That is the recurring theme of one of the best first issues of a comic I have ever read, Marvel Comics’s ‘S.H.I.E.L.D.’, by the team of writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Dustin Weaver. Hickman, himself responsible for another of my favourites – the uber- ambitious Secret Warriors -, also from Marvel, as well as some indy gems like A Red Mass for Mars and Pax Romana, draws heavily from the long-running history of the Marvel universe here; but not only that : he posits quite valid questions, the answers to which are just as surprising as they are logic. One of them is, who were the protectors of the earth before the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the X-Men or Captain America were around? Who fended off the constant threats – be they internal or external – and kept humanity on course for the realization of a potential only known by a few? The answer is : Imhotep. Galileo. Da Vinci. Isaac Newton. Nostradamus. Men of unsurpassed knowledge and creativity, along the ages they found themselves a part of something bigger than themselves. Their weapon was the spear, and their sigil was the shield. And so throughout the centuries the shield became that which bound them to this eternal duty : the protection of humankind.
Of course, it helps if you know decades of Marvel universe lore, but it’s not, in fact, something that is wholly necessary to fully enjoy this story. All you need to know is that, sometime in our past, the fathers of Tony ‘Iron Man’ Stark and Reed ‘Mr. Fantastic’ Richards also found themselves an integral part of this covenant of the shield, and, in turn, they would eventually plant the seeds of what would become S.H.I.E.L.D., thereby furthering an already legendary legacy.
The genius of this story is, really, how writer Hickman takes these seemingly random characters and eras, and ties them beautifully together. The seeming disparity twixt these figures of our own world and those of the fictional Marvel world are rendered moot by the realization – and explanation – that, since these aforementioned characters were, in a very real way, already larger than life during their own time and even unto this day, it only made sense that these would have been our guardians over the ages.
The artist, Dustin Weaver, is someone whose work I recall only from here and there, but in this series he shines. Already I consider him one of the few worthy of note to appear in these past few years, and if the work presented in this first issue is testament of what lies ahead, then this is an artist whose work I’ll be following for a long time. The way he brings to life – so to speak – all characters, whether they’re fictional or merely the whimsical archetypes of this world imposed on the Marvel world, is absolutely outstanding. His command of illustration as a language, coupled with a superior sense of storytelling, make him the perfect fit for this story. I read an interview with Hickman recently where he talked about what he has in store for the series, and he revealed that it was the artist’s decision, as well as his own, to pepper this debut issue with subtle references to both the works of our own world’s geniuses, as well to some longstanding characters from the Marvel Universe. Sharp-eyed readers will notice the deft inclusion of both En Sabah Nur and Moon Knight (or rather, the avatar of Konshu), in a very specific scene.
This is not how the world ends. And, indeed, so much more than a mere catchphrase, it serves as a mission statement for the whole series. Through the eyes of the characters introduced to us on this first issue, we see a number of scenes, taken directly from the lore of the Marvel universe, and brought to the forefront via the interaction of said characters, where our world seems at peril. Alas, as time and time again they would say, ‘This is not how the world ends’. For these purveyors of the Greater Science, the Quiet Math, the Silent Truth, the Hidden Arts and the Secret Alchemy know, mankind’s destiny is not to perish anytime soon.
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