Marvel has given us our first look at the new Nick Fury #1, featuring an episodic take on the son of Nick Fury from James Robinson (Scarlet Witch, Cable) and ACO (Squadron Supereme). There’s a lot here to be happy about. Nick Jr. (who has been the main “Nick Fury” in the Marvel U since 2012 or so) gets embroiled in an increasingly high-stakes series of missions, and Marvel’s description sure makes it sound like every issue is going to more or less stand alone. The art so far looks beautiful, with a great sense of “camera work” and vivid colors. We’re excited to share a preview with you below, but first we need to talk about this variant cover by Bill Sienkiewicz:
Does that look familiar to you? Because it’s a riff on one of Sinkiewicz’s own classic covers – just not for a comic. He drew the artwork for Wu-Tang mastermind RZA’s first solo outing as Bobby Digital. Bobby’s an alter-ego himself, a wanton, id-fueled monster – and a far cry from RZA’s Zen demeanor. Something about dual identities makes comic art a natural fit, no?
Sinkiewicz wasn’t the first comic artist to provide an album cover for a Wu-Tang Clan member. That honor goes to Denys Cowan, best known for his work on The Question and as co-founder of Milestone. He drew the cover for GZA’s Liquid Swords, one of the first Wu solo outings. But Sinkiewicz’s cover became an instant icon. And it introduced his style to fans of musicians he inspired, who might not have known who he was.
Sinkiewicz’s cover is part of Marvel’s ongoing series of hip hop-inspired variants, celebrating the longstanding cross-pollination of rap and comic book fans.
Here are the other preview pages, looking just about as awesome. In addition to ACO’s cover, there’s a Greg Land variant, and an action figure variant by John Tyler Christopher. We also have the first few pages of ACO’s interior art, sans dialogue. A variant by Larry Stroman is also on the way, but wasn’t included in the preview.
