To celebrate the 50th anniversary of S.H.I.E.L.D., Marvel is releasing five one-shots this month spotlighting various characters with ties to the organization, all of whom are also featured in Marvel’s TV series Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter. There’s some very deliberate cross-promotion happening in these one-shots—Mockingbird enters a relationship with Lance Hunter, her on-screen ex-husband, Quake meets an Inhuman that shares the name of her on-screen mother—and next week’s Agent Carter #1 partners Peggy Carter with Asgardian warrior Sif, a supporting character in the Thor films who has made guest appearances in both seasons of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
While the one-shots of the past two weeks have featured new creators taking on these characters, Agent Carter is a reunion for writer Kathryn Immonen and artist Rich Ellis, who chronicled the adventures of Peggy Carter in the Original S.I.N. miniseries earlier this year. The book also reunites Immonen with Sif, the central hero of the writer’s run on Journey Into Mystery, and it’s a lot of fun seeing Immonen handle Peggy and Sif’s interactions in these pages.
Ellis’ artwork with colorist Rachelle Rosenberg brings a lot of energy and personality to this preview, and the opening shot of Peggy and Dum Dum Dugan testing new weaponry kickstarts the story with dramatic composition, expressive hand-drawn sound effects, and a bold color palette that sets a lighter tone with pastel pinks and purples. With the second season of Agent Carter hitting ABC at the start of next year, it’s the perfect time to give Peggy Carter her own ongoing series, and this creative team’s talent for telling captivating retro espionage stories with a powerful female lead makes them a smart choice for a monthly book.