Issue(s): Marvel Spotlight #31
Cover Date: Dec 76
Title: "Assignment: The Infinity Formula!"
Credits:
Jim Starlin - Writer
Howard Chaykin - Penciler
Howard Chaykin - Inker

Review/plot:
This story provides the reason for Nick Fury's lack of aging despite being active in World War II. This is the first hint i've seen that Marvel is aware of its timescale problem; it was feasible for Nick Fury (and Reed Richards and Ben Grimm) to have been soldiers in World War II when he was introduced in the 60s, but by 1976 it is starting to push it.

The solution for Fury is that once he was injured in WWII and was healed by a French resistance doctor, who also gave him an experimental formula that keeps him young. The formula requires an annual injection. The doctor had been extorting money from Fury in order to keep up the injections.

In this issue, the doctor is killed by gangsters from Las Vegas. The gangsters try to extort more than just money from Nick; they want favors from SHIELD. It's left a little unclear to me whether Fury would have accepted the deal, which is interesting, but before a decision can be made, the formula is stolen from a third party. After some fighting...

...and the death of the gangster (who it turns out was also hooked on the formula), it is revealed that the third party was Contessa Fontaine, who was investigating Fury's shady activity and stole the formula for him so he wouldn't be put in a compromising situation.

Fury is a bit of dick for not releasing this formula to the world, although it later becomes clear that he provides it to the other Howling Commandos who have subsequently joined SHIELD, since they never age either.

Interesting story.

I am not a fan of Chaykin's art. It's deliberately stylized in a glam/chic sort of way that certainly isn't bad, but it just feels a bit lifeless to me.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 4 - explains Nick Fury's longevity. First Infinity Formula.

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Stan Lee reportedly hated this story and declared it didn't count and would never be reprinted.

Like Nick Fury would ever have been offered the job of head of S.H.I.E.L.D. if he was under extortion for an unlicensed drug he was addicted to. We're supposed to believe he wasn't thoroughly vetted? Ridiculous.

I could have sworn there was a Stan Lee issue in some comic where Fury said he drank some kind of formula or potion. Guess I dreamed it.

To be fair, it follows that Contessa Fontaine must be a bit of a dick too, since she too could have shared the infinity formula with the world.