Marvel Celebrates 50 Years Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

S.H.I.E.D. is turning 50-years-old this year, and Marvel Comics is celebrating in style. The publisher announced several new products and initiatives during the "Marvel: Next Big Thing" panel from the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo.

S.H.I.E.L.D. #9 will be a special, oversized commemorative issue, with series writer Mark Waid joined by Al Ewing to spin a cross-time tale that sees Agent Phil Coulson teaming up with Nick Fury Sr. to answer a riddle pertaining to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s very origin: who is The Man Called Death? The story features a sequence penciled by Jack Kirby and inked by Jim Steranko that has never been printed as part of a story before.

The issue also reprints the very first S.H.I.E.L.D. story, written by Stan Lee in 1985. Dum Dum Dugan returns and the new Howling Commandos are born. Plus, see the presentation that inspired S.H.I.E.L.D.'s creation.

Marvel also announced a series of five S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary Specials. Each one shot issues will spotlight a single key figure from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s history: A Nick Fury issue written by David Walker, and Agent May issue written by Jody Houser, a Mockingbird issue written by Chelsea Cain, a Quake issues written by Matt Rosenberg & Patrick Kindlon, and an Agent Carter issue written by Kathryn Immonen.

The publisher also announced new collections reprinting some of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s earliest adventures. The previously solicitred S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Complete Collection Omnibus, collecting the earliest S.H.I.E.L.D. stories by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the seminal Jim Steranko stories that followed, and more. Additionally, the S.H.I.E.L.D. by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby: The Complete Collection collects Lee and Kirby's early S.H.I.E.L.D. stories in paperback.

Finally, following the Art of Level 7 variant cover from last season, Marvel announced the Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Art of Evolution variant cover series. The initiative will see the teaser posters used in the latter half of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s second season reprinted as variant covers to twelve different Marvel Comics in June. Here's the variant list:

1. Age of Ultron vs. Marvel Zombies #1
2. Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #1 by Gabriele Dell'Otto
3. Armor Wars #1 by Marcos Martin
4. Captain Marvel And The Carol Corps #1 by Declan Shalvey
5. Civil War #1
6. Guardians of Knowhere #1
7. Hail Hydra #1
8. S.H.I.E.L.D. #7
9. Squadron Sinister #1 by Annie Wu
10. SIEGE #1
11. Thors #1 by Delicious Design League
12. Weirdworld #1

You can check out all of the revealed covers in the gallery below.