Following the success of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s first season, Marvel Comics announced a new, monthly volume of its book about their premier intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D., written by Mark Waid and illustrated by a rotating team of artists. It is an adaption of the series and its characters set in Earth-616, NOT the MCU.
Unlike previous volumes of the title, centered around a specific character (or S.H.I.E.L.D. itself), this one is effectively a loose Comic-Book Adaptation of the TV series' original premise, starring much of its cast as well as boasting more of an Anthology Comic feel, with self-contained stories based around team-ups with various superheroes from the Marvel Universe.
The series ran for a year starting December 2014, concluding with issue #12 in November 2015 and relaunched under the name Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (just like the show) as part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel initiative.
S.H.I.E.L.D. provides examples of:
- A Day in the Limelight: The back-up issue of the anniversary story focuses on Dum-Dum Duggan, instead of Coulson and gang.
- Action Girl: May, much like her MCU counterpart. Simmons too, though to a lesser extent.
- Adaptation Distillation: The basic premise of the series —with many of the same characters— is retained here, but some key modifications have been made to fit the 616 continuity.
- Adapted Out: Grant Ward is nowhere to be seen here, nor is Skye a member on the team since she's already been a character in the 616 universe for years.
- Anthology Comic: Every issue tells a self-contained story illustrated by a different guest artist.
- Archnemesis Dad:
- Daisy Johnson / Quake teaming up with Coulson's team to fight her father, Calvin Zabo / Mr. Hyde, in #7.
- Simmons' father seems to be set up for this, considering he works for the British branch of Roxxxon.
- Arc Welding: The anniversary issue ties in events from Jonathan Hickman's S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Ascended Fanboy: Coulson is depicted as being such in the opening pages of the first issue, not unlike his characterization in the MCU.
- Badass Boast: After averting Odin's assassination, Odin is dismissive of mortals thinking they can be of aid to him. Coulson informs him they're from a future where he was successfully killed by a mortal and that it took them, Agents of SHIELD, to save his life and prevent a war that took the life of his son who sided with Earth. May interjects he should get over the cult of personality he developed for himself but Coulson tells her to reel it back.
- Badass Normal: Coulson and his team, much like their counterparts on the TV series.
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Leonardo Da Vinci is an immortal spymaster selecting people to be leader of S.H.I.E.L.D., along with causing them to have a Dark and Troubled Past.
- Body Surf: Duggan's mind is being broadcasted from somewhere SHIELD can't find into over fifty L.M.D.s, and Maria Hill's sure there's at least a hundred they can't find.
- Came Back Wrong:
- After dying in Secret Warriors, Jasper Sitwell comes back as a zombie. Though there is some of him still in there.
- Duggan's opinion on coming back as a L.M.D.
- Canon Immigrant: This series introduces former Canon Foreigners May, Fitz, and Simmons into the 616 Universe. No explanation on Ward's lack of presence here, though being revealed to be a villain may have something to do with it. Skye isn't on the team because she already existed in the comics as Daisy Johnson / Quake.
- Commonality Connection: Jemma bonds with Ms. Marvel over their shared experiences as the children of overprotective parents with secret jobs. Coulson also finds time to bond with her, given their shared experience as Ascended Superfans of superheroes in the Marvel universe.
- Control Freak: Simmons's parents are... not exactly happy about their daughter choosing a different life than the one they picked out for her, unlike her brother and sister.
- Continuity Nod:
- Issue 2 has a debates' worth of continuity nods between Kamala Khan and Phil.
- When they bring in Calvin Zabo in Issue 7 they mention his failed operations in Los Angeles
- Issue 10 deals with parallel realities bleeding into each other as an aftermath of Spider-verse.
- Continuity Snarl: Quite a number of the guest appearances have a lot of their history ignored and/or retconned, which stands out given its written by Mark Waid, a man known for his expertise on continuity.
- During Quake and Mr Hyde's guest appearance, a lot of snarl crops up as they depict Daisy as a regular agent and establish Coulson as a mentory figure to her...despite her previously being Director of SHIELD (ie, was once his boss) and is actually wanted by SHIELD as of recent comics due to the events of Nick Spencer's Secret Avengers run. To say nothing of the retcons to her history and her relationship with her father. Though it should be noted it did address some issue with the latter.
- Mockingbird's guest appearance similarly ignored the events of Secret Avengers and Mockingbird's memory issues, or the fact she was MIA and on the run with Daisy and Bucky last we saw her.
- Dominic Fortune also appears later, now an elderly Dirty Old Man shown to have retired from being a super spy. Last we saw of him, he was deaged thanks to a super soldier formula made by Mockingbird, and was very much active.
- In the final issue, the team of the future go back in time to Asgard to prevent an assassination against Odin. Despite it being only the recent past (as Heimdall recalls the team saving him in the first issue), Asgard is depicted as, well, Asgard rather than Asgardia, looks like it does in the films, and most egregious of all, Odin has two eyes. Though it was Hand Wave in the wiki as being a different earth. (Earth-16112 to be precise)
- Demonic Possession: In the form of Dormammu.
- Depleted Phlebotinum Shells: Dormammu had discovered a black crystal with Anti-Magic properties he had made into a bullet as a part of his Evil Plan. Fortunately he's just as vulnerable to it as any other magic user.
- Doing In the Wizard: Fitz bravely spends all of issue 5 trying to do this to the Scarlet Witch, dismissing her powers as whatever scientific theory he can think of. She quickly gets tired of it.
- Faux Horrific: On a mission involving Doctor Strange's house, Spider-Man is horrified at the sight of the doctor's perfectly ordinary kitchen, because it has marble counters.
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: According to Mister Plotnick, the Sanctum Sanctorum looks the way it does at Doctor Strange's discretion to keep people's brains from melting out of their skulls.
- Fun with Acronyms: D.E.A.T.H.: Da Vinci Elevating Agents To Helm. Coulson points out the "da Vinci" means "of Vinci", but that wasn't going to stop Fury making an acronym.
- Haunted House: Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum in #3.
- Helicopter Parents: Simmons's parents will do anything to make sure their daughter is successful in life, and given her father is a senior executive in Roxxon, they have the power to do that, whether Simmons wants it or not.
- Lampshade Hanging: After hearing Leonardo Da Vinci out, Coulson understandably casts shade on how utterly implausible it all sounds.
- Mythology Gag: Daisy Johnson / Quake and her father, Calvin Zabo / Mr. Hyde, appear in #7. In the TV show, Daisy is a regular character under the name "Skye", and Cal is a recurring villain in Season 2.
- Never Trust a Trailer: An early promotional image
◊ for the series released during the summer hiatus after season one a featured Skye, as to avoid a major plot point for the upcoming second season i.e. that Skye already existed in 616 continuity under a different name. - Non-Human Head: Poor Jeremiah Warrick, He was in charge of Dr. Strange records. Those works changed his appearance, so that he has the body of a normal human being and the head of an owl. He can even spin his owl head all the way around.
- Post-Modern Magik: The team goes up against a cabal of hired muscle invading the Sanctum Sanctorum armed with guns capable of firing spells. Similar guns by the same maker show up later as the only way to fire the aforementioned Anti-Magic bullets since anything less would result in a massive explosion. It turns out they work for Mys-Tech, a company that blends magic and technology.
- Remember the New Guy?: Issue #4 reveals that the Invisible Woman had been an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. for years, unbeknownst to most.
- Secret Identity: Jemma's parents don't know she's an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Instead, they think she's an executive event planner. In #2, she masquerades at Kamala Khan's high school as a substitute teacher named Mrs. Stenanko.
- Secretly Wealthy: It's revealed in #2 that Jemma's father works for Roxxon, suggesting that she comes from a pretty privileged upbringing — something that hasn't come up in the TV series.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: After the Scarlet Centurion's assassination of Odin leads to Asgard declaring war on Earth, our agents have to salvage the dead heroes' weapons and go back in time to stop him.
- Shoot the Mage First: Dormammu's latest scheme of world domination involves commissioning the creation of guns with special bullets for assassins to shoot anyone with enough magical skill to stop him. The plan's success also has the benefit of using the mages as nodes for a spell to enact the second phase of his plan to turn all humans into Mindless Ones starting with the smartest.
- Team-Up Series: The main premise of this title. Each issue has the team working with an established superhero from the Marvel universe; Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, the Invisible Woman, and Scarlet Witch are among the first to be featured.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Courtesy of Kamala's classmates in issue #2.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With Wong in #3.
