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.