What is S.H.I.E.L.D.?!

[eldar101]

Now that the Avengers movie is out, I presume S.H.I.E.L.D. will rise to higher popularity and maybe even get their own movie.

what I realized is that there aren't many concrete elements about the agency and they basically change from one issue to another:

1) formed in recent years with Tony stark being a founder and recuriting nick fury vs. formed decades ago by nick fury vs. formed in ancient times by Da Vinci.

2) first director nick fury vs. guy who gets killed by HYDRA vs. weird villain called Fallen Angel.

3) secretive spy agency vs. militaristic agency known to the public vs. ministry of all super-human matters

4) agents with regular weapons vs. clones and superhumans, including a magical department.

5) superhero allies vs. moral shades of grey.

6) U.N. sponsored vs. USA sponsored

I gotta ask, what happened to that weird world council that was also in the movie and seem to be the real bosses...when did they last appear?

when did that "top-cop" position first get mentioned? is it the same thing as director of S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Was steve rogers head of S.H.I.E.L.D.? if so in which issue did he quit and stopped wearing that super-soldier costume?

thanks.

[Lord Bravery]

What story was Stark the founder of SHIELD? As far as I know they've been around since like, the 50s.

Cap is Director of SHIELD now.

And that shadowy council from the film hasn't been in the comics to my knowledge.

[Loki]

Now that the Avengers movie is out, I presume S.H.I.E.L.D. will rise to higher popularity and maybe even get their own movie.

what I realized is that there aren't many concrete elements about the agency and they basically change from one issue to another:

There's been a few contradictions that have arisen over all the years SHIELD has appeared in the comics, but not so many as you think.

1) formed in recent years with Tony stark being a founder and recuriting nick fury vs. formed decades ago by nick fury vs. formed in ancient times by Da Vinci.

The Brotherhood of the SHIELD formed millennia ago. Post-World War II there were discussions about setting up an international agency, but it took decades for it to actually happen - some operations carried out by other agencies in this era were part of Project SHIELD, the name of that process of establishing the agency (e.g. this is how Marvel gets round the occasional writer who mistakenly uses SHIELD in an era prior to when it was officially established). SHIELD as we know it now was founded early in the modern era, and yes, Tony Stark was involved in the early process; when Nick first boarded the Helicarrier just prior to being told he was about to be appointed head of SHIELD, Stark greeted him aboard and introduced himself as being in charge of SHIELD's special weaponry, and he was then the man who spoke in favour of the appointment to the gathered SHIELD council.

2) first director nick fury vs. guy who gets killed by HYDRA vs. weird villain called Fallen Angel.

Nick was not the first director, and hasn't been considered the first for several years now. He did have a predecessor.

3) secretive spy agency vs. militaristic agency known to the public vs. ministry of all super-human matters

You've just described it's evolution - starting out secretive, gradually becoming better known due to high profile incidents, and eventually put in charge of super-human matters in the US.

4) agents with regular weapons vs. clones and superhumans, including a magical department.

See above - the agency has evolved to handle the threats it faces, with more specialist departments and better equipment, though budget restraints and other factors mean not every agent is armed with high tech.

5) superhero allies vs. moral shades of grey.

Both. Many agents come from espionage backgrounds; such people can be genuinely friendly and like you, while still never being entirely honest, trusting or trustworthy.

6) U.N. sponsored vs. USA sponsored

UN sponsored, but usually dominated by US. Basically, a lot of American politicians don't seem to have received the memo that SHIELD doesn't belong exclusively to the US.

I gotta ask, what happened to that weird world council that was also in the movie and seem to be the real bosses...when did they last appear?

Don't know about last time they appeared, but they first appeared right back at the start of SHIELD's history, when they appointed Nick Fury. Strange Tales #135.

when did that "top-cop" position first get mentioned? is it the same thing as director of S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Seems to be a more recent tag added to the SHIELD director title when Steve Rogers was appointed.

[Loki]

What story was Stark the founder of SHIELD? As far as I know they've been around since like, the 50s.

And that shadowy council from the film hasn't been in the comics to my knowledge.

Stark was one of the founders, no they haven't been around since the 50s (they first appeared in Strange Tales #135, published in 1965; not only were they shown as a new agency, but also that places them after Tony Stark became Iron Man, so the founding of SHIELD happened within the "modern era", that period of time that moves forward with the sliding timescale. Which is why, btw, Spider-Man's parents were not SHIELD agents, despite the commonly held misapprehension that they were; they died a decade or more before SHIELD was founded.

And the council was first seen in Strange Tales #135, as mentioned in my last post.

[YouthofToday]

SHIELD doesn't really exist at the moment. It was replaced by H.A.M.M.E.R. after Secret Invasion, but that was then disbanded after Siege. Steve was made "top cop", but the Avengers are taking the lead in global security. They seem to have non-super hero support, but I don't think they are currently referenced as SHIELD. I'm guessing that will change with NOW.

[Expletive Deleted]

SHIELD doesn't really exist at the moment.

Sure it does. It was reconstituted at the end of Secret Warriors.

[Luck911]

Sure it does. It was reconstituted at the end of Secret Warriors.

Daisy Johnson is the current head of Shield?Right

[Telos]

"Top cop" is just a nickname. Steve's official title is Director of National Security, and I believe that's only within U.S. borders. There was no S.H.I.E.L.D. between Secret Invasion and the conclusion of Secret Warriors.

Daisy Johnson is the current head of Shield, right?

Correct.

[Luck911]

Yeah just check Daisy Johnson is the current Director of Shield

[YouthofToday]

Sure it does. It was reconstituted at the end of Secret Warriors.

Maybe I need to re-read that issue, but wasn't that a group that Fury just set up on his own? They aren't officially sanctioned by the US or UN, correct? Steve has no control over them per se.