make the great story and action fun and exciting. There are a couple elements that could cause the story to feel dated in a little while. Being a one-shot also means the story has to pretty much be resolved by the end and makes it feel a little constrained. Walker does nicely balance the comic book action with some serious elements from society. If you want some great Nick Fury and Nick Fury Jr action, don't miss out on this. Can we get even more S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary stories?