Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D #5 was released on Wednesday, where the Scarlet Witch makes a special appearance. If you enjoy watching Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and/or Marvel’s Agent Sharon Carter, you’ll appreciate Marvel’s S.H.I.E.L.D comic mini-series. This follows the many adventures of the titular S.H.I.E.L.D.
The focus of this issue is a S.H.I.E.L.D mission that centers on a case involving “magic bullets.”
Agent Phil Coulson makes a visit to Dr. Strange and inquires about a strange magic cauldron in his home. Strange looks at the inscribing on a firearm part that Coulson holds out and reveals that it’s a signature of troll artisan known as Horgonn. It is obvious that S.H.I.E.L.D is not dealing with regular firearms.
Some mysterious mercenary is using one of those firearms to take out anybody with mystical and magic power. This gun effectively incapacitates Satana, Daimon Hellstrom, Shaman, and Jennifer Kale in only a half-day.
In short, that gun is impressive.
The story fast-forwards to the present, where the same man is targeting Wiccan.
Agents Leo Fitz and Melinda May come to the rescue whether Wiccan likes it or not. May’s “maternal” instincts kick leading her to tell Wiccan to stay down and let her deal with this mysterious mercenary.
The mysterious man vanishes and reappears behind Wiccan. He is about to shoot Wiccan in the head, but his gun explodes courtesy of the Scarlet Witch. I laughed when she was classified as an “Angry Mystic.”
The assassin is neutralized and it leads to a comical interaction. I love how May and Fitz keep true to their TV counterparts. May and Scarlet Witch have an argument, where Fitz invites himself by being all mathematical with the latter’s reality warping power.
Mys-Tech, the weapons manufacturer, is leading a secret hunt of the world’s mystics.
Coulson reveals that the weapons are terrifying because it hurts mystics, but would literally destroy everybody else. It leads May, Fitz, and Scarlet Witch on a mission to Antarctica. They successfully conduct a S.H.I.E.L.D raid on the facility and destroy the weapons, but sh-t hits the fan when Fitz shoots Scarlet Witch with one of those guns.
Dormammu reveals himself as the true leader behind the operation and that Scarlet Witch was his final target. Shooting Scarlet Witch allows Dormammu to tap into her power and spread some “contagion” to take over the minds of the world’s heroes.
What did I think of S.H.I.E.L.D #5?
Loved it.
It felt like watching an episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D when the series got better with the H.Y.D.R.A arc, which was triggered by the events in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. This story was straightforward, which is always a plus.
I thought it was awesome to see modern weaponry forged from mystical metal, which I haven’t seen or read in the Marvel world. The weapons are terrifying, but I felt relaxed because Coulson and the other agents approached this as another typical workday.
This is also the first time that I’ve seen Fitz, May, and Gemma Simmons introduced into the 616-Mainstream Universe. I was under the impression that the three of them would remain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). They kept true to their MCU counterparts, which made things more interesting.
Makes me want to see Fitz interact with Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, and others.
Reading this issue makes me depressed because it reminds me that Wolverine and Deadpool are dead.
I would love to see Fitz have a conversation either of those two.
I give S.H.I.E.L.D #5 a grade of A+.
When I think of it, it would be funny to see Fitz talking to Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel and Cindy Moon aka Silk.
