Recently, I have been reading S.H.I.E.L.D. by Steranko. It is a collection of all of Jim Steranko’s run with the classic titles Strange Tales that featured Doctor Strange, as well. Eventually, the title spun off into it’s own book called Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. It is definitely a book of its time, which is the mid to late 1960s. 

This has been interesting for me because of the attitudes towards women. I tend to forget that there was a time when it was not a given that women were on the same level as men in comics. By the time I was introduced to the Marvel spy organization, women were viewed the same as men and giving equally hazardous missions. But, in its early days, it was novel for women to make the cut. Although they were equally skilled in fieldcraft, that’s spy stuff, and hand to hand combat, there were times that Col Fury was surprised to experience this. Thankfully, he learns quickly that his antiquated views must change.

Nick Fury is one of my top 5 favorite Marvel characters, so it was a bit of a shock to see him in this light. But, remembering that this was a common attitude, especially among military men, gave me a greater appreciation for Marvel as a comic and the character. To see how, in 50 years, we’ve gone from, “can a woman even shoot a gun?” to “Captain Marvel is on track to be Marvel’s biggest movie to date and a gamechanger” says a lot. So, if you read any silver or golden age books, be prepared, but don’t let it stop you from enjoying a good story.