Adult and sophisticated yarn with a morose Fury coming to terms with his past in a perfect sequel to the Steranko tales of the 60's. Wolverine is perfectly characterized here; one sequence, in particular, standing out as the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents watch and discuss Wolverine donning the mask, a scene that transcends the material and single-handedly justifies the "cape & spandex" reality of comic book heroes. The story is fast-paced and exciting with plenty of twists. The art by Howard Chaykin is good stuff; the flashback sequences are fantastic. Continuity-wise the novel poses some hiccups as it dates after NF Vs S.H.I.E.L.D. (as is demonstrated by the comment Dum Dum makes about Nick and Val) but Dum Dum suddenly has two kids and his wife is still alive, contradicting the first issue of the second S.H.I.E.L.D. title. Also, the story is obviously meant to fit into the "old" S.H.I.E.L.D. rather than the second incarnation with Kate, Pierce, and Nina; both the long gestation for this project probably has allotted to do with that. The revelation of Fury's son as Scorpio is certainly a remarkable bit of plotting and serves Fury well in terms of character development