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S.H.I.E.L.D. #2 – “The Animator” Recap & Review

Writer: Mark Waid

Penciller: Humberto Ramos

Year: 2015

Last time we looked at S.H.I.E.L.D, we saw a multitude of superheroes desperately holding back a tide of armies from across the nine realms, while Coulson faced down a mad god. This week we see a single superhero hold back a tide of evil pizza, while Coulson faces down a teenager. Well, no-one could accuse S.H.I.E.L.D. of being formulaic!

We begin at the London Headquarters of Roxxon Oil. From the window, we can see the London Eye, fulfilling the trope in fiction that every window in London must show a recognisable London landmark. And it’s a good job it’s there too, or we’d never have guessed which city the London Headquarters of Roxxon were in.

In the Roxxon building we see a heavyset, bearded man on the phone to his daughter. We only “hear” his side of the conversation, but it becomes immediately clear that this isn’t the most cordial father/daughter talk. Beardy is angry that his daughter blew off an interview with the President of another company, Biochemco. Beardy believes his daughter is throwing away her brilliant education, as she’s moved to the USA to become a party planner. However, fans of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. show have probably guessed who’s he’s talking to. English, interview at was is presumably a biology lab… yep, it’s Simmons, who is forced to hang up on her father due to a little issue at work. Said little issue is being in the middle of a firefight between S.H.I.E.L.D. and terrorist organisation A.I.M.

Like the flashback’s to Coulson’s past in S.H.I.E.L.D. #1, this little vignette has nothing to do with the rest of the plot, but does give us a little more character insight. Although unfortunately it is a little. Whereas Coulson’s flashbacks established him as smart, dedicated, good at a reading people and really obsessed with superheroes, Simmons is established – as having daddy issues. It’s not really in-depth character stuff, is all I’m saying.

We begin the story proper at Coles Academy High School, in Jersey City. Wait, we’re in a city and it’s not New York? Marvel, you’ve changed and it’s scaring me. The janitor finds a bag marked “Pizza Dough” and picks it up, saying it must belong in the cafeteria. Yep, because I know when I find something just laying around on the ground, my first thought is to bring it to a place where food is prepared. I know it’s marked as pizza dough, but what exactly was going through the janitor’s mind? Are deliveries to the school usually left clandestinely next to the backdoor overnight? And consist of a single bag of pizza dough, with not even a delivery report to say where it came from? I would make a joke about understanding why this guy’s just a janitor, but janitors do fine work, are really underappreciated and this moron is so stupid I’m actually surprised he got hired as one.

We then go to an Biology class in the school later that day. Simmons is filling in as a substitute teacher, using the alias Ms Steranko. The name is a nice shout-out to Jim Steranko, writer and artist on the 1960s comics Strange Tales (featuring Nick Fury) and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.. His surrealist, pop art style and hip spy drama storylines on both books gave them a cool, James Bond-ish feel, making them cult hits in their day, and both are still remembered fondly. To many fans, while S.H.I.E.L.D. was created by Stan Lee, Steranko’s work really fleshed out both the organisation and the character of Nick Fury, meaning the Steranko is often considered the real “father” of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Simmons isn’t exactly holding the attention of the class, as we see that most of students are pre-occupied with doing something else, such as sleeping, listening to music and levitating books. Wait, what? Yeah, one of the students is trying to impress a girl by levitating his book. Of course, even in the Marvel Universe, students levitating their stuff is fairly notable, and he’s quickly spotted by both Simmons, who texts Coulson saying she’s spotted the “smuggler”, and another of his classmates, Kamala Khan.

Kamala’s our guest superhero of the month, like Black Knight and Valkyrie in issue 1. She’s the latest Ms. Marvel and is a fairly new character, only debuting in 2013. Kamala’s become incredibly popular incredibly quickly, with both her Ms. Marvel series and the comic’s sister title, Captain Marvel, becoming two of the company’s best sellers. It’s an interesting turnaround, since for years the Captain Marvel/Ms. Marvel franchise hasn’t exactly been a hit for the House of Ideas.

Captain Marvel mk 1

The original Captain Marvel wasn’t a Marvel character, and indeed predates “Marvel” itself, first appearing in Whiz Comics #2 in 1940, back when what we now know as Marvel was known as Timely Comics. This Captain Marvel was ten-year old Billy Batson, who spoke the magic word SHAZAM to become his perfect superhuman adult self, complete with flight and superstrength. Captain Marvel became a big hit for his publisher, Fawcett comics, but in the early 1950s DC Comics sued Fawcett, saying that Captain Marvel was too similar to Superman. On the surface, it seemed they had a point – both were square-jawed, black haired, All-American heroes with superstrength, superspeed, flight and a cape. However, superficial similarities aside, Captain Marvel was very different, but DC won the court case and Captain Marvel was gone, seemingly forever.

In 1967, Marvel cottoned onto the fact that the name Captain Marvel was no longer trademarked, with the character at that time seemingly defunct. So Marvel released their own Captain Marvel and quickly trademarked the name. In a cruel twist of irony, this meant that when DC comics acquired the licence to Fawcett’s Captain Marvel in 1972 and began publishing the character, they couldn’t call the comic Captain Marvel, or licence any merchandising under that name. Eventually, DC would just call it quits and rename the character Shazam in 2011.

As for Marvel’s Captain Marvel, he couldn’t be more different. Whereas the original Cap had been a ten-year old boy with a magic word, this new Captain Marvel was Captain Mar-Vell, a member of the alien race the Kree. Mar-Vell was sent to Earth was check whether it was a threat against the Kree Empire, but ended up falling in love with the place.

Captain Mar-Vell of the Kree - aka the "really weird Captain Marvel"

The character was never a big hit, but a psychedelic, surrealist revamp by writer Jim Starlin in the late seventies made Captain Marvel a brief cult hit, which prompted Marvel to release a spin-off, Ms. Marvel, in 1977. This Ms. Marvel was Carol Danvers, an Air Force pilot who’d been a supporting character for Mar-Vell back in the '60s. Badly injured in a fight between Mar-Vell and his nemesis, Yon-Rogg, an exploding Kree device had merged Carol’s genes with Mar-Vell’s making her a human-Kree hybrid and granting her superpowers.

Ms. Marvel lasted for 23 issues, and Carol soon became a “meh” character for Marvel, never being obscure enough to completely disappear, but never becoming an A-list superhero. That is until the mid-2000s, when Avengers writer (the comic, not the movie) Brian Michael Bendis gave Carol the push into the spotlight she needed and, frankly, deserved. Carol quickly became an A-lister and eventually took the title Captain Marvel – Mar-Vell himself being long dead by this point. The new Captain Marvel book was a smash hit both with critics and fans and remains to be so, with Marvel even announcing that Carol will get her own Marvel Cinematic Universe movie in 2018, the first MCU movie headlined by a female superhero.

Captain Marvel aka Carol Danvers. Formally known as Ms. Marvel.

But, just like the name Captain Marvel itself, Marvel doesn’t like to let a trademark name go to waste, so soon a new Ms. Marvel appeared. Kamala Khan is an Inhuman, a genetic offshoot of humanity created by genetic experiments by the Kree to ancient humans back in the Stone Age. Inhumans appear perfectly human until exposed to Terrigen Mist, i.e. super-science powers granting magic space fog. In Kamala’s case, the powers she got were shapeshifting and Plastic Man-esque stretchiness. Like the new Captain Marvel, the new Ms. Marvel has quickly become a smash hit and a critical darling, both for being a genuinely great book (or so the reviews say, I must admit I’ve haven’t read any Ms. Marvel myself) and for Kamala being seen as an extremely positive icon and role model. Kamala is an independent and smart female character whose appearance, attitude and costume isn’t done for pointless male fanservice, making her a strong feminist character. On top of that, Kamala is a very positive portrayal of a Muslim character, as well as being Marvel’s first Muslim character headlining her own book.

She's here to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and she's all out of - oh, wait, nevermind.

Given the character’s popularity, it isn’t surprising to see her guest star her in S.H.I.E.L.D. #2. It’s an old comic staple, using a guest appearance of a popular character in a new series to boost readership sales, and one we’ll see repeated in S.H.I.E.L.D. #3 with an appearance by Spider-man. This comic also acts as a good introduction to Kamala for those who haven’t picked up Ms. Marvel, like myself.

Back to the story. The kid levitating his books, Grayson Blair, quickly realises he’s been rumbled when Simmons asks him to speak outside the classroom with her. Not quite sure what else he expected after showing off in class. Grayson quickly texts his accomplice (see what you’ve started, Simmons? Now they all think that it’s ok to text in class) and tells him to meet him at his locker after the “distraction”. Grayson then activates said distraction from his phone, causing a “Power Glove” to burst out of his locker and start smashing the school up. Kamala, it turns out, is like Coulson, and by that I don’t mean looks damn fine in a suit and tie. She’s an uber-nerd too, quickly recognising the Power Glove as one belonging to the Wizard (insert your own The Wizard/Power Glove internet meme joke here). The Wizard is an old Fantastic Four villain, or more accurately an old Human Torch villain – the Johnny Storm Human Torch, the human Human Torch, rather than Jim Hammond, the non-human Human Torch. The Wizard, as his name suggests, is a super-intelligent scientific genius with absolutely no magical abilities whatsoever. Between that and having a non-human Human Torch, I’m beginning to see why non-comic fans say comic books are confusing.

I love Kamala’s thought process here. She quickly recognises that both the levitating disc Grayson was using, plus the Power Glove, equals Wizard. Not only does she think this in an equation, with pictures, but she almost thinks < Ms. Marvel, complete with a picture of her costume. I love it when comics have their characters think in pictures, since it's a quirky way of using the visual medium to show us a character's thoughts.

As the kids flee the attacking Power Glove, Kamala sneak away, grabbing her superhero costume from her locker. Inside the classroom, Simmons saves two of the students from the Power Glove, but it causes a large piece of wall to come crashing down, straight towards Simmons and the students. As rescues go, that’s a real frying pan/fire kinda deal.

However, Ms. Marvel arrives to save the day, grabbing the wall before it can squish Simmons, then reaching out and grabbing the flying fist in one giant, stretchy hand. Simmons’ reaction… is to order Ms. Marvel to leave the area immediately and leave this to S.H.I.E.L.D. Yeah, because you’re doing a real bang-up job so far, Simmons. So far all your involvement has led to is a bunch of terrified students and a couple of hundred dollars in property damage. I’m actually kind of surprised it’s not Ms. Marvel telling you to back off while she sorts this mess out.

Meanwhile, Grayson is in process of cleaning out his locker (of black market supervillain weapons, he hasn’t just decided now would be a good time for a good tidy) when Coulson arrives on the scene and arrests him. Noticeably, we have a different artist this issue, so Coulson looks a lot less like Clark Gregg. There’s still similarities and Coulson is still recognisable, but after the almost-perfect Clark Gregg likeness that Carlos Pacheco gave us in #1, it’s a little distracting.

Simmons meets up with Coulson, and Ms. Marvel is still with her, rightly having ignored Simmons’ order to stay out of this. Even more sensibly, she’s not going to hand over powerful supervillain tech to someone claiming to be a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent without more evidence that they are who they say they are. However, Kamala is quickly distracted by the contents of Grayson’s bag, which she describes as a “villain museum”. Back in my review of issue 1, I theorised that writer Mark Waid would use the series to reference as many obscure Marvel characters as possible. We see more evidence of that here, with Ms. Marvel spotting the “Animator”, a gun used by a villain known as Plantman. Remember him? Yeah, I thought not. Heck, I’m a fairly knowledgeable nerd and even I had to Google who the hell that was. It’s this guy.

Not exactly the most threatening villain look ever, is it? Unless he yells “smell my flower!” while shoving your face into his crotch. That would be disturbing.

Coulson, desperate not to be out-geeked, gets into a short argument about whether the gun is the “Animator” Plantman used on the Sub-mariner, or the earlier “Vege-Ray” he used on the Human Torch. That would be the human Human Torch, by the way. Whichever it is, it doesn’t factor into the story any further. Really worth naming the story after, wasn’t it?

Coulson’s impressed with Kamala’s knowledge, but still orders her to stay out of their investigation. She still doesn’t, and I’m actually surprised Coulson doesn’t realise that there’s no better way to get a plucky teen hero involved in something than to tell them not to get involved. While being escorted away by Simmons – or rather while Simmons is attempting to escort her away, without much success, Kamala overhears Coulson ask Grayson where the “dough” is, and he’s not talking about money. Kamala quickly realises that today is “pizza day” for lunch and rushes off towards the cafeteria.

In the cafeteria, it’s lunchtime and the students are indeed being served pizza. Got to hand it to these kids, if my school had just been attacked by a superweapon, almost killing students and causing property damage, I wouldn’t just got back into my daily routine. Maybe that’s just life for people in the Marvel Universe – supervillain attacks don’t even count as an annoyance anymore.

It’s easy to guess that the pizzas are made with the dough the janitor found outside at the start, and I hope it's implying that he just left it in the kitchens and it was found later on. I really hope he didn’t just walk in and say to the cook “Hey! I just found this on the floor outside! Want it?” and the cook replied “Do I? Unexpected pizza dough left outside on the floor? Of course, the kids will love it, I see no health and safety concerns there!”

Surprise, surprise, all the students eating the pizzas are violently sick. However, all the sick is alive, apparently sentient and have little faces. That is not a sentence I ever thought I’d write. They’re actually little Doughboys, blob monsters created by Nazi scientist Arnim Zola. The Doughboys seal the lunchroom shut, locking Coulson, Simmons and Ms. Marvel out. In a clever little moment, Ms. Marvel asks Coulson if he can shoot the lock, to which he replies:

Coulson: A.K.A. “Fire into a lunchroom of high school students”? No.

It’s a nice reminder that Coulson’s isn’t just your normal action hero, and prefers tactics and thought to brute strength. Case in point, Coulson realises that they need Ms. Marvel for this one, pointing out that she can change her shape, so should easily be able to get under the door. Kamala’s excited by this, never having considered that she could go paper-thin.

Kamala gets into the lunchroom under the door, but the Doughboys spot her and attack, smashing down the door as they do so. Well, that’s one problem solved, but they’re left with a few bigger ones. The obvious being the small army of evil blob monsters, but the other, more pressing matter is that eating evil Nazi genetic experiments isn’t healthy, so all the students are now badly poisoned. Simmons realises this first and heads to the chemistry lab to do her brilliant scientist thing. Ms. Marvel fights the Doughboys until Coulson gets a call from Simmons saying she needs help. Coulson tells Ms. Marvel to help her out, saying that he’s always trusted her and known she could help, it’s just that he’s being protective of her.

Coulson: I’ve got you at arm’s length because I don’t want your world to get too big too fast. That’s all. But since you’re here – go show me what you can do.

It’s a nice little speech that shows another of Coulson’s strengths – he’s a nice guy, who’s good at motivating and inspiring people. It’s something we see a lot of in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., where he has a mentor, even partly parental, relationship with Skye, much like Giles had with Buffy on Joss Whedon’s earlier show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s one of my favourite parts of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and, since Skye isn’t in these comics, it’s nice to see that side of Coulson shown here.

In the chemistry lab, Simmons has almost put together the cure for Doughboy poisoning, but is about to be attacked by a large mass of Doughboys. Ms. Marvel arrives and does her Big Damn Heroes thing, using her new trick of going flat to surround the Doughboys in a big ball, mushing them together.

Ten minutes later, Ms. Marvel has mushed all the Doughboys and got them wrapped, turning herself into a big ball. Simmons kills them – or, she insists, renders them “inert” by "neutralising their microaerophilic lactobacilli".

Ms. Marvel: That sounds like a politer way of saying “dead”.

Yeah, it’s hard to argue with that. Ms. Marvel’s also brought time for Simmons to find a save the students from poisoning, so the day is saved.

While a S.H.I.E.L.D. hazmat team comes in to put the Doughboys into secure containment units, Simmons has a heart-to-heart with Kamala. Simmons guesses that Kamala’s family doesn’t know that she’s a superhero, explaining that she can relate, as due to the classified nature of her work, Simmons’ family thinks she’s a corporate party planner. Simmons admits that she’s kept the secret for years, and she misses the days when her parents really knew her – and yesterday’s phone call with her father must be on her mind.

It’s a nice scene, although it does raise a few questions. S.H.I.E.L.D., while being a secretive organisation, is not a secret organisation, or at least if they’re supposed to be, turning up at a public school with huge vans marked with their name and logo means they’re pretty terrible at being one. I get that Simmons’ work would be classified, but the fact that she’s a scientist for S.H.I.E.L.D.? Why would that need to be kept secret? Simmons has only be in the field a matter of weeks at most, before that she was a lab rat, so it’s not like she was a top secret agent or something. Government scientists in the real world sign official secret acts to keep their work classified, they don’t pretend to just give us a promising career in science and go into a completely random, unconnected area of work just as cover. In fact, a gifted, well-educated biologist just dropping everything to become a corporate party planner is more suspicious than just having her cover be, for example, working for a corporation that has labs all over the world.

Coulson thanks Kamala for a job well done, saying that he liked what he saw from her today and that her day will come to be a fully-fledged S.H.I.E.L.D. asset. We also see that Simmons has slipped her a note, advising Kamala to call Simmons if keeping her secret gets a bit too much – and that Kamala was right, it was absolutely the Animator.

S.H.I.E.L.D. #2, like #1, is a fun read, although overall it’s a weaker issue. While it’s an enjoyable little team-up, and I can easily see why Kamala has such a fan following, the lack of any main characters aside from Coulson and Simmons hurts this issue. We’re given a bit of character stuff and backstory for Simmons, but aside from her little talk with Kamala at the end, it doesn’t really factor into the story. Ultimately, this too much Kamala’s story, with even Coulson and Simmons relegated to supporting characters. Which would be fine, if this were an issue of Ms. Marvel, but this is S.H.I.E.L.D., and Coulson, May and Fitz-Simmons are supposed to be our main characters, the characters we focus on.

Despite that, S.H.I.E.L.D. #2 is great and I recommend it – especially if you’re a fan of the new Ms. Marvel. But please Mr. Waid – can we have a little more S.H.I.E.L.D. in our S.H.I.E.L.D. comic? As next issue stars Spider-man, I’m not holding out much hope, but we’ll have to see.

We’ll return to S.H.I.E.L.D. in the near future, but next week it’s back to DC, where all H’el has broken loose… and no, that’s not a typo.

S.H.I.E.L.D. #2 is the property of Marvel Comics.

The Flash #1 – “The Flash” Review

Writers: Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato

Penciller: Francis Manapul

Publisher: DC Comics

Flash! Ah-ahhh! He’ll save every one of us! OK, I know it’s a different Flash, but I’m never missing a chance to reference that Queen song. But no, this isn’t Flash Gordon, this is the Flash of DC Comics – Barry Allen. Barry’s story is a simple tale of a mild-mannered CSI doused in chemicals and struck by lightning, becoming the Fastest Man Alive, protecting Central City from everyday threats like time-travellers and super-intelligent psychic gorillas. Which are everyday threats in Central City. It’s a weird place.

Barry Allen was created by writers Robert Kanigher and John Broome, and artist Carmine Infantino, way back in 1955’s Showcase #4. Barry himself was actually a reboot of the original Flash, Jay Garrick, who first appeared during the Golden Age of Comic Books in 1940.

By the late 1940s, the Golden Age was definitely over, at least for superhero comics. Superheroes were a dead genre, with out of the hundreds of superheroes created during the war only Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Arrow and a handful of others surviving. DC editor Julius Schwartz looked to change that, but rather than bring back the old heroes, Schwartz decided to keep only the codenames and powers, creating new secret identities and origins. Schwartz was a huge science fiction fan, and his new heroes would be forward-thinking men of science, rather than the non-powered vigilantes and mystical heroes that were more popular during the Golden Age. For example the Atom, originally short but tough unpowered scrapper Al Pratt, was reimagined as Ray Palmer, quirky university physics professor who created a device that allowed him to shrink. Then there was Green Lantern, originally Alan Scott, a railroad worker with a magic ring that created green energy constructs of anything he imagined, reimagined as Hal Jordan, a test fighter pilot who became an intergalactic cop with a ring that did the same thing, only now the reason was super-advanced alien science rather than magic.

Fittingly for the Fastest Man Alive, the Flash was the first of these reboots, possibly because the original Flash, Jay Garrick, was one of the Golden Age heroes to have an origin based in science fiction already. Jay’s origin was that a lab accident had caused him to inhale heavy water fumes, granting him superspeed. See, airtight science. Even by the fifties that must have seemed implausible, so Barry’s origin was being struck by lightning. While being covered in a mixture of different chemicals. Now I’m no scientist, but I’m guessing that if I was doused in various chemicals while simultaneously being struck by lightning, the result wouldn’t be superpowers. Or very pretty. At least the results wouldn’t be very pretty, I imagine the actual moment would be pretty cool to see.

See what I mean?

The new Flash was – pardon the pun – a runaway success, leading to both the Silver Age of Comics and DC’s ongoing tradition of rebooting their characters. Because that’s what Flash #1 is – a reboot.

In 2011 DC cancelled all their series taking place in their main continuity, the DC Universe (DCU). They then launched the “New 52”, 52 new series, either brand new series or old series starting a new “volume” with a new issue 1. The idea, like the reboot in the fifties, was to re-introduce the characters for a new generation, modernising them and attempting a fresh start, ideal for new readers DC thought were put off by decades of continuity. Some characters, like Batman, were kept pretty much the same, with only minor updates to his costume the only real change. Other characters had more radical changes as stuff was added or removed from their backstory, like Superman no longer being married to Lois Lane, as was the case Pre-New 52.  Some rebooted characters were virtually new characters, with their personalities, costumes, sometimes even their ethnicity completed changed.

The reaction to this was… mixed. That’s an understatement. Seriously. To say that the New 52 was controversial is like saying that space is big – it’s factually true, but doesn’t really convey the scope. Personally, I’m kinda on the fence. I liked some changes they made, but I don’t like others. I’m disappointed, certainly, that certain series were cancelled for the New 52 (Bryan Q Miller’s Batgirl run in particular. Check it out. Seriously. The comic was amazing) but a lot of the New 52 series that I’ve read I’ve liked. Including, yes, the Flash. In fact, out of the New 52, the Flash is by far my favourite series. But before I get into the comic proper, I need to address the elephant in the room, or rather the elephant that is noticeable for its absence in the room. Wally West.

See, not only was Barry Allen not the first Flash, but for a long time, he wasn’t the Flash at all. Barry, like Coulson, died and was later brought back to life. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, as even people with only a causal knowledge of comics are fully aware that superheroes have a tendency to die and come back like a lemming in a time warp. But Barry didn’t just die as a cheap publicity stunt, his death was meant to stick. In the 1985 maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths (which was another example of DC rebooting their universe – see what I mean about it being a tradition?) Barry gave his life in a heroic sacrifice. At the end of the Crisis, Barry’s sidekick, Wally West, the Kid Flash, became the Flash. While Barry did obviously return, since he’s the star of this book, he wasn’t brought back until 2008. So Wally was the Flash for over twenty years, at least in real-time. He starred in his own best-selling Flash series, was a regular member of the Justice League, and was even the Flash featured in the hit animated series Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. In short, Wally wasn’t just a popular successor, for many fans he was the Flash, the Flash they spent two decades reading about, and for some the only Flash they’d known. And then the New 52 came and not only was Wally no longer the Flash – he didn’t exist. Wally, along with other fan favourites Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Conner Hawke and Donna Troy were all exiled from continuity, DC editorial proclaiming that these characters could not, for the time being, be used in any way by the writers. So for all those fans for whom Wally was the Flash, they were – understandably – extremely unhappy. All the above characters have since reappeared in comics, but since the new Wally West looks and acts completely different, it’s hard to argue that this is the same character, so this has done little to placate them.

But despite the controversies, it’s hard not to love Flash #1. We begin with Barry and his girlfriend, Patty Spivot, on their first date at the Central City Tech Symposium. Yeah, the fact that Barry was dating Patty was another point of contention for long-time Flash fans, since before the New 52 Barry was happily married to Iris West. In the New 52 they’ve never been married, as DC editorial felt that being married made Barry “too old” and “un-relatable”. I can’t agree with that, but for me the relationship between Barry and Patty softens the blow. Patty’s a great character, likable, smart, interesting and while a lot of her scenes in the current Flash series do revolve around her being Barry’s girlfriend, we are given some characterisation outside that.

We learn that it took Barry two years to ask Patty out, which Barry explains as being “methodical”, reminding us that unlike the hyperactive, short-attention spanned speedster stereotype, Barry is thoughtful, attentive and methodical. What sets the Flash, and Barry in particular, apart from the many, many other speedsters in comics is that he's a scientist who fights with his brains as much as his speed. It’s something we’ll see both in this comic, and later issues.

Speaking of brains, Barry and Patty run into Dr Darwin Elias, and we know he’s a brilliant scientist because his name is Darwin. It’s an unwritten rule in fiction that if your name is anything like Darwin or Einstein, you’re a brilliant scientist. Or a monkey. Or both. Barry fanboys over Dr Elias, but his squee-ing is brought to an abrupt end when a bunch of masked men crash through a skylight. Or rather krash through the skylight, since that’s how it’s written in the sound effect. In the highly unlikely event I ever become a superhero (who knows, maybe that lighting/chemical combo will work on me as well) I’m just going to avoid going to public events. Any public event a superhero attends will always be crashed by thieves, gangsters, supervillains, robots, etc. without fail. I think it’s part of the same universal law that states that if a detective goes for a quiet holiday away from the big city, they will stumble onto a murder before they’ve finished unpacking.

The mysterious masked men flood they place with knockout gas, or what I presume is knockout gas since one of the men says “time to go to sleep”. However the knockout gas doesn’t seem to affect anyone, and pretty much everyone seems fine in what can only be a few minutes or so later, so if it is knockout gas these guys buy their stuff from the same dodgy ACME supplier who’s being selling stuff to Wile E. Coyote all these years. The gas does provide Barry cover to change into the Flash, in what is an absolutely stunning page. Seriously the art in this comic is gorgeous. I would have literally any single panel or page from this comic blown up and put on my wall as a piece of art. Francis Manapul’s soft pencils match perfectly with Brian Buccellato’s muted, soft colour scheme, creating a look for this book that’s unique and distinctive. Sadly, Manapul and Buccellato are no longer working on The Flash, now having moved to Detective Comics. It’s a real shame, as I miss them working on the book and why The Flash is still overall a good book, it’s current artist, Brett Booth’s work is… well, I’m not a fan. To put it mildly. But I plan to look at later Flash comics at some point in the near future, so we’ll criticise that bridge when we come to it.

Seriously, I want this on my wall.

The masked men have grabbed a strange handheld device and make a run for it. Two of them, given the numbers 45 and 57 rather than names, are told to slow the Flash down, but since these guys appear to just be normal men and the Flash is, well, really, really, fast, he’s already disarmed half the group and deals with 45 and 57 in nanoseconds. You could say their numbers were up.

The remaining masked men, one still holding the stolen device, run towards a plane-helicopter thing that’s waiting for them on the edge of the roof. Surely someone noticed this thing flying so damn low in a populated area? You would’ve thought any aircraft flying that low in a city would have been spotted by the military and had a couple of fighter jets blasting the crap out of it by now.

Flash grabs the last man, who’s holding the stolen the device, just as he grabs the net hanging out the back of the plane. The masked man throws it to another, numbered 33 (so we’ve got 45, 57 and 33. Another couple more and it’s bingo!). Flash grabs the device before 33 can get it, meaning he’s holding onto a masked man with one hand, the device with the other and no hands on the net. But it’s fine, the guy he’s holding onto is grabbing the net and he’s hardly gonna let go and let them both plummet to their deaths. Right? Right?

Flash: Come on, guys, you’re making this too…

Masked man promptly lets go of the net, sending Flash and himself plummeting towards their deaths.

Flash: …easy.

Now, Barry, what have we learnt about tempting fate?

This puts the Flash in a bit of a pickle since he can’t fly and he isn’t invulnerable, meaning that falling from a plane is going to do to him exactly what it would to anyone else, World’s Fastest Man be damned. But Barry has a plan. OK, so it’s a bad plan, but it works despite logic and physics saying otherwise. First, Barry spins his arm at superspeed, creating a mini-tornado. He then uses this mini-tornado to send the masked man to safety. OK, so to safety means sending him head-first through a plate glass window, but it’s relatively safer than falling from a great height towards solid concrete. Now, you might think the Flash would use one of those tornados to try and slow his descent, but no. Instead, Barry waits until he’s almost hit the ground, then vibrates his molecules so fast he vibrates through the street, landing in the sewer water below, cushioning his fall. It’s all kinds of cool, if completely impossible. Oh, I don’t mean vibrating so fast you can phase through solid objects, I’m no physicist so I no idea whether that could hypothetically work. But I do know that hitting water (well, sewerage, so mostly water) from at least 10 stories up at terminal velocity, well, it wouldn’t exactly soften the fall. In fact hitting the concrete might be the safer option. But aside from making a few physicists cry, all went well – apart from the portion of street Flash vibrated through exploding. See, stuff like this is why taxes in Central City are so damn high.

Central City reporter Iris West is on the street when part of it explodes, and she does what every good reporter in a superhero universe should do – walk straight up to the hole the explosion made and start conducting an interview with the resident superhero. Flash plays it cool, saying everything went just as he planned (including blowing up part of the street?). Gotta hand it to Barry, it’s very hard to act cool and nonchalant when floating in raw sewage. Trust me.

A short while later, Flash hands the device the masked men tried to steal back to Elias, and I really hoped Barry washed both it and himself. He runs off, only to reappear in seconds, dressed in normal clothes. Barry is then promptly told by Patty that they’re back on the clock – there’s a body.

Said body is the guy Flash put through the window during the fall. Throwing a guy through a window is usually bad enough for their health, and doing so at superspeed has got to be worse, so cause of death seems obvious. To make matters worse, not only does Barry have to worry whether he’s accidently killed someone, it’s an old friend of his, Manuel.

We have a flashback (no pun intended, I swear) to Barry and Manuel years ago, presumably at high school or college. They’re running away from a whole rugby team, Manuel saying “she was totally worth it”. Even in a comic with art this good, these flashback deserves a special mention. The colours are further muted, making this look almost sepia-toned. And short though it is, just half a page, we’re given a pretty good idea who Manuel is. He’s the complete opposite of Barry – reckless and impulsive.

Now it looks like that recklessness and impulsiveness has really backfired. As the cops wheel Manuel’s corpse out of the building, a crowd of journalists are waiting, including Iris.

Iris: Is it true that the Flash had something to do with that suspect’s death?

Barry: Who told you that, Iris?

Iris: So it is true? That’s huge.

Huh. You’d think for a guy with a secret identity, Barry wouldn’t be so easily duped into revealing confidential police information.

The next day we see the Central City crime lab are working on the case, introducing us to some more of the Flash’s supporting characters, including David Singh, the director of the crime lab. Singh is the stereotypic police boss man, ranting and raving about getting results as soon as possible, even saying the stereotypical “I needed that report in my hand yesterday!” All that’s missing is for him to say “the mayor is riding my ass on this one!” Later issues will show that Singh’s a good man who genuinely wants the best results, but who tends to prize speed over thoroughness. This often puts him at odds with Barry who is, despite his superspeed, is through and methodical in his work, believing that getting the truth and making an airtight case is more important that speedy results.

We also meet Captain Darryl Frye. Fans of the Flash TV show who aren’t familiar with the comics may be wondering where Joe West is. Well, Joe was created for the show but he fills the same role as mentor and father figure that Frye does in the comic. Like Joe in the show, Frye is an old friend of Barry’s parents since before Barry was born – and looks an awful lot like Barry, leading to some fan suspicions about Barry’s true parentage.

Speaking of the Scarlet Speedster, he’s doing the standard depressed superhero thing of standing on the edge of a high ledge, looking pensively into the distance. Eh, Batman did that before it was cool and everyone started doing it. Barry’s feeling pretty crappy, possibly accidently murdering one of your friends can do that to you. Elias arrives (we’re never shown how the hell he knows where the Flash will be) and tells Flash the good news – he’s not a murderer! No, Manuel just dropped dead mysteriously. Whew, that’s a relief. Except Barry’s spirits aren’t lifted because, well, Manuel’s still dead. But now that Barry knows he didn’t kill his friend, he’s going to find out what did.

Barry borrows Elias’ Genome Re-Coder (that device that Manuel’s Mysterious Masked Men attempted to steal) and experiments in his apartment with the Re-Coder and a sample of Manuel’s DNA. He discovers that Manuel’s DNA has been altered, which doesn’t make any sense. Sure, the Re-Coder is designed to rewrite a person’s DNA, but Manuel only had it for two seconds, and it wasn’t turned on, so couldn’t change him then.

Barry’s investigation is interrupted by someone breaking into his apartment. Barry grabs the hooded intruder at superspeed, slamming him up against a book case. The intruder is revealed to be none other than – Manuel.

Jayne Cobb: Spry for a dead fella!

Flash is obviously a bit shocked that his previously dead friend is now alive and well. Although possibly a little too shocked, seeing that Barry himself has died and come back. Admittedly, the jury’s still out on whether Barry’s death and return still happened in the New 52 but people coming back from the dead seems to happen so often in superhero universes that it’s a wonder anyone bothers to go to funerals anymore. I just assume most headstones, especially superhero ones, just have BRB engraved on them.

Barry wants an explanation, but Manuel says he doesn’t have time to explain. Or at least, gets partway through explaining he doesn’t have time to explain when someone kicks in Barry’s door. Manuel climbs out of Barry’s window, telling Barry to “try and keep up”. See, it’s ironic because Barry actually has superspeed but Manuel doesn’t know that.

Barry and Manuel run through Central City, starting to be chased by more and more guys. Barry wants to know what’s going on, but Manuel remains evasive. Finally, Barry’s had enough of running away – being a superspeeding superhero, he’s more of a running towards kinda guy. He pretends to trip and fall into the river they’re running beside, even making the water shape “Splash!” as he falls in. Seriously, though, I love when comics do stuff like that with sound effects. This comic has a few, but this is the best of the bunch.

Manuel sees Barry go into the river, but doesn’t even slow down. Jerk. Barry’s of course fine, changing into his Flash costume underwater and racing after Manuel and the guys chasing him. The Flash, of course, catches up to them in seconds, but there’s two complications. One, the pursuers, now a large mob, have caught Manuel. Secondly, they’re all identical copies of Manuel…

To be continued!

The Flash #1 is a great first issue. While the controversy surrounding the New 52 did and will put people off this comic, it’s a great story with action, emotions and a killer cliffhanger. Part of the idea of the New 52 was to reintroduce these characters and have the #1 issues as a perfect place to start for new readers. To that end, The Flash #1 is a resounding success. It requires no pervious knowledge of the Flash to enjoy, but by the end of this first issue, you know a lot about Barry, both powers-wise and, more importantly, as a character. We’re introduced to his supporting cast and given the start of a really interesting first story. If you’ve never read the Flash, you could do a lot worse – and little better – than starting here.

I’ll get back to The Flash in the near future, but next week I’m heading back to the Marvel Universe with S.H.I.E.L.D. #2, where Simmons is a supply teacher for a superhero and Coulson faces his most difficult challenge yet – school dinners.

The Flash #1 is the property of DC Comics.

S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 – “Perfect Bullets” Review

Year: 2014

Writer: Mark Waid

Penciller: Carlos Pacheco

Publisher: Marvel Comics

If Guardians of the Galaxy is the dark horse of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), then Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was the black sheep. The show was widely hyped before its release, largely due to it being part of the MCU which, at the time of the show’s announcement, consisted of five high-grossing, critically acclaimed films – and The Incredible Hulk. Not only would this show make the MCU one of the few franchises that included both films and a TV show at the same time, it’s main character was quite possibly the most popular Marvel character not played by an Oscar nominated actor: Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D., played by Clark Gregg.

Agent Coulson was an original character created for the Iron Man movie, just a suit to be S.H.I.E.L.D.’s mouthpiece and introduce the agency to both Tony Stark, and audience members that weren’t familiar with the comics. He appears in all of three scenes, and that was supposed to be it. However, Clark Gregg’s dry, strangely charismatic everyman performance made Coulson an instant fan-favourite, leading to Coulson getting a larger roles in Iron Man 2 and Thor, before becoming a major supporting character in the MCU’s massive multiplayer crossover, The Avengers. Where – spoilers! – Coulson died.

However, the MCU fanbase (or rather, Coulson’s fanbase, the two are pretty much interchangeable) petitioned for his return, and it wasn’t long (relatively speaking) before Marvel announced that not only was Coulson coming back to life, but as the star of his own TV show, which would feature Coulson as the leader of his own group of agents, taking on villains and threats that the Avengers weren’t even aware of. The fact that all the team consisted of original characters did sour the show in the minds of some fans but the majority of people, comicbook geek and “civilian” alike, awaited the show with bated breath. And then it aired to mostly mixed to negative fan and critical reaction, and worrying plummeting ratings.

Personally, I liked the show from day one, but a lot of people turned off after the first few episodes and stayed gone. However, as the show’s first season continued, it grew in strength and by the end of season one had both positive critical reaction, and a solid, loyal fanbase. It got renewed for a second season, which is currently on its mid-season break as a write this. And it is awesome. With it touch-and-go early days behind it, the show’s popularity has led to a new S.H.I.E.LD. comic being released, based on the show. What’s interesting is that this isn’t just an ordinary comic tie-in to the series, but an adaptation of the original characters Agent Melinda May, Agent Jemma Simmons and Agent Leo Fitz into the mainstream Marvel universe, once again as a part of a team led by Coulson, who made his first appearance in comics a couple of years ago. The show’s other main characters, Agent Grant Ward and Skye, don’t make an appearance, but anyone who’s up to date with the show know there’s a very good reason why, which I won’t spoil here.

S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 begins with a quick recap of Coulson’s life so far. It begins with Coulson as a child, reading up on the “Golden Age of Super-Heroes”, i.e. superheroes from WW2, including Captain America, Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch. No, not Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four, the original Human Torch, who dates back all the way to 1939’s Marvel Comics #1. This Human Torch, of course, isn’t actually human but a highly advanced robot with a slight design flaw. Said design flaw is the tendency to burst into flame on contact with oxygen, which as a design flaw is fairly notable, but the Torch used it to become a superhero and fight Nazis, so as bugs went I guess it worked out ok. And of course the Human Torch isn’t human, because even in 1939 comics liked to confuse casual readers.

We next see Coulson aged eighteen, watching a fight between the Thing and the Hulk on telly. This raises interesting questions about just how long the “modern day” superheroes have been operating. Clark Gregg was born in 1962, and if Coulson is supposed to be of age with the actor who plays him in the show, that makes this fight take place in 1980. Which would mean that in the Marvel Universe, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk and the Avengers (which are mentioned joining in the fight) have been around for over 30 years in-universe at this point. Even if we use the lowest estimate of Coulson’s age, based on his appearance in the comic, of early-to-mid 40s, this would make most Marvel heroes in their late forties to mid-fifties, whereas Marvel’s sliding timescale means that they are pretty much permanently in mid-20s to mid-30s. Yes, I know I’m thinking way too much about this and should just accept this as fiction and move on, but it’s in my brain now and driving me nuts, and if I have to suffer, so do you.

The next scene shows Coulson aged 25, working as a S.H.I.E.L.D. data analyst, frantically updating the S.H.I.E.L.D. database on supervillain team Omega Flight even as the team attacks Baltimore. What’s that, you say? Who the hell is Omega Flight? Well, Wikipedia tells me it’s a supervillain team from the eighties, villains of the X-Men spinoff (one of the many, many, X-Men spinoffs) Alpha Flight. And if you think that’s an obscure reference, well, it is, but believe me, as the song goes, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

A note on Coulson’s character. In the MCU, Coulson is certainly knowledgeable about superheroes and supervillains, and is established in The Avengers as a massive Captain America fanboy, but what writer Mark Waid does in S.H.I.E.L.D. is establish Coulson as an uber-geek, seemingly knowing every single minute fact about every single Marvel character in encyclopaedic detail. This tendency for Coulson to know everything, and be liked and respected by seemingly every superhero, does make him come across as slightly Mary-Sueish, which will put some people off. Personally, I think that there’s nothing wrong with a character being powerful, loved and apparent flawless – just as long as the story is fun and entertaining. It’s fun to watch awesome people be awesome. It’s the reason a lot of people watch James Bond movies, or read Superman or Batman – not to see if the heroes will win, but to see just how awesomely they triumph over seemingly overwhelming odds. And this comic is fun. For all the snark I have and will continue to use, this is a good book, Coulson is a fun character, and it’s pretty awesome to see a character face up against all the danger, thrills and horrors of the Marvel universe not with flight or superstrength or power armour, but just a handgun and the Encyclopaedia of the Marvel Universe for a brain. Go nerd power!

Speaking of triumph through nerdiness, we have another reminder that Coulson knows everything with a flashback to “last year”, although we’re not given Coulson’s age, so it doesn’t help with that whole flashback timing issue. We see Coulson being rescued from a warehouse by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents led by Melinda May, where he’s being held by… someone. We never learn who had Coulson, and it doesn’t really matter (it may become important in later issues, but it doesn’t matter now) but we do learn how Coulson survived the torture – keeping his mind occupied and focused by reciting a list of every single member of the X-Men. Which is impressive enough in itself, since there’s like a bazillion of them (I’m rounding that number up, obviously, but I think it’s pretty close) but Coulson goes the extra mile as he’s naming them in the exact order that they joined the team. Holy cow.

These flashbacks do an excellent job of establishing Coulson’s character and abilities. My only main problem with this comic is that Coulson is the only character who’s properly explored. Coulson may be our star and the fan-favourite, but the book’s called S.H.I.E.L.D., not Coulson, after all. It’s a team book, and the comic seems to depend on us knowing May, Fitz and Simmons (or Fitz-Simmons, as the pair after often known as in the show) from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Now, it’s certainly not unreasonable to assume that a lot of people reading this are familiar with the show, it’s probably the reason most people picked this up. Heck, my love of the TV show is why I brought the comic. But at the same time the comic should stand on its own away from the TV show. Like I said, this is not an adaptation of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., it’s just inspired by the show. I’ve no doubt that the others will have their time to shine, after all we already know issue #2 focuses on Simmons, but this is issue #1 of a team book, and I always feel that the first issue of a team book should focus on the whole team and how they work as a group, not just be about one character with the rest of the team relegated to supporting characters.

After another brief flashback showing that Coulson is an awesome poker player and has really tiny and neat handwriting, we catch up with him in the present day, where it’s his first day as S.H.I.E.L.D. Special Ops Supreme Commander. It’s a heck of a first day, as New York has been invaded by fire demons from another dimension. Or, as the citizens of New York in the Marvel Universe would say, it’s an average Wednesday. Coulson is overseeing a group of heroes fighting the demons, including Iron Man, Hulk, Hyperion and Blue Marvel. Remember what I said about obscure characters? I have to wonder whether the reason Waid turned Coulson into a walking database of Marvel characters is so he could have the excuse to use the most obscure heroes and villains he could find, shaking his head at people who had no idea who these guys are. “What do you mean, you don’t know Blue Marvel?  Philistine! He’s a perfectly cromulent superhero!” They’re joined by Nova and Captain America (the new one, ex-Falcon Sam Wilson) but more trouble joins in too – dark elves and a storm giant suddenly appear out of nowhere. OK, so maybe this is a bit more than the average Wednesday. Things like this only happen… ok, about one a month in Marvel Universe New York. OK, that sounds jaded, but remember this is a city that been invaded by aliens, gods and monsters from the Negative Zone multiple times – this must seem like a slow news day to them. Cap tells Coulson to call in more reinforcements, but Coulson’s left his post. Hell of a time for a bathroom break.

No, Coulson’s actually en-route to take down Abu Mussan, a terrorist leader who’s been seen carving through enemy tanks with a flaming sword. As an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fan I really want to call the plane he’s on the Bus, despite it never being named as such, and clearly being a different design. But heck, it’s a plane taking Coulson, May and Fitz-Simmons on a mission, it’s the damn Bus. Oh yeah, we finally meet the main Marvel universe versions of Fitz and Simmons here, and I have to say it’s a little weird to see them in the standard S.H.I.E.L.D. leather catsuit, which they never wear on the show. They are interested in the two mysterious agents joining them on the mission, or at least Fitz is interested in one of them, an attractive blond woman. He’s asks her if she’s the new Thor, who is also currently an attractive blond woman, only for her to icily tell him she’s not. Fitz’ first impression could have gone better, but “are you the new Thor” isn’t the worst chat-up line I’ve ever heard. Or used. Coulson tells Fitz to respect the element of surprise and that he’s make the introductions at the “appropriate moment” because why would you want your operatives to be fully informed before embarking on a mission? Coulson also reminds his team that the superheroes work with S.H.I.E.L.D., not for S.H.I.E.L.D., and that it’s not just about using the “big guns” like Hulk and Iron Man, but choosing the “perfect bullets”. A-ha! We have a title drop!

Coulson explains a little more about the mission they’re on. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had noted a meteorite strike, followed by an earthquake in Sharzhad, one of those little made-up countries that comics love making up to avoid getting involved in messy politics or insulting an entire nation. Shortly after the quake, the aforementioned Abu Massan started his little game of Sword Beats Tank with what Coulson quickly realises is a sword made of Uru metal – aka the mystical metal of Asgard. When asked how he recognises it as Uru, Coulson proves how much of an Ubergeek he is by recognising the sword itself, and he knows who it originally belongs to – turns out that was no meteor, that was a god! Heimdall, sentry of Asgard and the Bifrost Bridge himself. Simmons questions what the Bifrost is, even mispronouncing it as “Beef Roast”. Now remember, Simmons in a Xenobiologist. That is, you’d think that someone with a degree in things that come from other worlds and other dimensions would have heard of the goddamn Bifrost Bridge. The Asgardian gods are not just beliefs in this universe, they’re scientific facts. And since this comic book implies that the Avengers – of which Norse god Thor was a founding member – have been around since before Simmons was born, I’m surprised she didn’t learn about the Bifrost Bridge in high school science!

Simmons is corrected by the mysterious blond woman, but Simmons’ gaffe is dwarfed by a mistake by the colourist, who, for some reason, swaps the hair colour of Simmons and the blonde woman. Now, while Coulson and Fitz are drawn to closely resemble their TV counterparts, Simmons doesn’t really resemble the actress Elizabeth Henstridge that much. In fact, both Simmons and mysterious blond woman are drawn kinda similar, the main distinguishing difference being… hair colour, leading to it looking like Simmons is explaining the Bifrost to mysterious blond woman. Which is which is made clear by the speech bubbles though, as mysterious blond woman speaks in the strange font that Marvel uses for Asgardian speech bubbles, although this does make it look like Simmons and Blondie are doing in impromptu ventriloquist act. Time and place, guys!

Coulson guesses that something’s shattered the Bifrost, the big rainbow that links all the Nine Realms, including Midgard (Earth). This, along with Heimdall no longer being on guard duty means that demons, monsters, giants, etc. can now travel freely throughout the Realms, and since Earth’s in the middle (Midgard = Middle Earth, yep, that’s where Tolkien got that from), it’s pretty much turned into the crossroads of the universe. And all the monsters are appearing in New York in particular because… well because this is Marvel, so where else would they appear?

Coulson and the Team spot Heimdall being attacked by Mussan’s terrorists – he’s putting up a good fight, but is badly outnumbered and chained – but a more immediate threat arrives when they’re attacked by Mussan himself, complete with Heimdall’s magic sword that can carve a tank. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s big gun – a literal big gun designed and wielded by Fitz – is still charging, but Coulson proves his statement that it’s not always the big gun, but the perfect bullets, by finally showing the ace up his sleeve. It turns out the mysterious blond woman and the other unknown agent, a man, were actually superheroes. The blond woman is Valkyrie, and that’s not a codename, she’s an actual Valkyrie from Norse Mythology, complete with her own Uru sword. The guy is Dane Whitman, aka the Black Knight, a former Avenger complete with his own magic sword. Valkyrie and Black Knight take on Mussan, leaving Coulson and his team to, in Coulson’s own words “rescue a god from an army”. So nice and simple then. Team Coulson goes into action. They can’t call anymore heavy hitters from the front lines, as all the superheroes are holding back the tide of big, mean and ugly back in New York, so it’s the four of them verses an army.

Fitz hits said army with his big gun, which turns out to be a sonic weapon. It stuns enough of Massum’s army so Heimdall can break free of his chains, free to kick some ass. Meanwhile, Mussam’s pretty handy with a sword, but he’s up against Valkyrie, a literal warrior goddess with well over a thousand years of experience. Valkyrie kills the insane terrorist, and with the bad guy dead and Heimdall free to return to Bifrost and restore order, everything’s coming up good guys. And we’re only halfway through the comic! So the rest is just going to be them talking and chilling out, right?

Of course not. Heimdall has a great big black rock attached to his chest, and Coulson figures out something’s wrong with him. But it’s too late – Heimdall has his sword back, declares ominously that it’s time to “finish what I have begun” and teleports the battle in New York to Sharzhad – assembled superheroes, multiple armies and monsters all. And the battle isn’t going well for the heroes – they’re massively outnumbered and as more creatures from across the Nine Realms join the battle this is, as Coulson puts it, Armageddon.

With the superheroes occupied, it’s down to Coulson and his team to save the day – and this is Fitz-Simmons’ first combat mission. They confront Heimdall and Coulson tells them they need to get the weird black rock off Heimdall’s chest. Coulson asks Heimdall, or rather the rock using the god as meat puppet, who is it. The rock answers:

I am a shard of the Aftertime – a bullet launched by beings beyond your comprehension into the chest of a so-called god! I am the tool with which my masters can visit the pain and power of ten realms upon the spindly carbons of this wretched mudball and pave it clean.

Wow, that’s quite the introduction. But for humour purposes, I’m going to call him Bob.

Coulson orders an Omega-Level Override, telling the assembled superheroes to hit Bob with everything they’ve got. They do, but they’ve been fighting the army from Hel, amongst others, for hours so they’re not at their best. Besides, they’re attacking an Eldritch Abomination using a god as a weapon, so Bob just swats them away like insects.

Soon it’s just Coulson verses Bob, ordinary human vs. god-like entity. It should be the most uneven fight since Bambi vs. Godzilla’s bigger, meaner cousin, but what actually happens ties in with the theme of this issue, from the title onwards. It’s not about having the biggest gun, it’s about having the perfect bullets. Brute strength can always be beaten by tactics. Bob doesn’t fear Coulson, so he lets him walk right up to him. But Coulson is the man with the plan, as he has the Vision inside him. Not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter.

The Vision, for those who don’t know, is an android with a large number of powers, including intangibility. Hiding within Coulson, he phases out and grabs the rock, freeing Heimdall from Bob’s influence. That’s what Omega-Level Override meant, it’s code for “distract the enemy”. Bob calls out for his master to save him, but with the rock gone all Bob’s dark energy flows from Heimdall and dissipates.

Heimdall explains that Bob was part of a giant black prism appeared from seemingly out of nowhere – and remember, the guy saying this can literally see pretty much everywhere – in the middle of Bifrost, shattering it. When Heimdall approached the prism, it shattered, Bob possessing the god and falling to Midgard.

Heimdall, with the help of the unseen Odin, repairs the Bifrost and everyone goes back to their proper realm, Heimdall thanking Coulson for saving him.

Back on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, May is reporting to Director Maria Hill, explaining that Simmons is studying the fragments of Bob, and Coulson is worried – he has absolutely no idea what Bob was or where it came from, which is a new experience for him…

Perfect Bullets has it’s flaws, most of which I’ve covered. Too little character development for anyone not called Phil Coulson is my main issue with it, alongside the minor but really noticeable mess-up with Simmons and Valkyrie’s hair. But ultimately these are nitpicks. S.H.I.E.L.D. is off to a good start. The story is self-contained, but sets up what presumably will be an on-going myth arc. If you’re a fan of the show, then watching Coulson, May and Fitz-Simmons in the main Marvel Universe is just a joy. If you’re not, well, hopefully this series will persuade you to give it a try, or even a re-try.

Long may both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continue. And remember, whatever the medium – Coulson Lives.

S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 is the property of Marvel Comics.