Exclusive Marvel preview: Agents May and Mockingbird team up in S.H.I.E.L.D. #8

Agents Melinda May and Bobbi “Mockingbird” Morse were two of the strongest parts of this last season of Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. And next week they receive the spotlight in the TV show’s comic-book tie-in, partnering to stop a villain that is abducting kids off the street, modifying their bodies, and selling them as slaves. The most engaging thing about the S.H.I.E.L.D. ongoing is that it teams writer Mark Waid with a different art team for every issue, showing how he adjusts his scripts depending on the strengths of his artists and spotlighting the variety of visual styles currently available at Marvel Comics.

For next week’s issue #8, Waid is joined by penciler Paco Medina, inker Juan Vlasco, and colorist David Curiel, and their recent art on Nova and The Legendary Star-Lord suggests that there will be a whole lot of action in this story as May and Mockingbird join forces and kick ass. This team has a sleek aesthetic that is very much in line with the look of the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series, and while Medina’s dynamic action composition doesn’t get any play in this preview, it will surely come into play based on the issue’s bone-crunching cover by Julian Totino Todesco.