Review by Frank Plowright

S.H.I.E.L.D. originated during the 1960s TV fad for spy series, preferably with an acronym for a name, to which Stan Lee imported his World War II hero Nick Fury, now older and wiser, but equally agile. As introduced, the organisation S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived fully formed, and until Jonathan Hickman fifty years later no-one thought to investigate its origins. It turns out they stretch back far further than anyone assumed, and the guardians of humanity also have a counterpart. It’s a world of wonder and revelation as disclosed to Leonid over the opening chapter and brought to immeasurably sumptuous life by Dustin Weaver.

The result is nothing like the S.H.I.E.L.D. that’s been seen before. Hickman shunts the series a few levels above the active agents to the hierarchy at the top, introducing us to Leonardo Da Vinci, Nostradamus and Isaac Newton among others, revealing the greatest minds of history have always been involved. Galileo once saw off Galactus, don’t you know, and further planet-shattering threats have been repelled. Hickman’s disclosures are made to Leonid, a man of a destiny that’s been concealed from him.

However, for all the wonder of the plot it’s Weaver’s contribution that creates the indelible first impression. His art is decorative and detailed, yet also brings the personalities to life. There’s an incredible effort made to when it comes to his retro technology, cables dripping from everything and he designs beautiful old cities. Page after page stuns, which means they’ll turn relatively slowly, and that’s just as well.

It’s because Hickman’s history is weaved into a plot that needs to be followed closely. He doesn’t underline the connections, and anyone just skimming through and admiring Weaver’s efforts isn’t going to take much else home. There’s some clever tinkering with Marvel continuity via the inclusion of Nathaniel Richards and Howard Stark, but just as this is a conceptually driven story, the crux is a battle of entrenched views about what humanity can be, and it’s very, very ambitious.

It doesn’t finish here, though. Architects of Forever is the prelude to The Human Machine. It also continues in The Rebirth, but that’s a comic rushed out at a point where Marvel presumed the story wouldn’t be finished, so only provides four of the final six chapters.