S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier | |
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![]() The Helicarrier displaying its cloaking ability in Avengers vs. X-Men #1 (April 2012). Art by John Romita, Jr. | |
Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
First appearance | Strange Tales #135 (August 1965) |
Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
In story information | |
Type | Airborne aircraft carrier |
Element of stories featuring | S.H.I.E.L.D. |
The Helicarrier is a fictional airborne aircraft carrier appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the aircraft first appeared in Strange Tales #135 (August 1965).[1][2]
The Helicarrier is depicted as the crucial mobile command center, forward operations platform, and signature capital ship of the fictional intelligence/defense agency S.H.I.E.L.D. It has survived multiple redesigns while rarely straying from its originally depicted role as a mobile headquarters of S.H.I.E.L.D. until recent years.
In the Marvel Universe context of the various Nick Fury/S.H.I.E.L.D. series, the original design is attributed to a co-operative effort by Tony Stark, the mutant inventor Forge, and Reed Richards. According to one account in Amazing Fantasy vol. 2, #10, the first Helicarrier was proposed by Stark Industries as a political compromise among the signatories of the treaty in response to fears that any nation hosting the Directorate's main headquarters would be subject to attack by organizations such as HYDRA, with domestic political fallout sure to follow immediately thereafter.
Over twenty Helicarriers have been built over the decades, and at least two have been in simultaneous service in the last decade on several occasions. The following have been identified by name thus far in various Marvel Universe publications:
After Iron Man replaced Maria Hill as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he designed a new class of Helicarrier whose red and gold design resembles the Iron Man Armor. Hill called it Helicarrier Gold, but Stark considered it The Helicarrier. This helicarrier was severely damaged and crashed by the Red Hulk, and subsequently commandeered by the Intelligencia (the covert operation of evil super-geniuses that employed the Red Hulk), who renamed it the "Hellcarrier".
The main S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier is subsequently disabled by a computer virus unleashed by a Skrull agent posing as Edwin Jarvis, as part of the Secret Invasion. It lands in the Bermuda Triangle. Most of the staff are revealed to be Skrulls. The craft is destroyed by Maria Hill.[4]
It is not yet known what criteria S.H.I.E.L.D. uses to name its Helicarriers.
S.H.I.E.L.D.'s replacement agency, H.A.M.M.E.R., has decommissioned the surviving Helicarriers,[5] with three of them — including the Iliad and the Argonaut — being stolen by Nick Fury.[6] H.A.M.M.E.R. subsequently commissioned at least one new carrier to Norman Osborn's specifications, which was destroyed over Broxton, Oklahoma, during the Siege of Asgard.
According to intel gathered by Livewires, 5 Helicarriers are known to have been wrecked,[7] though this data is out of date as several more have been lost since.
In the pages of Avengers Undercover, it is shown that the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier Circe has employed some necromancers as part of its personnel as seen when they jam Nico Minoru's spells.[8]
Jamie Lovett of ComicBook.com referred to the Helicarrier as one of "Mavel's most iconic vehicles."[9] George Marston of Newsarama included the Helicarrier in their "Best Superhero Headquarters And Hideouts Of All Time" list, calling it one of the "very coolest, most iconic, and ultimate best superhero headquarters in comic books."[10] Sam Scott of Looper included the Helicarrier in their "Coolest Superhero Hideouts In Marvel History" list, writing, "Jack Kirby came up with more wild ideas in his career than most of us could in 12 lifetimes, and if there was one thing he loved dreaming up, it was huge, outlandish vehicles. None of them were huger, more outlandish, or more iconic than the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier."[11] Brad Hill of Sportskeeda included the Helicarrier in their "10 Best Vehicles In Comic Books" list, saying, "Another iconic vehicle within the Marvel universe, which became even more iconic after the first Avengers movie, is the Helicarrier."[12]
Comic Book Resources ranked the Helicarrier 3rd in their "10 Coolest Vehicles In Marvel Comics" list,[13] 6th in their "10 Best Vehicles In The Marvel Universe" list,[14] 7th in their "10 Most Important Vehicles In The Marvel Universe" list,[15] and 10th in their "10 Most Iconic Superhero Hideouts In Marvel Comics" list.[16] Casey Haney of Screen Rant ranked the Helicarrier 7th in their "16 Best Superhero Vehicles" list.[17]
An alternate version of the Helicarrier appears in the epilogue of issue #25 of New Avengers, circa the year 1968. Howard Stark (father of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man), is seen giving Colonel Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. the hard sell of his newly designed Helicarrier.[18]
Alternate versions of the Helicarrier appear in the Ultimate Universe. Whereas on Marvel's Earth-616 is implied that S.H.I.E.L.D. (a United Nations Task Force) only has a handful of Helicarriers in operation, in the Ultimate Universe, S.H.I.E.L.D. is depicted as a United States-operated military organization and is shown to have dozens of carriers, some even replacing retired conventional aircraft carriers like the USS Constellation. The engines that keep the carrier aloft were designed by Tony Stark and were modular enough to be used in a space shuttle by the Ultimate Fantastic Four. These "Ultimate Universe" Helicarriers generally seem to be smaller than the Earth-616 versions, and have a more conventional aircraft carrier shape, but are far more plentiful. In Ultimate Avengers Vs New Ultimates #4, Nick Fury reveals that Hank Pym was the one who conceived and designed the Helicarriers.[19]
This version appears to be a standard seagoing aircraft carrier retrofitted with four huge rotors.