Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Strange Tales 135

Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. kicks so much arse.

Nick Fury's first appearance in Marvel Comics goes way back to 1963 in the WWII comic Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandos. A couple of years later we find the first appearance of  S.H.I.E.L.D. was in Strange Tales #135 which ran parallel with the Howling Commandos title, but Strange Tales was current day at the time while the WWII title was obviously a historic setting. Fury is now a Colonel and is recruited to head a new department designed to overcome the threat that the terrorist group, Hydra, represents.

The first appearance of S.H.I.E.L.D. was in this issue of Strange Tales. Nick Fury is a regular suit and tie kind of agent in these days. The very first scene is Fury getting fitted for Life Model Decoy and not long after that the flying car takes them to the Heli-carrier. It's all there in the very first issue. And Hydra! They're already coming after Fury (hence the Life Model Decoy).

The first attempt on Fury failed and we see how Hydra deals with failure as they eliminate the agents who err and give other agents opportunity to move up in the terrorist organization's ranks. Here we are introduced to Agent H.

The brass want Fury to take the command of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury balks at this, but his reaction to a discovered bomb on the heli-carrier proves he's the right man to lead S.H.I.E.L.D.

This story was classic Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.