Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Volume 1 – The Coulson Protocols
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a unique television show that deals with story lines and issues from the cinematic universe. I have really enjoyed the show over the past six years. Unfortunately, next year the series will be coming to an end.
Phil Coulson was a beloved character in the early Marvel movies and it was a brilliant move to build a television series around him. As a head of a S.H.I.E.L.D unit, he knows a lot about superheroes, including their weaknesses.
A telepath accessed his thoughts and compiled an extensive file detailing how to kill many of Earth’s mightiest heroes. Dubbed “The Coulson Protocols,” the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. need to intercept and destroy this intell before it is used for evil.
This story features Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Wolverine and bridges comic stories like the TV series did for the films.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Volume 2 – Under New Management
Coulson is fired and replaced by Elektra? Things are about to get messy.
I love the way the story continued from the last volume but tied directly into the events of Civil War II.
One criticism I have of these books is that sometimes that characters don’t always look like the actors who portray them. The art is a little inconsistent. However, it is cool to see Mockingbird in uniform and still part of the team. Notably absent is the character of Mack. I’m not sure why he was left out of the comic.
The last story in this second volume doesn’t quite fit the tone of the book either. I love Daredevil but the trial of Hawkeye didn’t really need to play out here. It seems far removed from what S.H.I.E.L.D. does best in its stories. It is about the smaller characters in the bigger universe.
It’s going to be sad seeing the television series end next year after seven seasons. It’s was the flagship series for Marvel before Netflix had a short run. It looks like Disney+ will be the new home for small screen stories, but it was nice to have them on regular television where we could watch them for free. At least, the comics are free from the library. That’s where I got these two volumes.