<span class="SFPTagline"> From SCIFIPEDIA </span>

Nick Fury
Gender	Male
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Origin	Hell's Kitchen section of New York City
First Appearance	Sergeant Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 (May, 1963)
Creator(s)	Stan Lee Jack Kirby
Alter ego	Nicholas Joseph Fury
Aliases	Many
Abilities	Master Commando and Super-Spy
Affiliations	S.H.I.E.L.D., the C.I.A., and the United States Army.

Nick Fury is a fictional comic book hero owned by Marvel Comics.

His first comic book series was Sergeant Fury and his Howling Commandos, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby first published in 1963. It was the story of an elite fighting squad called the Howling Commandos during World War II. Sgt Nick Fury ran the outfit, with his loyal Corporal “Dum Dum” Dugan, with a squad of American soldiers from various locations in the United States. Fury was a cigar chomping, fearless tough guy who led the Commandos through thick and thin, always overcoming incredible odds, in the tradition of the World War II movies of that era.

Only a few months later in Fantastic Four #21 (December, 1963), it was shown that Fury survived the war to become a Colonel and a C.I.A. agent. As such, Fury wore an eye patch, covering the socket of an eye he eventually lost in combat. But it was in Strange Tales #135 (August, 1965) that Fury was transformed into “Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.”, as a super-spy who was the Marvel Comics answer to James Bond. As such, Fury ran the international spy organization S.H.I.E.L.D., who battled the evil minions of Hydra, a terrorist organization created by his old World War II nemesis, Baron Von Strucker. The series is most famous for its fine run written and drawn by creator Jim Steranko, which can be found collected in trade paperback at most comic stores.

Colonel Nicholas Joseph Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. have had many series and incarnations since then. As time moved on, it seemed less credible that Fury could still be operating if he was a Sergeant in the 1940s. Marvel creators created a plot in which Fury was inoculated by something called the Infinity Formula, which has impossibly lengthened his life span. When not starring in his own on-going series or mini-series, Fury and his organization have always been frequent guest stars in various Marvel comics series, often employing heroes like Captain America and others as agents.

Fury left S.H.I.E.L.D. and went underground after an episode where he suffered the reprisals of a secret pre-emptive attack he led against Latveria, the Balkan nation led by the infamous Doctor Doom. His post as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. was filled at first by Maria Hill, and now by Tony Stark, who is famous for his role as the superhero Iron Man. Nick Fury is still operating in secret, struggling against a secret Skrull invasion, in the Secret Invasion crossover limited series being run through many of the Marvel Comics superhero comics in 2008.

The Nick Fury character has made many appearances in Marvel Comics animated series and movies. Live action appearances are less frequent. He was played by David Hasselhoff in the live action TV movie Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD (1998) and briefly by Samuel L. Jackson in the movie Iron Man (2008). There is supposedly a new Nick Fury project planned for 2010.