Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1969-04-01 00:05:10 |
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Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #11
Issue(s): Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD #11
Cover Date: Apr 69
Title: "The 1st million megaton explosion"
Credits:
Gary Friedrich - Writer
Frank Springer - Penciler
Frank Springer - Inker
Review/plot:
According to the Marvel Masterworks intro, this issue combines Gary Friedrich's loves of social commentary and music. In practice it is a very silly issue, somewhere between pandering and insulting to the counterculture generation of the 60s. It is the best use of the Hate Monger in Friedrich's three issues featuring him, but that says more about the other two stories than this one.
The issue introduces a band called the Million Megaton Explosion. Here is their album cover and inserts.
Laura Brown convinces Nick Fury to go see one if their concerts, despite the fact that his tastes run more towards Benny Goodman.
While Fury is at the club, the Hate Monitor monitors him from his orbital satellite, and he turns his hate-ray on the band, causing them to rebel against the olds.
Friedrich again forgets that Laura Brown is a SHIELD agent (and before that, the first female Hydra agent to earn her rank by defeating another in combat!) and treats her as a damsel in distress.
Nick takes Laura to the Helicarrier where they confer with the other SHIELD agents in their psychedelic computer room...
...while the Million Megaton Explosion goes on the Ed Sullivan show to continue their tirade.
By the next page, the youth of the world have overrun New York City and have taken over an ICBM base in New Jersey. The army has apparently been helpless in the face of hordes of barefoot teenagers in love beads.
Last issue, Nick Fury was able to fly to the Hate Monger's satellite in a SHIELD ship, but in this issue he has to make a special appeal to Lyndon B. Johnson to appropriate a rocket. But he nonetheless gets to the satellite to confront the Hate Monger.
Temporarily blinded, the Hate Monger confuses his safe room with an unfortunately placed airlock, and his corpse winds up floating in orbit around the Earth. Kind of grisly.
We've already seen the Hate Monger come back from death twice, but this is the end of his appearances in the Nick Fury series.
Nick Fury shuts down the hate-ray and everything goes back tomorrow, except that Nick isn't going to have any more of this noisy music.
Quality Rating: D+
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A
References: N/A
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: Marvel Masterworks: Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD vol. 3
| Previous: Iron Man #10-13 | Up: Main 1969 / Box 4 / Silver Age | Next: Marvel Super-Heroes #20 |
Comments
I don't have to say where that half-buried Statue of Liberty came from, do I?
That Kree reference is utterly bizarre, when you think about it.
Considering all the anti-communist stories Stan did, Gary's lucky that Stan didn't pay attention to rock bands. Country Joe & The Fish were admirers of Mao Tse-Tung, and the band was at first called Country Mao & The Fish.
Shouldn't "Flowers Barton" be, you know, the guy with flowers in his hair?? Groovy Gary tricks us again!
This issue is best read while listening to Iron Butterfly.
After further thought, maybe some MC5 would also serve as a mood setter for this issue. Kick out the jams, Mother BLEEP!
