The Calvary: S.H.I.E.L.D 50^th Anniversary #1 (November 2015) 

Writer – Jody Houser 

Artist – Luke Ross 

In this one-shot – Agent Melinda May takes four S.H.I.E.L.D trainees to a repurposed HYDRA base for a day of war games. These games take a serious turn when the group is attacked by a pack of robot wolves. Melinda and company must work together to stop the predators in this life-or-death situation. 

I used to watch ABC’s Marvel Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D religiously until I lost interest after the second or third season. One of the bright spots of the series was actress Ming Na as Melinda May. When people discuss perfect casting for superhero roles, Ming Na should be added to the list and I believe she is often overlooked. 

This comic was rescued from the dollar bin at Eide’s Entertainment a while ago and the reason I picked it out of the bin was because it featured Melinda May in a solo adventure. 

The only pet peeve I have regarding the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D comics is how they try to take these characters and fold them into the Marvel Comics’ Universe. Marvel Comics fires on all cylinders when you have a tight continuity between the comics, T.V., and movies. Marvel had a chance to try to have a conducive ebb and flow between the comics and AOS but I feel there were missed opportunities and when they tried to make it happen, it was too little, too late. In this issue, you have the S.H.I.E.L.D cadets talking about a time when May fought off a battalion of Doombots by herself. Although this may have been a rumor, can you imagine if this scene was referenced in the T.V. series at some point? It would have been a shocker for the audiences and a nice Easter egg for comic fans. 

The other missed opportunity was not having Ming Na help co-write this one shot. Since she played the character and brought her to life on screen, I’m sure she could have had some creative input into what happened during the course of the story. Marvel Comics could have also turned this one-shot into a four or five issue mini-series to help introduce Melinda May as an ongoing character in the comics moving forward. 

At any rate, this issue was worth the dollar I paid for it. It was a fun, little adventure, and an opportunity for me to wax nostalgic about AOS. I should go back and rewatch the seasons I missed especially the one featuring Ghost Rider. 

If you have made it this far, thanks for reading my review! A question for the audience – Did you watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D when it was on ABC or did you discover it via streaming? Who was your favorite character (besides Coulson) and which season was your favorite?