Rarely before and rarely since has comics seen a talent as innovative as Jim Steranko. Blending together influences from Pop Art to Salvador Dali and Will Eisner to Wally Wood, Steranko's boundary-breaking style is an incomparable visual language that continues influence and inspire storytellers decades later. Now, for the first time ever, Marvel is proud to offer the complete Steranko Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. in one volume! COLLECTING: STRAN GE TALES (1951) 151-168 & NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. (1968) 1-3, 5

Rarely before and rarely since has the comics industry seen a talent as innovative as Steranko. Blending together infl uences from pop art to Salvador Dalí and Will Eisner to Wallace Wood, Steranko's groundbreaking style is an incomparable visual language. Steranko is...revolutionary! Marvel is proud to present Steranko's complete tenure on NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. in a single, massive King-Size edition that showcases all its glory! These are the stories that defined Nick Fury as the premier spymaster, operating in the covert shadows of the Marvel Universe. His awesome tech, his steamy romances, his larger-than-life action-adventure - Steranko was behind it all! Breaking all the old rules of comics storytelling as he went and creating a few new ones too! COLLECTING: STRANGE TALES (1951) 151-168; NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. (1968) 1-3, 5

"The digest-sized book combines typeset text with two same-sized illustrations per page, utilizing no word balloons or other traditional comics text conventions. A hard-boiled detective novel in the film noir style, its protagonist is a private detective named Chandler (an homage to author Raymond Chandler) who is hired by a man who claims to have been poisoned by the same people responsible for a notorious gangland slaying. As Chandler tracks down witnesses, each begins to turn up dead." -- Wikipedia

Previously presented in the much-acclaimed Artist's Edition format, and winner of an Eisner Award, now you can appreciate this historic run of comics in the new Artisan Edition format. In the mid-1960s, Jim Steranko burst into the Marvel Age of comics in a BIG way, and the innovative, cinematic techniques he introduced in his brief tenure at The House of Ideas stand to this day as a high-water mark in the history of graphic storytelling. More than any other series, Steranko is most associated with Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. This Artisan Edition collects the first 12 stories of Steranko's run, from Strange Tales #151-162, as well as his covers from these issues. Additionally, there will be a select number of extras presented. And, as usual, nearly all the pages have been scanned from the original art, from Steranko's private archives. Story and art by Jim Steranko with additional script by Stan Lee and Roy Thomas. Additional Layouts by Jack Kirby. AN ARTISAN EDITION PRESENTS COMPLETE STORIES WITH EACH PAGE SCANNED FROM THE ACTUAL ORIGINAL ART. While appearing to be in black and white, each page was scanned in color to mimic as closely as possible the experience of viewing the actual original art--for instance, corrections, blue pencils, paste-overs, all the little nuances that make original art unique. Each page is printed the same size as drawn, and the paper selected is as close as possible to the original art board.

"Here is the long awaited complete history of comic books from the 1890s to the 1980s--the characters, the classics, the creators, trends in the marketplace, and the business of comic book publishing--by one of the field's top authorities and major collectors. Thoroughly researched, Ron Goulart's Great History of Comic Books boasts more than 200 black-and white illustrations, 24 pages in full color, an invaluable index, and the lively writing style that has made Ron Goulart so popular with comic book fans everywhere. Herein you'll find: the origins and exploits of superheroes; the lives and times of artists, editors, writers, including Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Siegel and Shuster, Will Wisner, Joe Simon, Sheldon Mayer, Jim Shooter, and many more--in their own words; many rare reprints and early sketches. This definitive one volume account of one of America's liveliest industries, from before Superman to after Spider-Man, is a must for every collector's bookshelf. " -- Back cover