Unlike his flashier counterparts like Spider-Man or The Hulk, Nick Fury wasn't a character I truly understood or appreciated until I was much older. While I knew of and read the comics featuring the caucasian version of the character, it was the "Sam Jackson" incarnation from Millar & Hitch's Ultimates that hooked me.
There was some controversy when Fury's race was changed, but to me it's irrelevant. Fury's skin color has nothing to do with what he does or who he is as a character, so he could be anybody... which got me thinking. I see characters like Nick Fury or James Bond as having "mantles," like Batman. When these men become agents for their governments, their real names are erased, and they are given new code names-- this opened up the character tremendously, allowing him to span time, with the name "Nicholas Fury" given to The President's best covert operative, regardless of race or background.
My take on Fury is that he is a government agent who has taken on a legendary status, whose reputation has preceded him since Colonial times, when the first Nicholas Fury was appointed by Commander-in-Chief George Washington. My WWII Fury is relatively new to the role, replacing the previous Nick Fury, who was killed in action during a brave assault on an Axis headquarters.
1942, planning an assault on the Red Skull with Cap
AVENGERS '42: Impromptu meeting in ruined city
Recon: Known HYDRA associate MARS
I do have plans to build the caucasian version of Nick Fury at some point, but in the meantime, I'm going to work on this Fury's black trench coat, and then, knowing me, probably go in a completely different direction.
COMING UP: The Ghost Who Walks, The Man With the Hat, VILLAINS STRIKE BACK!
