Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. #8 Review and *SPOILERS* - Marvel Monday

I Got My Flippy-Floppies

Written By: Marc Guggenheim
Arty By: German Peralta, Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 10, 2016
Publisher: Marvel

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

I wasn’t too kind to the previous issue of Agents of SHIELD because I felt that it did a very poor job of explaining our main character’s motivations. It would seem that Phil Coulson is on the side that the writer’s deem most convenient at that time. In the previous issue we saw Coulson explain the idea of preemptive justice and seem okay with it and then turn around from a conversation with Tony Stark and suddenly be very against it. There are certainly ways to make a character change perspective after a conversation, but usually the conversation must have new revelations, this one did not. The issue ended with Coulson being fired from SHIELD. I understand that Coulson is the main character of this book but if I was his boss, I would have fired him too. I’d have little choice at that point. It was just a very confusing issue that left me scratching my head. Would things be different with this issue? Let’s find out.

Our issue begins with Agent Coulson breaking into the Alpha Flight space station somehow. You would think that this massive state of the art space station would have some kind of advanced security but that’s me being a bit ticky-tacky. Coulson uses his high tech spy equipment to break into the computer system where he finds some files on the new Inhuman named Ulysses and his latest vision. Apparently, Ulysses saw the Wrecking Crew destroying the Brooklyn Bridge and the battle resulted in the death of Daredevil. Back at SHIELD, Bobbi and Deathlok are speaking about Jemma’s condition and Deathlok suggests that one of their only options is to turn Jemma into a Deathlok.

Back in Hell’s Kitchen, Agent Coulson is entering one of his safe houses when a gun is placed at the back of his head. Luckily for him, it’s only Melinda May. The two discuss the situation in which Coulson tells her about the possible death of Daredevil. In addition, despite having seemed to side with Iron Man in the previous issue, Coulson now appears to be somewhere in a middle ground. He thinks that Tony is going to dangerous lengths to stop something that could help the world but Carol is more concerned with arresting people than actually helping them. It’s at this time that Carol Danvers suddenly shows up and grabs Coulson, bringing him into the sky.

Carol confronts him about breaking into her office and he tells her that he is only worried about Daredevil. Carol tells him that the situation has been taken care of and that the Wrecking Crew was taken into custody earlier that day and were on their way to Ryker’s. At that moment, an explosion occurs and Carol has to fly off. She tells Coulson not to get involved but Coulson calls up May to pick him up and they fly over to the Triborough Bridge. They fight the Wrecking Crew when Daredevil suddenly shows up, then as the fight continues, the bridge begins to break and Daredevil begins to fall. Luckily for him though, Coulson jumps after him and is able to knock him out of the way of some debris that would have skewered him. Coulson and the rest of our heroes talk for a bit afterwards and Carol flies off. It’s at this point that Coulson says that there has to be a third option because simply choosing Tony or Carol doesn’t sit well with him.

Back at SHIELD, we see Deathlok and Mockingbird training against a new Hulkbuster unit that Agent Fitz is running diagnostics on. During the training session, Fitz receives a message from General Strakofsky who apparently is using Fitz as a mole inside of SHIELD. The training continues and Fitz ends the conversation with the General when someone new enters the room and is able to finish off the Hulkbuster unit very quickly. Turns out this new person has been assigned as the team’s new leader and that there is a mole amongst them. Fitz questions the validity of that claim when he is stricken in the face and knocked unconscious. Above him stands the new leader Elektra, who says that Fitz is the mole. This is where the issue leaves us.

This issue is leaps and bounds better than the previous issue but still feels a little unconsequential. Coulson seems to change ideologies at the drop of a dime until finally landing on the fence. The previous issue had me scratching my head and this issue certainly doesn’t leave me confused. That said, clarity doesn’t save this comic. Now instead of being of confused, I’m just simply bored. The stakes of this book are obviously not going to occur and I know immediately that any possible danger is simply trying to manipulate the reader. Obviously they aren’t going to kill off Daredevil in the Agents of SHIELD book. Ultimately though, while the book was a bit boring, it was far from bad.

Bits and Pieces:

Read as Coulson finally picks a side of this conflict that makes sense with his character but is ultimately surrounded by story that has little stakes but is ultimately very nice and entertaining to look at. At least the ending left us with a cliffhanger that legitimately has me intrigued for the future of this series.

5.5/10