Hi, folks, and welcome to Geek culture. It is a new column that focuses on all your geek needs from comic books, super heroes, movie reviews, TV shows and much more. If you have any content suggestions, submit your request to the Iron Warrior, or even better, write an article about it for the Iron Warrior!
To kick off this first issue of Geek Culture, I will be reviewing a comic I have recently read which I found awe-inspiring and fascinating. Words can’t express how much I think this comic is amazing. It is called S.H.I.E.L.D.: Architects of Forever, written by Jonathan Hickman and illustrated by Dustin Weaver. Yup, it is the same secret spy organization – S.H.I.E.L.D. – that we have all grown to love in the past years thanks to Marvel movies and TV shows. However, the comic doesn’t feature the adventures of Agent Phil Coulson and good Old Nick Fury but instead explores the secret history behind S.H.I.E.L.D. and the world.
Here is a synopsis of the book. Since the dawn of civilization, humanity has been threatened with the end of the world but the brotherhood of the S.H.I.E.L.D. has always protected us from danger. Great historical minds, such as Leonardo DaVinci, Zhang Heng, Galileo, Sir Isaac Newton, Nikola Tesla and many more, were agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The story is set in the 1960’s and follows a war of ideas between these great historical minds, as some of them believe in following fate and others in free will. It is basically like assembling the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen with the greatest historical scientist and engineers as members and letting them wage war against each other throughout time. Mind-blowing.
I would say the most captivating part of the comic is how Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver masterfully bend sci-fi and history together by using the classic great things of the Renaissance era. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Renaissance era, it was the time that followed after the Dark Ages (in which there was little or no intellectual development) after the the fall of the Roman Empire in Western Europe. The Renaissance era is the link between the Middle Ages and the Modern age where there was a revival of art, science and literature under the influence of classical learning. It is historically seen as the rebirth of human intellect and discovery. This theme of curiosity, invention and desire for knowledge is echoed throughout the book as you get to a feel of how the people of the Renaissance thought of problems and solutions. Apart from the cast of star-studded historical polymaths (multi-disciplined experts), there are some familiar Marvel characters such as Celestials, Nathaniel Richards (Reed Richards/Mr Fanatics’ dad), and Howard Stark (Tony Stark/Ironman’s dad) in the book. Nathaniel and Howard’s relationship in the comic feels like a throwback to Agent K and Agent J in Men in Black, but a little more nerdy. As you guessed it, they are both agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. working for the brotherhood.
My favourite parts of the comics are as follows: Leonardo DaVinci traveling through time with what looks a like a Medieval armor guilder. Another one is seeing Galileo Galilee take down Galactus with a ray gun powered by the collective consciousness of the brotherhood’s members. Lastly, Newton accidentally corrupts a Celestial using a mathematical solution for the Theory of Everything. Although the comic is a really fun read, Jonathan Hickman starts the book right in the middle of the story; this makes it a little difficult to understand what is going on for the first few chapters. The first volume of S.H.I.E.L.D: Architects of Forever leaves you with a lot more questions than answers, and the grand scheme of the story isn’t explained until you start reading the second volume. Thus, you will need to be invested in the story to fully understand the book. Sadly, this brings up another problem with the comic series: it is not done yet. The final issues have not been published since 2011. This is due to Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver taking a hiatus from the project.
Finally, as an engineering student reading the story, it was refreshing to be reminded that the engineering designs, mathematical equations describing physical principle developed by historical engineers, mathematicians and scientist still resonate and shape our thinking in the present. As mortal men, we cannot live forever, but as engineers we are called to make designs and solutions to help build the future; we are called to be the architects of forever.
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