I feel like there were better issues of this series; darned if I've blogged any, though.

There's a stretch of the series, starting maybe around #20, with Jackson 'Butch' Guice covers, that are sharp and will really get your hopes up, since I don't think they were great issues either. Maybe a Butch cover would've helped here, but maybe not. From 1992, Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #37, "Who Killed the Changelings?" Written by Scott Lobdell, pencils by M.C. Wyman, inks by Don Hudson.

I thought this was maybe a fill-in, but it's basically killing time before next issue started "The Cold War of Nick Fury", which we've discussed before: oddly, Lobdell had written a few issues of this, would be out for a second, then back in. Fury is taking new Super-Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Psi-Borg to check out the Changelings, only to find they've all been murdered except for Woodgod. (Who we've also seen before here, I had to update the tag for him!) We see one die: the blue one with the fin on his head, and hey, wasn't he a centaur back in Incredible Hulk #252? Looked like he had people legs there.

The government forces of Trinity Base, had apparently had budget cuts and decided to phase out their animal-man monstrosity studies; and since Nick wasn't currently director of S.H.I.E.L.D. they don't recognize his authority. Fury tries to keep Woodgod from murdering the murderers; probably less out of any moral compunction, than the fear of political blowback on Woodgod. Fury 'kills' Woodgod, and with new director Dum Dum Dugan, swears to shut Trinity Base and its shifty commanders down. Then, Fury takes Woodgod out to the woods and lets him go: Fury knew he was smarter than anyone would've thought, and figured he'd get it together someday. Yeah, all his friends dead and alone in the woods? He'll be fine.

But, for good measure, "The Cold War of Nick Fury" starts here, with a prologue! (Written by Eliot Brown and Bob Sharp, pencils by M.C. Wyman, inks by Don Hudson.) Wrapping up a session in the gym, Fury gets a flash message, to go to Washington D.C. and debrief about O.S.S. and C.I.A. missions, which were years prior. Nick blows it off, not just because he doesn't think it's important, but the Amazing Colossal Man was on cable tonight! The MST3K version premiered just a year prior; there's a not-zero chance Fury was going to watch that! Unfortunately, he gets stopped by government agents, who had the foresight to clear several guns out of Nick's car first. No movie tonight...