Mister 8

…a.k.a. The Coalition Of Bloggers wRiting About Spies. Pretty awful huh? It’s a work in progress.

So…my apologies for the lack of posting yesterday, and through the week last week, and potentially for the week ahead. I’m still working on the project, which involves lots of tedious work, and a hard deadline. In the meantime, I wanted to point you all toward some of my favorite blogs, which you may have seen in the sidebar, but may not have visited.

Agent ASPIDELAPS:

Double O Section is run by a chap named Matthew Bradford, aka “Tanner,” and covers the gamut of spy fiction from The Amazing Screw-On Head to Spooks to Kim Possible and everything else in between.  Double O Section is the go-to site for news on the latest releases, and interesting insights on, for instance, why the Transporter series should be considered within the realm of the Eurospy genre, or a look at gender roles in the Bulldog Drummond flick Deadlier Than The Male. The latter came as an add-on to his new series of “My Favorite Spy…” which will include movies and books, and hopefully comics and cartoons and television shoes as well. If the previous hasn’t enticed you, Tanner also runs regular contests with awesome book and DVD prizes!

Agent MICRURUS FULVIUS:

Wes Britton is not so much a blogger as he is an expert on spies of film and television. He’s published a trio of books (Spy Television, Beyond Bond: Spies in Fiction and Film, and Onscreen and Undercover: The Ultimate Book of Movie Espionage), with an encyclopedia on the way, runs Spy Wise, a website devoted to spy-fiction, and The Spy Report, a blog dedicated to spreading news of espionage-related developments, both fictional and real. His website is a source of information as valuable as his books, containing articles like the Michael Caine spy-ography (even if Wes is horribly, horribly wrong about the dreadful worst-ever Michael Caine movie–and this is a man whose career includes Austin Powers 3 and the terrible fourth Jaws movie–The Holcroft Covenant), and a wealth of information about O.F. Snelling, including a PDF of the entire Snelling study of Bond, Double-O-Seven: James Bond Under the Microscope.

Agent PARANJA MULTIFASCIATA

Quick: think of a spy movie. David Foster at Permission to Kill has seen it, and if he hasn’t, he will. An invaluable resource for finding details of obscure and foreign secret agent movies, Permission to Kill will also one day hopefully be an invaluable book of film reviews on your shelf. David has shined the spotlight on forgotten films like (at random): OSS-117: Murder For Sale, The High Commissioner, or Masquerade, and includes thoughtful insights and important cultural contexts. The reviews are so good and so frequent that David can be forgiven for not seeing the genius of Casino Royale (not not that one, the other one). For those taking a first look at the site, you are blessed with just over two years of reviews to read through

Agent HEMACHATUS HAEMACHATUS

Paul Bishop is an author of crime fiction, and runs Bish’s Beat, a multi-faceted blog that covers spies, pulps, gumshoes, cops, swinging jazz, and just to throw you for a loop, LOLzCats. He’s got his finger on a number of cultural pulses, and I regularly find news there that I not only haven’t seen, but I didn’t know to look out for in the first place. Recently, he pointed to an article about gender issues in the James Bond series, and initated a discussion about Chris Mills’ Noir Magazine. Most interestingly, Paul has a viewpoint on crime fiction that most of the rest of us spy bloggers don’t: he’s lead detective of the West Los Angeles Area Sex Crimes and Major Assault Crimes unit.

Agent BOULENGERINA

Jason Whiton, like myself, is another newcomer to the spy blog scene, and so might not have the extensive archive that the previous writers wield. Still, his Spy Vibe blog is off to a great start, with a thoughtful tribute to Patrick McGoohan, and a recent appreciation of the IPCRESS File. Spy Vibe is also a website, with a wide collection of spy-related video clips that highlight, as Jason says, 1960s spy style. We’re looking forward to seeing much more of Spy Vibe in years to come!

I hope you’ll check out these great sites, and I’m also interested in getting feedback from my own readers on posts here. Please feel free to comment below, or email me with suggestions / criticism!

A few weeks back, I made a post about the COBRAS — the Coalition Of Bloggers wRiting About Spies — a one-off thing that I thought would go nowhere when I needed to post some quick material. The other folks I linked to picked up on the idea, however, and now a handful of them feature COBRAS logos on their own sites. I’ve even made a “command center” at the bottom of the page where you can read a regular feed of all of their posts.

Some of the COBRAS members are up to some awesome stuff that I want to let you know about. First up is Spy Wise’s Wesley Britton, whose Encyclopedia of Spies is now available via Amazon and Barnes & Noble (see an Amazon link at the head of this post). I must admit that I haven’t purchased this one myself yet, due to our budget recovering from the holidays, but I have Wes’s other books and constantly turn to them for reference. This book seems to be his most complete yet, and so it’s a must-have for your bookshelf. A MUST-HAVE, I SAY!

Over at Jason Whiton’s Spy Vibe, Jason is currently running a series on set design in spy films that is incredibly fascinating. A teacher of media arts himself, Jason has a unique take on the subject…and he’s asked a number of other spy aficionados to chime in too, so see my list forthcoming there. He started with a rundown on the influences on 60s-era spy sets and design, and is now down to #4 on the list. I anticipate that his top three will be in my top five, but he’s surprised me so far with some of his choices.

If that doesn’t motivate you to get over there, I should also point out that his #4 pick carries with it a contest, in which you can win a copy of Get Smart Season 1!

And I must apologize…I missed out on notifying you of the Wild Wild West competition over at Double O Section, but Tanner has another one coming, one that he promises will be a doozy.

…And speaking of contests, look for a handful to start here pretty soon!

Tanner, who runs the excellent Double O Section blog, is having a themed week covering what he dubs “costumed adventurers,” a sort of stepbrother to the 60s spy genre typified by films like Danger: Diabolik. So far, he’s posted excellent, detailed reviews of Diabolik, and Fantastic ArgoMan, and more is in store for the remainder of the week.

We’re thinking of supporting Tanner’s efforts by showcasing some comic characters who straddled the line between secret agent and superhero. Maybe. We’re not sure yet.

In any case, we too at Mister 8 are big fans of these sorts of movies. Danger: Diabolik features our third favorite set designs in an espionage-related film of all time, after all. That’s why we’re excited about the theme of Double O Section this week, and why we were also excited when Docteur Legume, of Docteur Legume et Les Surfwerks, pointed us to his blog, where he features spy films in music videos for his reverb-drenched surf instrumentals. At his blog, you’ll see videos featuring The Prisoner and Dr. Mabuse, but today, we’re featuring our man Diabolik, and the song, “El Supersonico”:

Stay tuned for Tuesday, when we’ll be featuring Ennio Morricone’s theme for Danger: Diabolik, “Deep Down,” as our tab of the week (sorry MFU fans — I’m still figuring out “Meet Mr. Solo”).

If you haven’t been reading about costumes at the other COBRAS blogs this month, then you’ve been missing out! Before we get into our plans for this month, let’s recap what we’ve seen so far.

Double O Section kicked things off in style with a week of costumed criminals and heroes of the Eurospy genre:

• Introduction to Costumed Adventurer Week
• Fantastic Argoman
• Danger: Diabolik!
• Fenomenal and the Treasure of Tutankamen
• Flashman
• Satanik
• Kriminal and Mark of Kriminal
• Costumed Adventurer Week Wrap-Up

Spy Vibe followed up with a look at fashion trends that influenced 60s-era secret agent films:

• Mods to Moongirls
• The 10th Victim Costumes
• Nehru Jackets
• Peeling off the Trenchcoats
• Fashion Bonus

Permission to Kill supplemented with a look at caped crusaders from the pages of comics and fumetti:

• Costumed Adventurer Week Introduction
• Superman: Japoteurs (1942)
• Real Costumed Super Heroes
• Avenger X (1967)
• Three Fantastic Supermen (1967)
• Batwoman (1968)
• Diabolik: Track of the Panther (1997)
• Barbarella (1968)
• Judex (1963)
• Superman: Doomsday (2007)

And this week, we’ll be looking, not at films, but at comics! The history of comics is filled with characters that straddled the line between secret agent and superhero. This week, we’ll be spotlighting a handful of them — three single characters and two super-spy groups — and hopefully ending the first COBRAS theme month on a bang, and not a whimper!

Each day, one of the silhouetted figures in the above banner will be uncovered. But feel free to guess as to who they might be in the meantime!

As a preview, for our video clip today, let’s take a peek at one such character that I won’t be covering this week — Spy Smasher! The character was the first superhero published by Fawcett Comics, who also published Captain Marvel (whom some mistakenly refer to as “Shazam,” the secret word that transforms the child Billy Batson into the superhero Captain Marvel). Spy Smasher’s primary M.O. was the smashing of Nazi spy rings. Spy Smasher had no powers, but relied on both gadgets and cunning in his patriotic adventures.

Spy Smasher starred in a 1942 12-part serial, in which he (played by Kane Richmond) took on the Nazi criminal the Mask. The final two chapters of the serial are online and are presented in four parts below:

In addition, Spy Smasher was featured in a flashback in an episode of Justice League Unlimited, fighting, you guessed, it, Nazis!

Join us tomorrow, where we’ll look at a group of characters created by one of the most underappreciated creators in the history of the industry!

Our first unveiled silhouette above is NoMan, my favorite member of a superhero group called THUNDER Agents. The Higher United Nations Defense Enforcement Reserves Agents were published by Tower Comics, and created by Wallace Wood, a creator overlooked by many, perhaps because of his general lack of work for the big two (Marvel and DC). Wood was a notoriously troubled, but incredibly talented artist and writer, and many consider his work on THUNDER Agents to be his best.

THUNDER Agents represented the junction of the two great pop culture fads of the 60s, super-heroes and secret agents. During it’s initial run, the book featured not only the work of Wood, but of other giants of silver age comic art like Gil Kane and Steve Ditko. From the super-hero genre, the book took spandex and powers, from the world of spy-fi, gadgets, femme fatales, globetrotting adventures and government backing. The Agents organization was made up of a number of characters whose powers came from devices left behind by a murdered United Nations scientist, a series of androids containing the brain of another scientist, a team of adventurers, and occasional help from the Undersea Agent.

The core of the team was made up of Dynamo, NoMan and Menthor (animated versions created by HyperDave @ DataJunkie — check this site out for a plethora of THUNDER Agents goodness):

Dynamo

Leonard Brown was a large, strong man…not a super-hero by trade, but a pencil pusher with a rather weak personality working in the office of THUNDER, when his employer called upon him to wear a belt found in the laboratory of the late genius Professor Jennings, murdered by the villain Warlord. The belt made him super strong and near invulnerable, and he took on the identity of Dynamo. There was a catch, however — using the belt’s powers for more than a few minutes at a time endangered Brown’s life, as it granted its powers by reconfiguring his body’s atomic structure. THUNDER often sent him into battle to protect the world from the likes of armored villainess The Iron Maiden, who had somewhat of a crush on Dynamo.

NoMan

NoMan was, in your humble author’s opinion, the most interesting of the THUNDER Agents. In reality, NoMan was (sort of) a scientist named Anthony Dunn who, faced with a deteriorating body, transferred his being into an android form. If the android were ever to be destroyed, Dunn would cease to exist, and so he kept a series of spare bodies in his laboratory. When the body was damaged, Dunn would transfer to a new body. This seems spectacular enough, but Dunn, as NoMan, also received a cloak designed by Jennings that would allow him to become invisible. This often became a bit of trouble, because the cloak, unlike Dunn’s mind, was not transferable.

Menthor

Menthor was John Janus, a hero that was secretly a villain who was sometimes forced to be a hero. Confused? Janus worked for THUNDER, but was in reality an agent of enemy organization SPIDER. However, when wearing his Jennings-created device, a helmet that endowed the user with telepathic and telekinetic abilities, his double agent personality was overridden and he became a force of good again. Eventually, the effect of the helmet began to grow more permanent. While trying to warn his fellow THUNDER Agents of an ambush, Menthor (SPOILER ALERT!) was gunned down by henchmen of his former boss, Warlord. Menthor’s death, now that Captain America’s sidekick Bucky is revived, is one of the longest lasting in comics.

Raven

Raven was, essentially, a replacement for Menthor, debuting in issue 8, the issue after Menthor’s death. Raven was Craig Lawson, a gymnast and sky-diver whom THUNDER brought in to assist in testing a new jetpack with wings prototype. Though at first, he thinks of stealing the suit and profiting from the technology, he eventually becomes a trusted member of THUNDER Agents.

Lightning

The last member of THUNDER Agents is Lightning, who was promoted from the ranks of THUNDER Squad (see below). Guy Gilbert received from THUNDER the Lightning suit, which gives its wearer the ability to perceive time at a much slower pace, quickening reflexes and granting superspeed. As with the other devices, there’s a catch — every use of the supersuit speeds Gilbert’s metabolism, shortening his life.

THUNDER Squad

As seen here, Gilbert started his THUNDER career as the leader of THUNDER Squad, a team of specialists who were the sort of IMF to THUNDER’s UNCLE, if you can follow the acronyms.

Though THUNDER Agents was the brainchild of Wood, their continued prominence in comics owes much to the late John Carbonaro, who passed away at age 58 this February. Carbonaro got the rights to the THUNDER Agents in 1981, and took personal responsibility in ensuring that every subsequent version of the Agents (they bounced from publisher from publisher, after a lengthy rights lawsuit — this history is expounded upon at THUNDERAgents.com) lived up to the standard set by Wood.

For more information, please do visit THUNDERAgents.com, and Data Junkie’s look at THUNDER Agents Phase 1 and Phase 2. I am indebted to these sites for the information they provide.

Here’s a short bit that features all of the THUNDER Agents plus the THUNDER Squad (Gilbert out of his Lightning suit), from THUNDER Agents #5. Story by Steve Skeates, art by Wally Wood. Enjoy!

Throughout the past month, my fellow COBRAS have been presenting their takes on costumed adventurers who crossover with the espionage genre. This week, I’m taking a look at some of my favorite super-hero spies, unveiling a character one at a time from the banner above. In case you missed an entry, so far we’ve seen:

The introduction, in which I link to all of the other COBRAS entries
THUNDER Agents (that’s No-Man above)!

Werewolf #1

Today’s unveilee might feel a bit of a rip-off, but you’re actually lucky to be getting that much. For most of the time, the costume of U.S. Air Force Major Wiley Wolf was an all-noir, form-fitting costume that included a blank black face mask. Occasionally, his face would be visible, and so that’s how I was able to portray him above.

Whereas I barely scratched the surface yesterday with the THUNDER Agents, who enjoyed multiple series at the hands of numerous creators over a number of decades, lawsuits notwithstanding, Wolf, a.k.a. Werewolf, only had three issues to his credit. His series was part of an attempt by Dell to cash in on both the popularity of the Universal monsters and the revival of super-heroes. Dracula and Frankenstein became 60s-style super-heroes, complete with spandex. However, with Werewolf, because the Wolfman as played by Lon Chaney Jr. was still under copyright, the folks at Dell decided to create a new character who could cash in on a third fad started by James Bond and the Man From UNCLE. In fact, the cover to the first issue proclaims Werewolf to be THE ONLY SUPER HERO…SUPER SPY IN THE WORLD.

Wolf was a pilot who crash landed in the arctic, and who won the favor of a pack of wolves after nursing one of their own back to health (it should be noted that this wolf, Thor, was only injured because some silly pilot had crashed a plane into him). During his six months with Thor and the pack, Wolf observes a crazy wolf who kills for fun and not for survival. He recognizes that there are people in the world like this too, and vows to do something about it, though he doesn’t know what.

He gets his chance when, after being found by his Air Force buddies, Wolf gets recruited by Central Intelligence, Top Priority Unit One, as their only agent and is rigorously trained in getting judo thrown, getting shot at, swimming while apparently swallowing water, breaking boards, fixing electronics while blindfolded, picking two locks at once, and going through hypnosis to train his face to hold different expressions, making him a master of disguise. The best part of the deal is that Thor gets a transmitter surgically embedded into his brain that allows him to be telepathically controlled by Wolf. But the second best part of the deal is the aforementioned all-black get-up that Wolf, now codenamed Werewolf, gets to wear, impervious to most everything, packing the best in super-spy devices, and which works as a SCUBA suit.

The stories are reportedly by Don Segall, though Dell usually offered no credits. The art is undoubtedly by Tony Tallarico. Instead of recounting the rest of the first issue, let’s read Werewolf’s first adventure instead! If you like what you see, other issues of Werewolf are available in the usual places online, especially eBay where numerous reading copies can be found for under five bucks.

Throughout the past month, my fellow COBRAS have been presenting their takes on costumed adventurers who crossover with the espionage genre. This week, I’m taking a look at some of my favorite super-hero spies, unveiling a character one at a time from the banner above. In case you missed an entry, so far we’ve seen:

The introduction, in which I link to all of the other COBRAS entries
THUNDER Agents (that’s No-Man above)!
Dell Comics’ Werewolf

Today’s unveiled super-spy might look like a futuristic jockey with a funky hand, but in reality, Spyman was the creation of a young comic artist / escape artist named Jim Steranko for Harvey Comics. Steranko would go on to work on some World War II sergeant book for Marvel, I think.

Spyman concept sketch

Before we start this thing, let me mention up front that much, if not all, of what I know about Spyman comes from the fabulous Dial B for Blog. Robby Reed, the blog’s host, postulates that Spyman was drawn from the character Robert Culp played in the Harlan Ellison-penned Outer Limits episode “Demon With a Glass Hand” (which means that, essentially, I met Spyman), a man from the future whose robotic hand possesses powers when all the digits are connected. Steranko supplied the concept for publisher Joe Simon — a secret agent named Johnny Chance loses his hand to radiation while defusing a bomb, and has it replaced with a high tech super weapon prosthetic — and a splash page that featured a diagram of the hand (seen above in the original concept sketch, found on The Drawings of Steranko). The rest of the art was provided by equally talented artists like George Tuska and Dick Ayers.

Over the course of three issues, Chance as Spyman fought for the organization LIBERTY (with a headquarters housed under the Statue of Liberty — the torch ignites when Spyman is needed) against the forces of MIRAGE and villains like the Whisperer, Id Machine and Cyclops. Below, in three parts, is Spyman #2, story by Otto Binder, art by Dick Ayers:

Throughout the past month, my fellow COBRAS have been presenting their takes on costumed adventurers who crossover with the espionage genre. This week, I’m taking a look at some of my favorite super-hero spies, unveiling a character one at a time from the banner above. In case you missed an entry, so far we’ve seen:

The introduction, in which I link to all of the other COBRAS entries
THUNDER Agents (that’s No-Man above)!
Dell Comics’ Werewolf
Harvey Comics’ / Jim Steranko’s Spyman

Apologies for the delay on this. And apologies also for the fact that I put off emailing writer Jeff Parker about today’s spotlighted supergroup, Agents of Atlas, until Thursday night. Too late unfortunately to request an interview, but Parker was kind enough to let us plunder his blog for past commentary about the Agents that we’ll put to use here. He also rattled off a list of things he thought you all might want to know about the team:

• …They were the secret force of the FBI’s Department Zero in the late 50’s…
• …They’ve reformed to take on the modern Marvel Universe…
• …They operate from a hidden underground city…
• …and they have a flying saucer at their disposal.

Agents of Atlas is one of my favorite books of the past few years, both the mini-series and the recently started ongoing (run, don’t walk, to your nearest comic store!). And here’s perhaps the best recommendation I can make for the book: all those cool things above? They wouldn’t even be in my top five list of reasons that I love the Agents. Or, perhaps you didn’t notice the uniformed gorilla in the banner today….

Parker is no stranger to the thriller. The place I first saw his work was in the self-published Interman in 2003, which was Eurospy meets Johnny Quest (or at least artist Doug Wildey) meets contemporary theories on the nature of evolution. For awhile, I considered spotlighting Interman this week. At the very least, you should take a peek at this promo poster, and see if you’re not compelled to place an Amazon order.

Agents of Atlas is a different animal– a sort of revisionist history, conspiracy theory, Wold Newton meets science fiction B-movie, and if you’re scratching your head to say, “That sounds sort of like Planetary,” I’d call that an apt comparison, both in terms of content and in terms of quality (those of you who are scratching your heads and saying, “What’s a Planetary?” just know that I consider this a praise of the highest order). The original mini-series was supported by alternate-reality marketing, the first comic series that I know of that utilized the new media phenomenon, which featured intertextual story from the viewpoint of the mysterious Mr. Lao. Interior art was illustrated by the amazingly talented Leonard Kirk, and covers were brought to life by the equally spectacular Tomm Coker.

The origin of the team lies in Marvel Comics’ What If? #9, published in 1973, which speculated on the nature of an Avengers team formed from 1950s Marvel characters to protect President Dwight Eisenhower from the Communist Yellow Claw. They were revived (at the insistence of editor Mark Paniccia) by Parker and Kirk in a 2006 mini-series where they found themselves reunited to investigate the mysterious Atlas Foundation.

I’m going to force myself to limit my explanation of the Agents to the first few issues of the mini-series. Just know that things happen in the last issue, awesome fantastic things that I really want to blab about, that alter the nature of the Agents as a team, and lead directly into their ongoing series. Find the trade paperback collection of the mini first, then start reading the current run. To start, why don’t we meet the Agents themselves? We got these dandy pictures from the Agents of Atlas website, and the Parker quotations from a set of articles on the series at Comic Book Resources.

Jimmy Woo

JIMMY WOO

Jimmy Woo is a former FBI agent turned Agent of SHIELD turned Agent of Atlas whose arch enemy is the villainous Communist mastermind / Fu Manchu analogue Yellow Claw.

Jeff says: “…Jimmy came from the ‘Yellow Claw’ comic book of the ’50s, tirelessly on the case of the criminal mastermind. I don’t know if there was simply a mandate to put out a Fu Manchu-clone book, but what I find interesting is that they at least let the hero be of Chinese roots, in a time that being balanced towards minorities just wasn’t a priority….Jim Steranko brought Jimmy into SHIELD a few years later because, hey, the Yellow Claw turned up. That turned out to be a robot, but it gave Jimmy another chance to shine, so it’s worth it.”

Gorilla Man

GORILLA MAN

Ken Hale was a soldier of fortune who feared death. He’d heard of the legend of the Gorilla Man, which said that if you killed the Gorilla Man, you would become immortal.  Turns out there’s a bit of a catch. You get immortality yes, but then you become the Gorilla Man.

Jeff says: “He’s very strong, agile and proficient with all manner of weaponry. Actually, he’s a bit bigger than a mountain gorilla. He also doesn’t age, as you’ll read more about in the story. His most valuable function in the group now is actually as the touchstone to the present day. Everyone else has been largely cut off from the modern world except for him.”

Venus

VENUS

First thought to be an incarnation of the ancient goddess, but actually was a naiad, or siren, given a soul by a mystic hired to kill her. Has the power to control the emotions and perceptions of others through her siren song.

Jeff says: “On a small, human scale, you’ve probably experienced women like her…An attractive woman with such presence that when she says the briefest of things to men-and looks them in the eye- they just lose it. They can’t focus, they feel like they’re underwater and even the most James Bond of the bunch can’t keep his composure. It’s generally pretty hard to say what’s affecting the guys the most. Sure she’s gorgeous, but so are other girls and they don’t all make you walk into walls because you’re trying to keep track of where she is in the room. Is it something in her eyes, or the unearthly quality of her voice?”

M-11, The Human Robot

M-11, The HUMAN ROBOT

Retroactively named after the issue he first appeared in, Menace #11, M-11 was a robot who murdered his creator. Tracked down by the Agents, M-11 is reprogrammed to be a force for good.

Jeff says: “Visually, the robot is cool because he embodies the robot menace of the pulp adventures…With that cyclopean eye, no mouth, the antennae — he’s got a classic look that conjures up everything from Gort in ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’ to the giant robots in ‘Sky Captain.’ His body is a bit more detailed than in the ‘Menace’ story — we kind of approach that as ‘what would the artist have likely done had he more time than a weekend to design this guy’ and so he gets a little more definition and a nice solid eyepiece instead of one that looks like a lightboard. I was originally suggesting that we leave off his chest door or move it to the back, but Leonard Kirk was adamant that he needed it up front to really convey ‘classic robot.’ He’s right of course.”

Marvel Boy / Bob

MARVEL BOY / BOB

Bob Grayson’s father was a Jewish scientist who chose to flee the Earth with his infant son during the rise of Nazi Germany. Their atomic rocket overshot the moon, and they wound up on Uranus, where interactions with Uranian eternals left Bob with an altered physiology and a set of Marvel bands that grant him a number of powers.

Jeff says: “Our Marvel Boy is Bob Grayson, who was born in Germany as the Nazi party was coming into power. His father Matthew was a scientist who built a rocketship so he and his son could flee the Earth for another more peaceful planet without dictators. And that planet turned out to be the 7th one in our solar system, Uranus. Not habitable you say? In fact there was a paradise full of other humans that existed in the life-supporting Omnidome, and they took the Graysons in.”

Namora

NAMORA

A cousin of Namor, the Sub-Mariner, her father was killed by land-walkers, and she swore vengeance agains the evils of the world.

Jeff says: “ If you have Namora on board, besides the fact that she was an actual character from the time, then you have a team of archetypes, pulp icons. I quickly went digging for her last appearance to see what became of her and lo and behold I found the issue of ‘Sub-Mariner.’ There she is, frozen in a block of ice. I don’t know about you, but when I see a Golden Age Marvel hero in a block of ice . . .”

…And with that, I’ve run out of time for tonight. Tune in again tomorrow, when we’ll be covering the adventures of the mysterious Agents of Atlas, and offering a link to a complete tale of the 50s-era Agents by Parker and artist Benton Jew!

Agents of Atlas by Evan "Doc" Shaner

I hate to start every post with an apology, but this truly has been the week from Hell. Here, at long last, is the overdue second look at Agents of Atlas:

Collected Agents of Atlas

When last we parted company, I was going to tell you guys a little about the mini-series that led into the current ongoing. I’m going to do my best not to spoil things too much, but if you want to approach the material tabula rasa, stop reading now and buy the book for yourself.

Right. So, in the present, SHIELD agent Ken Hale, aka Gorilla Man, is interrogated by his fellow agents on the history of his association with Jimmy Woo. The impetus behind the questioning involves a rogue mission led by Woo against the mysterious Atlas Foundation,  that has left him brain dead and covered in burns. Hale leads a bust-out (which features, perhaps, the greatest thing ever drawn in a comic book, ever — a sentient gorilla firing four machine guns with all hands and feet) with the help of M-11 and Marvel Boy, and they’re able to restore Woo according to Bob’s memory to a much younger version of himself.

SHIELD agent Derek Khanata takes over the position vacated by Woo, and takes on the investigation of Woo, the Atlas Foundation, and the bust-out. Through his investigation, he joins Woo’s team as they collect old friends, preparing for a final face-off with the villainous Yellow Claw. The only thing is…Yellow Claw seems to want Woo to succeed.

Writer Jeff Parker, interior artist Leonard Kirk, inker Kris Justice, and cover artist Tomm Coker pull out all the stops. The book is well-written, the art is gorgeous, and the story hits all of the right vast international conspiracy / espionage / Sax Rohmer homage notes along the way. Here’s a page of original art from the mini-series that I’m lucky enough to claim as my own. Additional art by Jeff Parker!

Agents of Atlas art

The latest series builds off of the amazing conclusion of the series as the Agents of Atlas assert their position in the Marvel Universe. The series has ostensibly kicked off as part of the Dark Reign storyline. But if you think that knowledge of Marvel continuity is necessary to enjoy the book, never fear. While it might help, I honestly stopped reading most Marvel books just after the Age of Apocalypse, which happened when I was in junior high school. Here’s what you need to know: Norman Osborn, aka the Green Goblin, is alive, and is running part of the government. Also, after Captain America’s death, his long-dead sidekick Bucky took over. I think.

Like I said, it doesn’t matter, especially as the best parts of the new series take place in the 1950s, with fantastic art by Gabriel Hardman.

If you still haven’t signed up for the series and want another taste, then you’re in luck: Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited (DCU, but not the DCU — hilarious and nefarious) has an exclusive 1950s-era Agents story by Parker and artist Benton Jew, starring Wolverine! Also, chat with Agents of Atlas member Ken Hale @ Twitter!

Tomorrow: we’ll wrap up the long Costumed Adventurers Month (which has maybe now stretched into two) by unveiling the final silhouette, and announcing a contest in honor of our 75th post!

Throughout the past month, my fellow COBRAS have been presenting their takes on costumed adventurers who crossover with the espionage genre. This week, I’m taking a look at some of my favorite super-hero spies, unveiling a character one at a time from the banner above. In case you missed an entry, so far we’ve seen:

The introduction, in which I link to all of the other COBRAS entries
THUNDER Agents (that’s No-Man above)!
Dell Comics’ Werewolf
Harvey Comics’ / Jim Steranko’s Spyman
Agents of Atlas pt. I and pt. II

…And to wrap up the first ever COBRAS themed month, we unveil our last superhero-spy, Nick Fury, AGENT OF SHIELD!

Fury was originally the star of his own World War II comic, Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, drawn in the beginning by comic legend Jack Kirby (Dick Ayers later took over) and written by Stan Lee. The comic debuted in May of 1963, but in December of that year, an older, contemporary Nick Fury showed up in the pages of the Fantastic Four, working as a special agent for the CIA.

It wasn’t until August of 1965, however, in Strange Tales #135, that the superspy version of Nick Fury that we’ve come to know and love debuted. These stories too were initially by Lee and Kirby, but in issue 151, a new artist came on board — Jim Steranko. Steranko’s unique approach to the material, drawing on pop art, psychedelia, and film, created a new visual language for comics that, if it seems a bit tame today, is only because of the lasting influence Steranko has had on the medium.

Instead of attempting to fully cover the entire history of Nick Fury, I thought I’d visit the wonderful ComicArtFans.com, and share with you what I thought were the ten best Nick Fury pieces I saw from sketch collections there. Stay tuned to the end for details on the first ever Mister8.com contest!

First, from the portfolio of colorist Tom Smith, we have a beautiful print by Steranko, colored by Smith himself:

Nick Fury print by Steranko & Smith

Next, a series of tributes to Steranko’s style from some of the best artists working in comics today. First, Bruce Timm (who defined the style of the past twenty years of DC Comics animation), from the collection of Matt Zitron:

Nick Fury by Bruce Timm

Next, Steve Rude, from the collection of Adam Richards:

Nick Fury by Steve Rude

Francisco Francavilla imagines the moments after a Steranko cover in this fabulous piece, from the One Minute Later collection of Michael Finn.

Nick Fury by Francavilla

…And Chris Giarrusso, from the collection of George Beliard:

Nick Fury by Chris Giarrusso

Here’s a look at Fury from Kirby’s long-time inker, and inker of Steranko on the Nick Fury series, Joe Sinnott, from the collection of Jim Harvey:

Nick Fury by Joe Sinnott

This is a very Cold War-looking Nick Fury by artist Jeff Spokes, from the collection of Wilson Wong:

Nick Fury by Jeff Spokes

I didn’t include any other “head sketches” in this post, but I’m really drawn to the sharp linework by Lee Bermejo in this piece from the collection of Jake Bell:

Nick Fury by Lee Bermejo

Here’s an imagined team-up of Fury and Dynamo from the THUNDER Agents by artist Daryl Banks, from the collection of Michael Rankins:

Nick Fury and Dynamo by Daryl Banks

And last, but certainly not least, is a sexy, Bondesque look at Fury and Black Widow from artist Paul Gulacy, from the collection of Murray Roach:

Nick Fury and Black Widow by Paul Gulacy

One thing I noticed in my browsing is that, despite being a popular character, the “Ultimate” version of Nick Fury (an alternate reality Fury based on the appearance of Samuel L. Jackson) was underrepresented in the sketches I saw. To make up for this dearth of Jackson Fury, here’s the final scene in the film Iron Man that made comic fans stand up and cheer:

CONTEST!

In honor of this, our 75th post, we’re having a contest that will yield prizes for five lucky Mister8.com readers!

To enter, simply post a comment on this post, or send an email to mister8@mister8.com with your name, email address, and the answer to the question: Who is your favorite superhero-spy, and why? It doesn’t even have to be someone we discussed this week!

The top five responses as chosen by a team consisting of myself and other COBRAS members will receive a Marvel promotional item, a magnet bearing the new logo of SHIELD as seen on this comic cover:

SHIELD logo

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! The top three responses will receive a personalized Nick Fury sketch by yours truly. I may not be Steranko, but I promise quality work!

The contest will end at midnight, May 1, 2009, and winners will be announced a week later, on May 8, 2009!