Why Was Nick Fury Created?

[jackolover]

Stan Lee insisted it was to show Martin Goodman, the publisher, that Stan and Jack sell comics, not inflated headings on covers, so Stan made up a ridiculous heading so long it had trouble fitting, but the book sold like hot cakes.

I think it must have been more planned than that, because you couldn't have got Nick Fury Director of SHIELD without a reputable character everybody knows. That's why I think Fury was introduced as a war character, met Reed Richards in issue #3, and Cap in issue #13. I think Stan and Jack needed someone with a war background the super heroes would know and trust, to have as leader of SHIELD. Stan Lee says he got the idea for SHIELD from Man From UNCLE the TV series, but I think it was the other way around, because when Uncle came on TV it reminded me of the comicbook series SHIELD. So I think Lee and Kirby had SHIELD planned years ahead and fit Nick Fury to the position.

The way Stan Lee puts it, Fury was just done on a bet, but how could you create Fury, and then think what to do with him later? Fury and SHIELD must have been something floating around in their heads the whole time and they just needed to flesh him out in a war book. Yes, the Sgt Fury book looks like it replaced the Incredible Hulk book, but there has not been a more influential character like Fury in Marvel comics. This can't be just a happy accident of circumstance?

[Of Atlantis]

Stan Lee says he got the idea for SHIELD from Man From UNCLE the TV series, but I think it was the other way around, because when Uncle came on TV it reminded me of the comicbook series SHIELD.

I think if Stan Lee said he got the idea rom Man of UNCLE, then it isn't really up for debate no matter how much you believe the opposite lol

The way Stan Lee puts it, Fury was just done on a bet, but how could you create Fury, and then think what to do with him later? Fury and SHIELD must have been something floating around in their heads the whole time and they just needed to flesh him out in a war book. Yes, the Sgt Fury book looks like it replaced the Incredible Hulk book, but there has not been a more influential character like Fury in Marvel comics. This can't be just a happy accident of circumstance?

I really don't think Fury was created with SHIELD in mind. I think SHIELD is just one of those ideas that developed later and was included in Fury's natural character progression. It would be like saying Iron Man, was created with the Avengers in mind, which I seriously doubt. I definitely think it's a stretch to call him the most influential character in comics, and I'm a huge Fury fan. I'd probably give that distinction to Spider-man actually.

[t hedge coke]

Things at Marvel just generally weren't planned that far in advance, back then. And, taking your time to flesh things out really and truly was not a thing.

And, "a more influential character" in what sense?

[ed2962]

James Bond and The Man from Uncle were popular and Marvel wanted to cash in. They had established that Nick Fury was still alive in the present so why not use him. Plus Stan thought it'd funny to have two Fury comics at the same time, one set in the past and one set in the present.

[ed2962]

Things at Marvel just generally weren't planned that far in advance, back then. And, taking your time to flesh things out really and truly was not a thing.

And, "a more influential character" in what sense?

Exactly. Stan has always been upfront about the fact that in the 60's they basically just made up stuff as they went along. They didn't put as much thought into things that some fans think that they must have.

[ed2962]

double post

[Zero Hunter]

Considering Nick Fury and His Howling Commandos came out a few years before SHIELD was even introduced I think it was just a happy accident. People took to Fury in the the WW2 setting and liked the character and Marvel wanted to figure out a way to bring him into there then present day. Since spy stuff was huge back then with stuff like the Man from Uncle and James Bond tearing it up they figured making Fury a spymaster after the war solved all their problems and they created SHIELD around that idea.

[Montressor]

Things at Marvel just generally weren't planned that far in advance, back then. And, taking your time to flesh things out really and truly was not a thing.

And, "a more influential character" in what sense?

This. Anything Lee says in regards to the early creation of Marvel is to be taken with an entire boatload of salt, most of the time. I might be mistaken but didn't he once say it was his full intention to make one of the Howlers gay--even 'way back then?

Yeah, Stan, okay.

[Iron Maiden]

When Fury first appears in the MU present it's in the Fantastic Four issue 21 with the Hate Monger that came out in 1963. He was in the C.I.A. with the rank of Colonel. Then Lee and Kirby started his solo series in Strange Tales in 1965 that shows him being promoted to the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. I have to wonder if initially they were inspired by the C.I.A liaison Bond has in the early films, Felix Leiter. Then the Man from U.N.C.L.E becomes a bit hit on TV so they went with Marvel own equivalent with S.H.I.E.L.D

[Ken Ashcroft]

And now Nick Fury is Samuel L. Jackson ... or is it the other way around?

[batnbreakfast]

I wouldn't mind that Black Widow movie if it were really a NF/Solo for U.N.C.L.E. type of movie. Something different in tone with some silly ideas sprinkled on top.

[Digifiend]

It would be like saying Iron Man, was created with the Avengers in mind, which I seriously doubt.

Yeah, the first hero created with the Avengers in mind is probably Vision. Avengers started out as an emergency filler when another book was delayed. They had no time to create something new so they threw together the stars of Tales to Astonish (Ant-Man, Wasp), Tales of Suspense (Iron Man) and Journey Into Mystery (Thor), plus Hulk, whose book had already been cancelled (he soon became Astonish's backup). Then they used it as a vehicle to bring back golden age hero Captain America. The other three members of the Kooky Quartet started out in Iron Man's Tales of Suspense story, and X-Men. The next roster change brought Hank and Jan back, and then they introduced Vision.

[jackolover]

Considering Nick Fury and His Howling Commandos came out a few years before SHIELD was even introduced I think it was just a happy accident. People took to Fury in the the WW2 setting and liked the character and Marvel wanted to figure out a way to bring him into there then present day. Since spy stuff was huge back then with stuff like the Man from Uncle and James Bond tearing it up they figured making Fury a spymaster after the war solved all their problems and they created SHIELD around that idea.

Solved all their problems? Do you mean Marvel needed a spy agency for their fictional world, or, solved their problem that they should cash in on something popular?

[jackolover]

Yeah, the first hero created with the Avengers in mind is probably Vision. Avengers started out as an emergency filler when another book was delayed. They had no time to create something new so they threw together the stars of Tales to Astonish (Ant-Man, Wasp), Tales of Suspense (Iron Man) and Journey Into Mystery (Thor), plus Hulk, whose book had already been cancelled (he soon became Astonish's backup). Then they used it as a vehicle to bring back golden age hero Captain America. The other three members of the Kooky Quartet started out in Iron Man's Tales of Suspense story, and X-Men. The next roster change brought Hank and Jan back, and then they introduced Vision.

That certainly appears to be the case as I understand the Avengers being formed. But isn't it a coincidence that the Avengers were later tied into Nick Fury forming an Avengers team in 1959? Getting back to the Avengers, that was such a huge happy accident that it isn't funny anymore. How can you just throw 5 characters into one book as a filler comicbook, and it grow into this huge franchise on something that wasn't a well thought out idea? See, that's another questionable story about the Avengers origin. I'm not suggesting Iron Man was created to form the Avengers, but I do suggest Stan Lee had this idea ready to go, fully formed, if the opportunity arose. But that's another debate. I'm still unconvinced Nick Fury was not fully formed by the time Sgt Fury got a comicbook. Stan Lees recollection on the matter sounds like one of his flippant jokes, which sounds very unconvincing, seeing as how Fury fits so snugly into the Marvel Universe, like he's always been there.

I'm reading this whole period of the formation of the Marvel Silver Age right now, as the comics were published, as they came out in the stands, chronologically, and I have to say, Sgt Fury is as natural a creation as any one of the super heroes. The problem I have is that in the middle of the super hero books, Marvel brings out a new War comicbook set in WWII? Why? It's totally out of sync to what Stan is doing up till then with super heroes. (There may be an opening because there were other Marvel War comics published in that period, but why create a new one? They had War characters. Use them in the modern world). No. Nick Fury was deliberately created for the modern world. (There is even some indication that Jack Kirby had this Fury character already mapped out as far back as 1959, so Fury didn't come out of a vacuum in any case. They had a template).

[Carabas]

Stan Lee insisted it was to show Martin Goodman, the publisher, that Stan and Jack sell comics, not inflated headings on covers, so Stan made up a ridiculous heading so long it had trouble fitting, but the book sold like hot cakes.

I think it must have been more planned than that, because you couldn't have got Nick Fury Director of SHIELD without a reputable character everybody knows. That's why I think Fury was introduced as a war character, met Reed Richards in issue #3, and Cap in issue #13. I think Stan and Jack needed someone with a war background the super heroes would know and trust, to have as leader of SHIELD. Stan Lee says he got the idea for SHIELD from Man From UNCLE the TV series, but I think it was the other way around, because when Uncle came on TV it reminded me of the comicbook series SHIELD. So I think Lee and Kirby had SHIELD planned years ahead and fit Nick Fury to the position.

Truely amazing foresight, considering that Nick Fury debuted in 1963 and The Man From Uncle in 1965.

Nick Fury's creation had nothing to do with SHIELD. He wasn't intended to be anything other than a WWII character when they created him. The biggest factors in his creation are probably Kirby and Lee's wartime experiences, and popular WWII movies in the early 60's.