Marvel's Agent Coulson Heads Into "Battle Scars"

[President Kang]

While I understand, but don't really agree, with the rage directed towards Marcus "Samuel L. Jackson Ultimate Fury" Johnson, it is nice to see that pretty much everybody loves Agent Coulson. Track down the Marvel One Shot Blu Ray extras on Thor & Captain America for more Coulson-ness. Besides, he gets some of the best comebacks in the movies.

"Is that one of Stark's?"
"I don't know. Guy never tells me anything."

"Good luck. We need you."
"More than you know."
"Not that much."

[FIFTY-TWO (52)]

They're asking me to buy this at this point, aren't they? €#%$! Coulson may be too good to pass up.

Please.

Movie spoiler!!

spoilers:

They should have just let Gregg put his final stamp on the character in the movie. Is this how they're gonna honor his memory?

end of spoilers

[Monty_Cristo]

I actually don't have much of a problem with this.

1. Editorial mandate sounds bad, but it can sometimes be good and even rewarding. Marvel only had Spider-Man marry MJ for that reason. They wanted, iirc, some parity between the daily strip and the monthly. Most people forget how quick their courtship was and how the marriage practically happened overnight. Granted, editorial also mandated that it be reversed, but the MJ Parker status quo held true for 20 years and fans loved it.

2. Marcus, predictably, is Nick's son. However, that's not such a bad thing either. Nick's got two other sons, Jake and Mikel, both homicidal maniacs who adopted the Scorpio identity. Wouldn't it be nice for Nick to have a good son for once?

3. So Nick's son is black. Big deal.

it's not a big deal. and i don't think anyone here is saying that it is; complete strawman. the issue is them forcing a replacement movie fury on the readership in a move that shows little effort or strategy. there were at least 6 ways they could have pulled this off. if they wanted Ultimate Fury, they should have imported him instead of turning someone who isn't Nick Fury or Ultimate Nick Fury into a twin. it's sloppy.

[CyberHubbs]

it's not a big deal. and i don't think anyone here is saying that it is; complete strawman. the issue is them forcing a replacement movie fury on the readership in a move that shows little effort or strategy. there were at least 6 ways they could have pulled this off. if they wanted Ultimate Fury, they should have imported him instead of turning someone who isn't Nick Fury or Ultimate Nick Fury into a twin. it's sloppy.

They made it into an entire mini-series, man. Someone had to write and draw this.

[FIFTY-TWO (52)]

He'd better- I've pretty much given up on The original Nick Fury sticking around- all iI can say is they better not kill off Coulson in the Movie.

[cookepuss]

Well, what else could I expect from the geniuses who brought us "Let's Make a Deal," starring Spider-man and Satan?

This is why CBR needs a "like" button.

[FIFTY-TWO (52)]

I love the ridiculous over the top reactions here. People take these little things way too seriously.

Maybe people don't like having their intelligence insulted.
If somebody who loved the Avengers movie asked me where to get Avengers comics, I wouldn't direct them to the 616 books, but the first two volumes of The Ulltimates.
Y'know, what the movie was actually based on.

[tigerkaya]

Great, more of Ultimates is seeping further into Marvel 616. Can't the Ultimate universe stay in its own dying universe.

[cookepuss]

complete strawman. it's sloppy.

Still not as bad as the Spider-Man mess made because of OMD, BND, & OMIT. That really has to be the most convoluted and contrived car wreck Marvel has ever made. This whole Kid Fury thing is nothing. It's not an elegant way at getting to the end point, but it's serviceable. That swiftness with which he adopts that new bald & bearded look is the only thing that seems out of place. That aside, Marvel introduced him fairly well.

[CyberHubbs]

Maybe people don't like having their intelligence insulted.
If somebody who loved the Avengers movie asked me where to get Avengers comics, I wouldn't direct them to the 616 books, but the first two volumes of The Ulltimates.
Y'know, what the movie was actually based on.

No reason why they can't come for one and stay for both.

[cookepuss]

Great, more of Ultimates is seeping further into Marvel 616. Can't the Ultimate universe stay in its own dying universe.

The real question then becomes, "How long til the Ultimate Universe dies?" Marvel is already out of ideas if they're crossing 616 Spider-Man with the new Ultimate one. Now they go out of the way to make a 616 version of Ultimate Fury. The line wide revamp was designed to make it cutting edge and unpredictable again. That mission has met with mixed results. To me, it's becoming very clear that the Ultimate line is on borrowed time. Then again, to play devil's advocate, maybe it's the 616 that's on borrowed time, cribbing elements from the UltimateU to fuel its own creative engine. I know that I'm in the very small minority here, but I'm all for a nuMarvel reboot at this point. 50-70 years worth of uninterrupted continuity makes for one spaghetti-like impenetrable universe. Kid Fury could be seen as Marvel grasping at straws in an attempt to tie its products together.

[cookepuss]

Just wondering out loud here, but....

What was the straw that broke the camel's back for you guys?

Was it the blinding? Was it the total and sudden cosmetic reinvention to go with that new eye patch? The super soldier costume? Cheese as Coulson? Was it even before all of that with the mere introduction of Marcus?

I can understand how the bald look and beard could put people off. I really do. Maybe it's too much too soon and should've been done slower. I can get over that because the rest of it really doesn't bother me. I'm not saying that Battle Scars is the best story Marvel's ever told; although, truth be told, it was probably more interesting than the bulk of Fear Itself. However predictable the reveal of his parentage was, I really do like Marcus. I also like Cheese and am pleased that he's being Coulson-ed, as we didn't know enough about him to feel sick about it. Maybe Marvel rushed the final Kid Fury look to time with the movie's release, but that's really my only gripe.

[Blade X]

Can't believe how hard Marvel is pushing this. Hope this character turns out to be a complete failure. (not Coulson, the other guy)

Judging by the lackluster sales of BS (BATTLE SCARS), the character is a failure. However, this book would still be a sales failure even if it starred the original classic Fury since comics featuring Fury as the lead character historically don't sell well.

[Captain Craig]

I love the ridiculous over the top reactions here. People take these little things way too seriously.

It's not just here, roam the 'net.

[AdamYJ]

So, if it's all for the new readers how do they plan to explain why everyone is calling him Marcus Johnson instead of Nick Fury? Can you imagine how confusing it will be for these poor people with only film knowledge? Probably enough to make them stop reading.

Maybe "Nick Fury" becomes a cover name after this. It's a solution that James Bond fans have suggested for 007, to explain all the different actors playing him. The idea being that there have been numerous agent 007s but they all operate under the fictitious name "James Bond". So maybe from this point forward, whoever's the top agent at SHIELD (providing that they're male, at least) always operates under the name "Nick Fury". Probably with all record of their past scrubbed so that any attempt to track down who they really are leads back to the name "Nick Fury" and a history that seems fake because it leads back to a guy who should be over 80 years old.