I've been super busy of late, and I missed my self-imposed deadline for releasing anything
S.H.I.E.L.D. related in time for the
Agent's of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 6 premiere. So, without further ado, let's look at
S.H.I.E.L.D. in the MC2.
S.H.I.E.L.D. makes it's first appearance within the
MC2 in
A-Next #4 via an appearance from
Agent 33 (not to be confused with the
Main Marvel Universe's Agent 33 also created by
Tom Defalco and
Ron Frenz) who is tasked with protecting the
Wakandan ambassador,
N'Kano and the
Wakandan prince,
T'Chaka during their visit to
America. Notice
Agent 33 wears a yellow and blue-black
S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform.
Shortly after within the pages of
Spider-Girl #5 we first learn of the organisation's Maximum Security Facility at
Mount Athena,
New York. It's here we glimpse the
Venom Symbiote, who's been imprisoned here for
over a decade. Notably, the unnamed
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent's seen here wear yellow (or perhaps orange?) and black uniforms.
The very next week, in
A-Next #5, we get another appearance from members of
S.H.I.E.L.D. operating in
Latveria's former capital
Doomstadt. Here we see a few more Agents, this time clad in more standard looking military attire, attacked by
Doombots while searching for a missing girl. We learn that thanks to political bickering, even
S.H.I.E.L.D. is forbidden to set foot within
Castle Doom. After the
Avengers recover the missing child, they provide
S.H.I.E.L.D. with a false story to hide the existence of
Kristoff Vernard. This is also our first reference to
Nick Fury in the MC2.
The title goes for 3 in a row with another
S.H.I.E.L.D. appearance in
A-Next #6 when the
Avengers team accompanies
Argo to the
Mount Athena Facility in search of his father
Hercules.
Agent 33 returns to give intel to the Avengers team, advising them no one on-site has clearance high enough to know the identity of '
The Merchandise' (in actuality an insane and grief-stricken
Hercules himself) but 'the
Top Man himself' approved the
Avengers team to take over custody.
Over in
Fantastic Five (Vol. 1) #2 we witness the titular team field-testing the invention of
Dr. Lenny Gilcrest, '
The Superoid,'
for
S.H.I.E.L.D. Things go awry when
Gilcrest is knocked out by the villainous
Dominator disguised as a
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent.
Dominator and the rest of the
Wizard's Warriors take control of the
Superoid and attempt to steal it, coming into conflict with the
F5 and
S.H.I.E.L.D. Interestingly,
Dominator mentions she used to work for
S.H.I.E.L.D. Note the
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are garbed in yellow and blue uniforms.
We don't see
S.H.I.E.L.D. again for quite some time until
Spider-Girl #86 when we revisit
Agent 33 at the
Mount Athena Facility as
Apox the Omega Skrull escapes his containment deep beneath the mountain. Notice again that the various
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents all wear the seemingly standard yellow and blue-black uniform.
After this,
S.H.I.E.L.D. is mentioned to be attempting a rescue of
Nova and
Earth Sentry following the destruction of their spacecraft by
Galactus' herald
Dominas (
Last Planet Standing #3).
We see some familiar faces among
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents during the
Carnage story arc in
Amazing Spider-Girl #9-12 with
Maria Hill (more on her in the future!) and
Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine and the shadowy
Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. himself,
Nick Fury all making their
MC2 debut. We also see a more tradition S.H.I.E.L.D. colour scheme for the first time here with white on black uniforms.
Next up we have
Fantastic Five (vol.2) #4 in which a freshly returned and cosmically-empowered
Doctor Doom forcibly ejects S.H.I.E.L.D. forces from
Latveria. Here, the
S.H.I.E.L.D. forces are seen in the military attire seen previously in
A-Next #5. Later in the issue we get our first and only glimpse of a
Helicarrier in the
MC2 as we learn of it's destruction.
For the final appearances of
S.H.I.E.L.D. in the
MC2, we turn to the
American Dream mini series. These appearances are tricky.
Maria Hill shows up so you'd think she was working for
S.H.I.E.L.D. but dialogue and recap pages both state she's working for the
National Security Force. I'd be inclined to accept that
Hill simply changed employers since her last appearance, except every issue after she shows up in
American Dream #2 clearly depicts her in full
S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform leading other agents also clad in
S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform. Perhaps I could cover this further at a later date, but for now, I'll simply include these appearances.
That's it for present-day appearances, but we also see
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Sharon Carter in flashbacks in both
Spider-Girl #32 and
American Dream #3 in addition to mentions elsewhere. For a bit more on this see
The Carter Family Tree.
That's it for
S.H.I.E.L.D. in the
MC2. I find it interesting that all of the organisation's appearances prior to the
Amazing Spider-Girl series seem to feature a distinct variation of the
S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform with the yellow and blue-black colour scheme, while all appearances since feature the classic white and blue-black uniform colours. It brings to mind this old
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe entry:
Until I master spy craft and become a secret agent tasked with obtaining unpublished
MC2 stories from
Tom and
Ron's desks, I remain
frogoat