Nick Fury Agent Of SHIELD - EMPYRE!

Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD: Empyre is a 2000 novel by Will Murray for Marvel's then bustling novel series from Berkely Books and is a nifty addition to SHIELD lore. Murray is the perfect writer for this kind of material, a guy well versed in matters military and able to speak with confidence about specific weapons and their capabilities. Equally valuable is his ability to craft a fast-moving tale which is loaded with surprises as well as being steeped in lore from the long history of Nick Fury and his doughty agents. Under a lush Joe Jusko cover, this one is also graced with fascinating interior illustrations by famed SHIELD alumnus Jim Steranko. 

The story begins with Nick Fury in the midst of seeming combat which in classic SHIELD swerve style is actually a training mission. When Nick is called away, he is quickly caught up in a bizarre airplane disaster at the same as another airliner crashes on the deck of the Hellicarrier, SHIELD's floating mobile headquarters. When Nick is declared dead, things really begin to heat up, especially for new agent Starla Spacek who has been tapped to head up SHIELD's revived ESP Division. The enemy is out there, and it appears they can read minds. It appears the scheme is to use airplanes as weapons of war. When the action heads to the Middle East, there's a lot to suggest that writer Murray was a fortune-teller himself. And it's not entirely out of the question that Hydra might be rearing up one of its deadly heads. 

Each of the twenty-one chapters is graced with a Steranko image which begins as the word SHIELD and slowly but inevitably resolves into the mug of head honcho Nick Fury. Steranko is always good at giving us something different and this gimmick delivers in spades. To enjoy the art as well read the novel check out this work at the Internet Archive. 

This is a cracking novel, well told and brisk. This 2000 novel is tragically prescient in the use of passenger planes as weapons of destruction. I rather liked the evocation of classic Steranko stories when the villains wear "Scorpio" tattoos on their wrists. I don't think these are connected in anyway as far as I can tell, but it's a neat touch. Will Murray is a writer I have long admired for his work on Doc Savage, and there was a sequel planned for this novel. But alas it never came to pass. More's the pity. 

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