is a Marvel Comics fictional advanced counterterrorism and intelligence agency charged with investigating and neutralizing paranormal and superhuman threats for global security.
It was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales #135 (August 1965) and appeared throughout the publisher's entire comic book line.
The agency and its traditional executive director, Nick Fury, have also starred in their own series and miniseries sporadically since that time, most notably during a late-1960s run by writer-artist Jim Steranko.
was founded by Strategic Scientific Reserve agent Peggy Carter, along with Chester Phillips and Howard Stark in the 1950s.
In the finale of the first season of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury charges Phil Coulson with rebuilding the organization as the new director.