S.H.I.E.L.D. #1-2 (2010): 1st Leonid, Nikola Tesla, da Vinci, Imhotep, etc.

Have you ever read 100 Years of Solitude or Finnegan’s Wake? Did you like it? Then maybe you’ll dig this. Okay, I’m exaggerating. My point is that this series is extremely complex, breaks through time and other conventional comic book narrative styles, and presents a challenging read. That said, I did enjoy it. I just don’t enjoy the idea of trying to sum it up here–because doing so will be necessarily reductive. In New York City 1953, a High Schooler named Leonid is picked up by two men who “know what he is.” We will later see these two agents identified as Agents Stark and Richards, i.e., Howard Stark and Nathaniel Richards. Nathaniel Richards is such a troubling person in continuity. Sometimes he’s Kang. Sometimes he’s not. Very hard to know which version(s) are which. Pretty sure this one is the one who was first identified as Reed Richards’ father–but Hickman builds stuff in across this series to suggest he’s also Kang. The Agents take Leonid to the “High Council of the Shield,” in Rome. They are a group of immortal protectors who have done things like fight off brood invasions throughout history. Screenshot The art in this book is amazing. The history of SHIELD is wound throu...