Review: S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol. 1- Perfect Bullets

Quick Summary

Pros: The characters and personalities ported over from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. are all well done. The ending of the book is interesting and fun. Coulson is a wonderful character and a great addition to the comic landscape.

Cons: If you haven’t watched or don’t like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., then you will miss out on a lot of this book’s appeal.

Overall: This is an alright book that, while not amazing on its own, is sure to delight any fan of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The characters are all great, with Agent Coulson being the best of the bunch. However, the overall story is lacking and does not do anything special until the very end. If you like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., then you may end up loving this book. But if you do not then the best you’ll get out of it is an decent introduction to Agent Coulson.

Story

To start off, S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol. 1: Perfect Bullets is a very different type of superhero book. For the first half, it is a character spotlight book that focuses on S.H.I.E.L.D. teaming up with a different hero in each issue. These issues are mostly unrelated to each other and only barely affect the overall story. Then, about halfway through the book, little pieces of the plot start to add up and form a greater story.

Overall this makes for a collection that is alright in the beginning that only starts to really get good near the end. With the story being only alright, most readers will be coming to this book for its other big draw, the connection to the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. television show. For those who watch the show, this connection will make the book worth reading. However, we’re very hesitant to recommend the book to anyone who does not watch the show, as they will miss out on one of this book’s only big positives.

(spoilers start here)

The majority of the book centers around a different superhero showing up to aid S.H.I.E.L.D. with whatever mission they happen to be taking on that day. Black Night, Valkyrie, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, and the Invisible Woman are the first group, with each one getting a full issue to highlight their specific talent. It makes for some nice showcase stories that aren’t fantastic but are an enjoyable way to see that character taken somewhat out of their element.

The final two issues see one more team up, with Scarlet Witch, and a story that wraps up the arc as a whole. Small hints throughout this book are finally pieced together here to reveal a plot by Dormammu to take over the world. This is the part of the story where things get interesting as the stakes are higher and characters’ actions mean more. However, it is so short that readers barely get time to enjoy it before it is over. Hopefully we can see more of this quality in the next volume.

Outside of the actual storytelling, the author’s writing is simply fantastic. Mark Waid is exceptional at making characters feel real and making them work in the universe he is given. Here that talent is on display with Phil Coulson. He takes the superhero super fan from the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and gives him more depth and purpose. Coulson isn’t just a man who likes superheroes, he is a man who uses his love of superheroes to coordinate them in the best way possible.

However, it is unfortunate that the rest of the cast does not receive this same level of development. There are brief moments where readers get to peek into the lives of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents but these moments are sparse.

While on the topic of the book’s positives and negatives, one stands out a little more than the rest. This book is heavily based on the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. television series with characters and their personalities being almost directly imported. Because of this, it is easy for anyone who has seen the show to connect with the characters. When Fitz does something nerdy, the reader instantly matches this with his television personality and is able to appreciate it. It is a huge benefit for the book because time is not wasted developing characters, instead their pre-developed characters traits are simply brought over from the show.

However, for those who have not seen the show, this connection is lost entirely. They will not be able to appreciate half of the cast’s quirky character traits as none of them have been fully developed in this comic yet. Personally, I would find it hard to recommend this book to someone who has not watched Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., as they would be missing too much of the book’s positives to make the reading worthwhile.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Each issue in this book is drawn by a different artist, making it hard to give an overall grading to the book as a whole. However, I will say that nothing in this book looks bad in terms of art. In fact, the last two issues, done by Mike Choi and then Paul Renaud, look great and would stand out as good examples of art in any book.

Continuity

S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol. 1: Perfect Bullets starts a brand new series in the Marvel Universe that does not have a direct precursor in any specific Marvel comic. Instead, it mostly extends from characters and concepts created in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, specifically those developed in Agents of Shield. The story then continues in S.H.I.E.L.D. Vol. 2: The Man Called Death.

• A “new Thor” is mentioned. This Thor came about as a result of the events of Original Sin and becomes a major player in the comics in Thor Vol. 1: Goddess of Thunder.
• Coulson mentions the death of Sue Storm’s father. This happens at the end of Fantastic Four Epic Collection: The Master Plan of Doctor Doom.
• Though not a superhero comic reference, in the final “Fitz and H.E.N.R.Y” comic there is a reference to the classic newspaper strip Calvin and Hobbes.