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S.H.I.E.L.D. #1 (Marvel) "The Unholy Resurrection of Leonardo da Vinci" Jonathan Hickman Dustin Weaver Christina Strain Todd Klein Gerald Parel (cover) this is a book that should have been made a longtime ago, yet you still get the feeling that the timing is right nevertheless. in unveiling its true origins, S.H.I.E.L.D. finally comes out of the shadows and as a 'supporting ensemble character' in the 616 U, and becomes a much more important player as an organization. Jonathan Hickman crafts a tale that stretches as far back as the days of the pharaohs, and we see the unofficial inspiration for a global protector in Imhotep, who defeats a Brood invasion. then each generation of mankind had its own protectors, and uncannily the wise men of their times - Zhang Heng (who faces off against a Celestial), Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, to name a few. this is all revealed by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s high council to a man named Leonid, in 1953 Rome, and he's their newest recruit. however, his dad's a supervillain called the Night Machine, and was even killed once by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Starks and Richards (fathers of you-know-whos, apparently). this tells us that Leonid has some kind of powers too, that may or may not be beneficial to S.H.I.E.L.D. (damn, its hard typing that thing all the time). complemented by artwork of Dustin Weaver, Hickman's newest salvo harkens back to his Nightly News days, but with much more accessibility. it might even convert those who are allergic to history.