S.H.I.E.L.D. is fictional counter-terrorism, espionage, and special law enforcement agency that appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It was first published in Strange Tales #135 (August 1965) by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and it frequently deals with paranormal and superhuman dangers to world security.

Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, and Law-Enforcement Division was the acronym’s original meaning. Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate was renamed in 1991. The backronym stands for Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s numerous films, as well as multiple animated and live-action television programs.

The debut of S.H.I.E.L.D. in Strange Tales with “Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” coincided with a trend for action shows about secret international intelligence agencies with catchy acronyms, such as television’s The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which Stan Lee stated in a 2014 interview was the inspiration for him to create the organization. Colonel Fury (originally the primary character in Marvel Comics’ World War II series Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos) was reinvented as a little older figure with an eyepatch (something he lacked in his wartime escapades) and named the organization’s leader. Some Sgt. Fury figures returned as S.H.I.E.L.D. Operatives, most notably Timothy “Dum-Dum” Dugan, Fury’s bowler hat-wearing aide-de-camp.

In its first appearance, S.H.I.E.L.D. was presented as an existing, full-fledged entity, with Tony Stark in charge of the Special Weaponry section and Fury witnessing a meeting of the Supreme International Council with “some of the most famous joes from every nation” (then “half the leaders of the free world” a page later). Much has been disclosed throughout the years to fill in the gaps in the company’s convoluted organizational history. Except for two issues, one penned by Kirby himself (#148) and one scripted by Dennis O’Neil (#149), Stan Lee wrote each tale until Strange Tales #152 (Jan. 1967), aided by artist Kirby’s co-planning or complete plotting. Following an issue scripted by Roy Thomas (#153) and one co-written by Thomas and new series artist Jim Steranko, came the sole-writer debut of Steranko”who had started on the feature as a penciller-inker of Kirby layouts in #151 (Dec. 1966), taken over the every-other-issue “Nick Fury” cover art with #153 two months later, and full writing with #155. (April 1967).

Steranko, according to Larry Hama, “Jack Kirby’s figurative energy was blended with modern design principles. The visual inspirations of Peter Max, Op Art, and Andy Warhol were woven into the pages’ design, which was done as a whole rather than as a sequence of panels. All of this is done in a razor-sharp, hard-edged manner that’s brimming with drama and anatomical tension “.

The series received two Alley Awards in 1967 and 1968 and was entered into the awards Hall of Fame in the latter year. In 2006, Steranko was inducted into the Comic Book Hall of Fame. The 12-page feature ran through Strange Tales #168, sharing the “split book” with the occult feature “Doctor Strange” each issue, before being spun off into its own series of the same name, which ran 15 issues (June 1968″November 1969), followed by three all-reprint issues a year later (November 1970″March 1971). Issues #1″3 and #5, as well as the covers of #1″7, were written and drawn by Steranko.

Download Shield Silhouette PNG Transparent Images background