#Review: Strange Tales by ChineseSpyware (1965 comics)
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Strange Tales (1951) #138 [A Story] - "Sometimes the Good Guys Lose!"
These early Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. stories are strange, illogical, and increasingly hard to defend on a technical level, and yet, they’re oddly compelling. They feel like they exist in a sealed off narrative bubble, adjacent to but not fully integrated with the Marvel Universe. They are part of continuity, and it makes sense that they’re included in the reading order, but tonally and structurally they operate by their own heightened rules. Once you accept that artificiality, the fun starts to click.
There’s no denying the silliness. Logic frequently collapses under the weight of spectacle: Nick Fury’s method of locating a Hydra base is borderline absurd, and the world’s reaction to a bomb detonated in space strains credibility to the point of parody. The soap-opera melodrama layered onto the villains doesn’t help, often undercutting tension instead of enhancing it.
Still, when the book leans into its core conflict, Hydra versus S.H.I.E.L.D., it genuinely works. Issue #138, with Hydra’s master plan finally in motion, delivers pulpy momentum and sharp iconography. The ambush at Tony Stark’s factory and Fury’s capture only reinforce how confident the series has become in its own identity.
Despite its flaws, this has quietly become one of my favorite Silver Age reads, messy, ridiculous, and entertaining.
Final verdict: 6.62/10.
@pearl cape @sacred badger
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Strange Tales (1951) #139 [A Story] - "The Brave Die Hard!"
Things are starting to go a little off the rails here, but not without some charm. This chapter is chaotic, overcrowded, and frequently silly, yet it remains oddly entertaining. The story throws a lot at the reader in rapid succession: Fury escapes captivity, Hydra implodes from internal betrayal, the villain’s daughter turns on her father, SHIELD storms the base, and an avalanche of new gadgets and concepts arrive almost page by page.
The strongest element is the tech. The gadgetry is genuinely fun, evoking a James Bond–era Q-Branch energy that fits Nick Fury surprisingly well. There’s pleasure in simply watching the toys get rolled out, even if their narrative justification is thin. The abrupt switch from Agent Q to Agent G is less successful, minimally explained and easy to miss, but it’s not enough to derail the issue entirely.
Tonally, this is still very Silver Age excess. Logic bends, emotional beats are rushed, and the villain drama flirts with soap opera. But unlike weaker entries, the sheer volume of action keeps things moving. Fury’s escape has momentum, the SHIELD raid is satisfying, and the Kirby/Sinnott art does a lot of heavy lifting to keep the chaos readable and energetic.
This isn’t a tight or elegant issue, but it is lively. Messy fun, buoyed by spectacle and pace, even when the ideas threaten to collapse under their own weight.
Final verdict: 6.59/10.
@pearl cape @sacred badger
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Strange Tales (1951) #140 [A Story] - "The End of HYDRA"
This finale should feel seismic, but instead it lands as a competent, oddly muted wrap up. After so much buildup and so many moving parts, the conclusion struggles to sell its own importance. The battlefield is crowded to the point of dilution, multiple factions, endless skirmishes, and the baffling reveal that skateboard squadrons A and B are meant to be the secret weapon capable of toppling S.H.I.E.L.D.. It’s hard to take that seriously, especially when the story loudly promises the “end” of Hydra and then barely pretends it’s permanent.
Structurally, this is mostly one long action sequence split across parallel fronts. Fury fights his way out as his agents fight their way in, while the villain focuses on escape rather than consequence. It’s readable and occasionally exciting, but rarely surprising. The big reveal near the end works well enough, even if you see it coming, and provides the issue with its strongest narrative beat.
One genuinely strange but enjoyable element is Tony Stark stepping in heroically as himself rather than Iron Man. It’s a reminder of the Silver Age’s looser identity rules, and it injects a bit of novelty into an otherwise straightforward finale.
Visually, the art remains strong, but the dialogue often feels disconnected from the action, and the abrupt ending robs the arc of real weight. A solid close on paper, just not the catharsis it promised.
Final verdict: 6.57/10.
@pearl cape @sacred badger
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Strange Tales (1951) #141 [A Story] -"Operation: Brain Blast!"
This issue leaves me genuinely conflicted, functioning very clearly as a story split down the middle. The opening chapters finally deal with the aftermath of the long running Hydra arc, though not in a way that feels especially cathartic. The leader’s ironic demise is a clever bit of writing, and Nick Fury allowing the man’s daughter to escape adds an unexpectedly humane note. I also appreciated seeing what happens after a villain is defeated, those quieter consequences are rarely explored and work in the issue’s favor.
That said, the wrap up still feels rushed. After so many issues of buildup, the lack of true closure is frustrating, and the abrupt pivot into a brand new plot makes the ending feel incomplete rather than transitional. Fury barely has time to breathe before S.H.I.E.L.D. introduces the ESP Division’s “mind bomb,” a concept that’s undeniably silly and scientifically laughable.
The second half does recover some momentum. The return of Mentallo and the introduction of Fixer are genuinely intriguing, especially knowing the Fixer’s future significance. His prison escape and improvised tech feel like the start of a scrappy, MacGyver style villain, even if the invention itself is nonsense.
Strong art holds everything together, but structurally this issue feels unsatisfied and overstuffed, interesting ideas, uneven execution.
Final verdict: 6.24/10.
@pearl cape @sacred badger
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Strange Tales (1951) #142 [A Story] - "Who Strikes at --- S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Strange Tales. #142 continues the book’s steady slide into full blown spy tech spectacle, and while it doesn’t fully land, it’s still oddly more engaging than some of Marvel’s flashier superhero fare of the same period. The James Bond influence is no longer subtle, it’s baked directly into the structure, tone, and pacing. SHIELD is once again under siege, this time by Mentallo and Fixer, a pairing that works better in concept than execution.
Fixer, in particular, is a welcome presence: more grounded and interesting than Mentallo, whose psychic menace feels thin despite the story hinging on it. The villains tear through SHIELD’s defenses with ease, culminating in a genuinely effective cliffhanger where Nick Fury is brainwashed, arguably the issue’s strongest moment. Unfortunately, the road there is cluttered with page after page of flashy but meaningless gadgets, introduced with great fanfare and discarded just as quickly.
Narratively, there isn’t much depth. The story alternates between attack and defense without adding new emotional or thematic layers. Still, the momentum is solid, and Jack Kirby’s dynamic art (with DiMeo) keeps the book visually engaging even when the plot stalls.
Disposable, energetic, and mildly fun, but ultimately hollow.
Final verdict: 5.86/10.
@pearl cape @sacred badger
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Strange Tales #143 is a frustrating mixed bag, and a stark reminder that even Marvel’s so called golden stretch could produce some truly awkward material. Howard Purcell only had a handful of chances to acclimate to the Marvel house style, and it shows. Despite Jack Kirby supplying breakdowns, the finished art often feels stiff, uneven, and strangely primitive, fascinating from a historical perspective, but rough in execution.
Story wise, this is another captivity and rescue plot, with Fury sidelined while SHIELD stages the breakout. The narrative constantly cuts between Fury exchanging grim one liners with his captors and SHIELD agents maneuvering outside, but there’s very little tension or momentum. Concepts like the ESP division feel undercooked and borderline silly, making it hard to take the threat seriously.
That said, there are redeeming elements. Fury’s stubborn grit is intact, and there’s a nice sense of payoff for long running threads, psi tech, SHIELD bureaucracy, and even a subtle nod to Tony Stark’s heart condition for readers paying attention. Some will even find Purcell’s pencils “modern” compared to earlier Silver Age stiffness.
Still, competence doesn’t equal excitement. This is more interesting as a case study than as a story.
Final verdict: 5.97/10.
@pearl cape @sacred badger