Nick Fury: Who Is Scorpio?

(November 2000)

Nick Fury Who Is Scorpio? (Table of Contents: 1)

credits, title page / 1 page (report information)

Letters

typeset

Indexer Notes

Title; Book credits; Indicia

Introduction (Table of Contents: 2)

foreword, introduction, preface, afterword / 1 page (report information)

Script

Larry Hama (credited)

Letters

typeset

Reprints

• in S.H.I.E.L.D. by Steranko: The Complete Collection (Marvel, 2013 series) ([October] 2013)

Who Is Scorpio? (Table of Contents: 3)

Nick Fury / comic story / 20 pages (report information)

Script

Jim Steranko (credited)

Pencils

Jim Steranko (credited)

Inks

Joe Sinnott (credited)

Colors

Estudio Fénix

Letters

Sam Rosen (credited)

Editing

Stan Lee (credited) (editor)

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Hey, Dugan!

Genre

spy; superhero

Characters

Nick Fury L.M.D.; Nick Fury; Dum Dum Dugan; Pinky (lounge owner); Flip Mason (stand-up comic); Mitch Hackett (racketeer); Val [Contessa Valentina Allegro de Fontaine]; Scorpio [Count Julio Scarlotti]

Synopsis

Fury sneaks into an island fortress, only to get shot in the back. Surprise! It's an L.M.D., and the shooter is the real Fury! But on examination, Dugan informs Fury the L.M.D.'s been shot 4 times, not 3-- which means, someone tried to assassinate him! The only clue is a tiny badge with a "Scorpio" symbol on it. In San Francisco, comic Flip Mason's on the run from gambling debts. In Kansas City, racketter Mitch Hackett looks forward to joining the mob. In NYC, Fury & Val walk in the rain. At the Monza Autodrome, Count Julio Scarlotti wins a race-- and we see he has a Scorpio tatoo on his wrist. Days later in Nevada, Fury helps test an "EPB G-System" (Entrope Phase Barrier Guard System), a force field which is hoped may one day protect entire armies. As SHIELD prepares one final test (with an H-Bomb!) we see the tech firing the missile has a Scorpio tattoo on his wrist. Fury suddenly realizes the EPB's down, and nobody answers his comm. He races across the desert to a rocket sled used by NASA to escape as the missile descends on the spot he was relaxing. At the U.S. Government Research Center in Las Vegas, everyone's been put to sleep with gas by Scorpio-- when Fury arrives via motorcycle! As the hooded villain speaks of vengeance and "The Parable Of Doom", Fury wonders who the HELL this guy is? Nearby, a mobster mistakes Mason for Hackett and gives him a suitcase of money. Mason takes it, thinking all his problems are gone! Hackett arrives wondering where his suitcase is (not realizing it actually contains a time-bomb), and a gunfight erupts. The two fights intersect paths, and Hackett winds up shooting Scorpio's escape craft, causing it to go up in an explosive fireball, of which Val says, "No one could live through that!" As Mason is about to call his wife, the bomb goes off.

Reprints

• from Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (Marvel, 1968 series) #1 (June 1968)

Indexer Notes

Scorpio's mention of "The Parable Of Doom" seems to suggest a connection with Baron Strucker (see STRANGE TALES #156 / May 1967). However, neither Jim Steranko or Roy Thomas followed up on this obvious clue. "Special effects" on pages 13-14 of this story almost obliterated in the reprint process.

So Shall Ye Reap... Death! (Table of Contents: 4)

Nick Fury / comic story / 20 pages (report information)

Script

Jim Steranko (credited)

Pencils

Jim Steranko (credited)

Inks

Frank Giacoia (credited); Jack Abel (assist)

Colors

Estudio Fénix

Letters

Sam Rosen (credited)

Editing

Stan Lee (credited) (editor)

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Death has many doors to let out life!

Genre

spy; superhero

Characters

Jimmy Woo; Dum Dum Dugan; Nick Fury; Clay Quartermain; Val [Contessa Valentina Allegro de Fontaine]; Centurius [Dr. Noah Black] (Nobel Prize winner, Marvel's 1st black villain); P.D.Q. Werner (movie director); Tiffany (actor); Brad Carter (actor); Kong (robotic prop)

Synopsis

Jimmy Woo goes thru a death-trap laden "fun house" as his initiation as a SHIELD agent. Later, in his apartment, Fury & Val get romantic. The next day, off the Pacific Coast, en route to the Heli-Carrier in a bizarre twin-bodied jet, Fury & Jimmy are knocked out of the sky and wind up on a volcanic island transformed into a "Garden of Eden" and biological laboratory by "Centurius"-- formerly Dr. Noah Black, a scientist who disappeared in the 1930s when his theories were scoffed at. After creating both new & extinct forms of life and sending them into space, he plans to rain down fire on the entire Earth, for forty days and forty nights, cleansing it so his creations can start anew on a world "without the threat of mass murder, intimidation, fear". With the help of a visiting movie company and their robot gorilla prop, Fury & Woo put the kibosh on his plans. Centurius dives into his own evolution ray, devolving into protoplasmic slime, while his "A.R.C." (Automated Rebirth Colonizer) inexplicably crashes straight into the dormant volcano that served as his lab, wiping out the entire island. Fury muses, "Let's just say some greater force in the universe handled it his own way!" Actors Brad & Tiffany, who've been fighting on every movie they've ever made, suddenly find love.

Reprints

• from Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (Marvel, 1968 series) #2 (July 1968)

Indexer Notes

Centurius becomes the 3rd Steranko villain to use the phrase "Parable Of Doom" (see page 10, panel 9), though to date there appears no connection whatsoever between him, Baron Strucker & Scorpio. Last panel on page 5 altered due to the Comics Code Authority; inadvertently, the new panel is far more "suggestive" than the one it replaced! Original panel restored in 2000 reprint. Jack Abel (longtime friend of Frank Giacoia) assists; Fury's face in page 10, panel 7 is clearly his work.

Dark Moon Rise, Hell Hound Kill! (Table of Contents: 5)

Nick Fury / comic story / 20 pages (report information)

Script

Jim Steranko (credited)

Pencils

Jim Steranko (credited)

Inks

Dan Adkins (credited)

Colors

Estudio Fénix

Letters

Sam Rosen (credited)

Editing

Stan Lee (credited) (editor)

First Line of Dialogue or Text

...and the next day we found his body on the moor!

Genre

spy; superhero

Characters

Ken Astor; Alistair Rampson (butler); Mycroft (psychic detective, alias) [Miles Von Croft] (ex-Nazi U-Boat commander); Countess Caution (psychic detective); Rachel (psychic detective, Mycroft's ward); Angus MacGregor (groundskeeper); Black Hugh [Lord Hugh Ravenlock] (flashback cameo); Lord Gavin Ravenlock (deceased)

Synopsis

Murder on the moors brings Nick to investigate the death of an old army friend. He finds mystery, a trio of psychic detectives, a huge dog, and more than meets the eyes...

Reprints

• from Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (Marvel, 1968 series) #3 (August 1968)

Indexer Notes

Tribute to Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Hound Of The Baskervilles", mixed with a bit of the John Lucarotti AVENGERS episode, "Castle De'ath". Parodied in NOT BRAND ECCH #11 (December 1968). Also pays tribute to Simon & Kirby's "The Phantom Hound Of Cardiff Moor" from CAPTAIN AMERICA #10 (January 1942), including the 2-page title spread. Mycroft based on Peter Cushing; Rampson based on Robert Urquhart; Angus based on Boris Karloff.

Whatever Happened to Scorpio? (Table of Contents: 6)

Nick Fury / comic story / 20 pages (report information)

Script

Jim Steranko (credited)

Pencils

Jim Steranko (credited)

Inks

John Tartaglione (credited as John Tartag)

Colors

Estudio Fénix

Letters

Sam Rosen (credited)

Editing

Stan Lee (credited) (editor)

First Line of Dialogue or Text

Look at the building's gleam in the sun. Nick!

Genre

spy; superhero

Characters

Val [Contessa Valentina Allegro de Fontaine]; Nick Fury; Pickman (locksmith); Scorpio [Jake Fury] (unrevealed); Dum Dum Dugan; Senator Irksome

Synopsis

The ESP Division picks up "possible danger", sending Nick straight into a trap set by Scorpio! Nick is captured. Fury manages to dodge one death trap after another, then faces his would-be killer. He pursues the escaping imposter, who tears off his mask, revealing his true identity to Nick-- just before being caught in a hail of gunfire from a group of SHIELD agents! After, Nick stands alone on a dock, looking out over the water, wondering if the man who tried so very hard to murder him is still alive.

Reprints

• from Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (Marvel, 1968 series) #5 (October 1968)

Indexer Notes

Identity of Scorpio revealed by Roy Thomas in The Avengers #72 (January 1970), reprinted in Essential Avengers #4 (2004). Pickman based on Robert Morley. More details revealed when Scorpio returns in The Defenders #46, 48-50 (April, June-August 1977). Full background of character not revealed until flashback in Fury #1 (May 1994). Steranko repeated the gimmick of ending the story by having a character diving into water thru a hail of gunfire in Captain America #111 (March 1969). Nick's Ferrari, which he's had since Strange Tales #162 (November 1967) is destroyed; he gets a replacement in Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #8 (January 1969).

Who Is Scorpio? (Table of Contents: 7)

Nick Fury / cover reprint (on interior page) / 1 page (report information)

Script

Jim Steranko

Pencils

Jim Steranko (signed as STERANKO)

Inks

Jim Steranko (signed as STERANKO)

Colors

Estudio Fénix

Letters

Sam Rosen; Jim Steranko (signed as STERANKO) (as part of artwork)

Editing

Stan Lee (original editor)

Genre

spy; superhero

Characters

Nick Fury (in disguise); Val [Contessa Valentina Allegro de Fontaine]; Nick Fury L.M.D.; Scorpio; Dum Dum Dugan

Reprints

• from Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (Marvel, 1968 series) #1 (June 1968)

Indexer Notes

Cover to Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1.

So Shall Ye Reap... Death! (Table of Contents: 8)

Nick Fury / cover reprint (on interior page) / 1 page (report information)

Script

Jim Steranko (credited)

Pencils

Jim Steranko (signed as STERANKO)

Inks

Jim Steranko (signed as STERANKO)

Colors

Estudio Fénix

Letters

Sam Rosen ?

Editing

Stan Lee (original editor)

Genre

spy; superhero

Characters

Nick Fury; Centurius

Reprints

• from Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (Marvel, 1968 series) #2 (July 1968)

Indexer Notes

Cover to Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #2. There is a title blurb on this reproduced cover that was omitted on the original.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 9)

Nick Fury / cover reprint (on interior page) / 1 page (report information)

Pencils

Jim Steranko (signed as STERANKO); John Romita (see notes)

Inks

Jim Steranko (signed as STERANKO); John Romita (see notes)

Colors

Estudio Fénix

Editing

Stan Lee (original editor)

Genre

spy; superhero

Characters

Nick Fury; Rachel

Reprints

• from Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (Marvel, 1968 series) #3 (August 1968)

Indexer Notes

Cover to Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #3. Romita alterations on hound per Nick Caputo, Jan 2011.

Shield Origin Issue! (Table of Contents: 10)

Nick Fury / cover reprint (on interior page) / 1 page (report information)

Script

Jim Steranko

Pencils

Jim Steranko (signed as STERANKO)

Inks

Jim Steranko (signed as STERANKO)

Colors

Estudio Fénix

Letters

Jim Steranko (signed as STERANKO) (as part of artwork)

Editing

Stan Lee (original editor)

Genre

spy; superhero

Characters

Nick Fury; HYDRA

Reprints

• from Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (Marvel, 1968 series) #4 (September 1968)

Indexer Notes

Cover to Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #4.

Scorpio (Table of Contents: 11)

Nick Fury / cover reprint (on interior page) / 1 page (report information)

Pencils

Jim Steranko (signed as STERANKO)

Inks

Jim Steranko (signed as STERANKO)

Colors

Estudio Fénix

Letters

Jim Steranko (signed as STERANKO) (as part of artwork)

Editing

Stan Lee (original editor)

Genre

spy; superhero

Characters

Scorpio; Nick Fury; Val [Contessa Valentina Allegro de Fontaine]

Reprints

• from Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (Marvel, 1968 series) #5 (October 1968)

Indexer Notes

Cover to Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #5.

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents: 12)

Nick Fury / cover reprint (on interior page) / 1 page (report information)

Pencils

Jim Steranko (signed as STERANKO)

Inks

Jim Steranko (signed as STERANKO)

Colors

Estudio Fénix

Editing

Stan Lee (original editor)

Genre

spy; superhero

Characters

Nick Fury

Reprints

• from Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (Marvel, 1968 series) #6 (November 1968)

Indexer Notes

Cover to Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #6. Wally Wood tribute.

He's Mike Hammer and James Bond Rolled into One... (Table of Contents: 13) (Expand) /

Nick Fury / promo (ad from the publisher) / 1 page (report information)