South Korea’s military fired 20 rounds of warning shots Thursday as North Korean soldiers approached a borderline after their comrade defected to South Korea, officials said.

1917 to 2017: 100 years of Kirby.

Join us to celebrate Jack “King” Kirby’s 100^th birthday by learning about the characters and stories he created that changed comics forever. To commemorate Jack’s centennial, we’ve sat down with the modern-day creators he influenced—and the decades of work he gifted us all.

Over the years, Jack Kirby developed quite the deserved reputation as one of the best tech-artists in comics. His inventions might not actually translate well into the real world, but they sure looked amazing on the page with all of those gears, nozzles, tubes and other details. Kirby and Stan Lee would come up with plenty of books and characters that took advantage of this talent. S.H.I.E.L.D.’s penchant for gadgets and strange villains did exactly that, especially in the story that introduced Mentallo and The Fixer back in 1966.

The tale began most in STRANGE TALES #141 and ran three issues through #142 before wrapping with #143. Nick Fury and company had finished taking out a Hydra faction; upon returning to base, the fearless leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. found himself under attack from his own people! Instead of a mutiny, though, the super spy discovered that his E.S.P. Division had been working on a device that could project thoughts. This set off a mental alarm for a man known as Mentallo, a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who had incredible mind powers himself. He intended to take over the organization with his abilities, but failed.

To continue down that road, though, Mentallo decided to look for help. He used his powers to watch from a safe distance as The Fixer used a bed frame, a stool, a sheet, and plenty of stolen parts to break out of prison. Not long after the convict’s escape, the telepathic rogue used his mind-reading abilities to break into the former’s undersea base. Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. actually witnessed this for themselves thanks to another development from the E.S.P. folks. However, since they couldn’t nail down the location, they simply knew they’d have a problem with these two in the not too distant future.

Strange Tales (1951) #141

• Published: February 10, 1966
• Added to Marvel Unlimited: April 28, 2007
• Penciller: Steve Ditko
• Cover Artist: Jack Kirby

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Mentallo and Fixer fulfilled that prediction as they drove the Thru-The-Ground Tank on their way towards S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ. However, Fury and company had plenty of their own tricks to at least slow down their new enemies, like super-thick walls, moving barriers and plenty of stun-cannons. However, none of that truly worked against the villainous duo, who figured out ways through all of those defenses! The bad guys even maneuvered their way against Nick’s squad so that they avoided attack and also paralyzed them with Neutrino Shells. Even worse? They used an Electronic Helmet to take control of Fury’s body!

While the new leaders of S.H.I.E.L.D. figured out how to keep the power they’d stolen, Tony Stark worked with the rest of the organization to overthrow them. At the same time, Fixer and Mentallo attached Fury to an H-Bomb built with help from Them—later identified as A.I.M.—before taking the mask off. With his mind his own once again, Nick sent out a signal to the E.S.P. division who then alerted the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. to take action. A pair of agents wearing Scrambler Helmets snuck up on Mentallo and Fixer, and blasted them with pure hate waves. With the room stunned by the attack—including Fury—Stark had enough time to get the Neuturalizer in place to disengage the atomic bomb.

As their main distraction disintegrated on the table, Fixer and Mentallo began fighting with one another and soon made a break for it, though S.H.I.E.L.D. agents anticipated their moves and captured the troublemakers!

Stay tuned to Marvel.com for more throughout Kirby Month and beyond! And join the conversation on all of our social channels with the hashtag #Kirby100.

Despite her reputation for being a bit taciturn, Jessica Jones has repeatedly proven herself to be a powerful partner when facing down super villains, finding missing persons, or upending criminal conspiracies.

On January 17, writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist David Marquez’s DEFENDERS #9 sees Jones set out to prove her abilities as a teammate once again. This time, as the last Defender standing, she reaches out to a few friends to help ensure a new Kingpin of Crime doesn’t take control of New York City.

As a reminder of her readiness for the task, we put together a list of her most memorable relationships.

Spider-Woman
Jessica Jones and Jessica Drew hit it off from the start. When they first encountered each other, they’d both largely given up the costumed life and embraced work in private investigation—Jones in New York, Drew in San Francisco. Both used dark humor to cope with their difficult pasts and both developed distastes for the super communities they’d left behind. Despite their reluctance to rejoin the fray, they couldn’t stand to see a member of that community—Mattie Franklin, A.K.A. the newest Spider-Woman—taken advantage of by a deceptive Mutant Growth Hormone ring, so they combined their efforts to rescue her from its evil leader.

Daredevil
Whether teaming up with the Man Without Fear or the lawyer named Matt Murdock, Jones has worked with Daredevil several times over the years, the two developing a natural ease with one another despite having very different outlooks on the world. The duo has joined forces to take down Typhoid Mary, get Jones out of legal trouble, and maintain Hornhead’s secret identity when the FBI, Silke, and Kingpin sought to expose him to the world.

Captain Marvel
Back when they first met—teaming up to punch Doctor Octopus right in the goggles—Carol Danvers still called herself Ms. Marvel and Jones still went by Jewel. Over the years, they’ve supported each other professionally and personally. Danvers literally saved Jones’s life after the latter attacked the Avengers while under the sway of Purple Man. While certain recent events have made for a rocky road in this friendship, these two heroes have endured so much in the past, their reconciliation seems inevitable.

The Daily Bugle
A rocky team-up, to be certain, but still one worth noting. Jessica and J. Jonah Jameson, in particular, share an antagonistic—yet oddly respectful—connection after she saved his foster daughter, Mattie Franklin, and helped expose Norman Osborn as The Green Goblin. At the same time, however, she used Jameson’s funds to feed the homeless while pretending to investigate Spider-Man like she’d been hired to do in the first place.

Hellcat
When Hedy Wolfe hired Jones to dig up dirt on her nemesis Patsy Walker, Jessica refused to cooperate and instead let the would-be mark in on the plan. Together, Hellcat and Jones, with an assist from She-Hulk, derailed Wolfe’s plans to blackmail and extort the former Avenger.

The Young Avengers
Functioning in more of a loose mentor role than a true team-up, Jones offered the teen heroes advice, stood up for them against Captain America, and defended them when it appeared that Scarlet Witch, Magneto, and Dr. Doom might destroy the adolescent team.

Hawkeye
Kate Bishop moved to Los Angeles to try her hand as a private investigator—and in the Marvel Universe, that means a collaboration with Jessica Jones must be nigh. And sure enough, Bishop arrived in her office one evening to find Jones  waiting for her. Over the next several days, the pair went on a wild ride together, getting mixed up with a dragon, newly transformed Inhumans, a missing woman, and a movie star.

Luke Cage
One half of the greatest team-up of Jessica’s life, Luke Cage first met Jones during the brief period of time when she called herself Knightress. After utilizing their complimentary skills and personalities to break up a crime ring headed by The Owl, their collaboration grew into a friendship. In time, Jones allowed herself to trust Luke and the two began a committed relationship. Since then, they’ve helped each other take down The Purple Man, survived multiple cataclysmic events, and, most importantly, started a family together with their daughter Danielle.

Witness the latest JJ team-ups in DEFENDERS #9, by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist David Marquez, on January 17!

When you have a team rich with strong characters like the X-Men Gold roster, it can be a challenge to make sure everyone gets the spotlight. For writer Marc Guggenheim, Storm has become a character he felt he had not quite given enough big moments to. He set out to change all that this January 17 with X-MEN: GOLD #20.

We found him studying the barometric pressure, but thankfully spared a moment or two to rain down answers upon us.

Marvel.com: When we spoke at the start of the “Negative Zone War,” one aspect of personal disappointment you brought up was not really having given Storm a big moment in the run yet. We were focused on other things so I didn’t really explore that with you, but for you as a writer, what makes a big signature moment for the character? How do you “know” when you’ve achieved that?

Marc Guggenheim: Well, I don’t think I ever really know when I’ve achieved anything. For the most part, I leave that up to the readers to decide. That said, GOLD #20 has a couple of nice moments where Ororo has to really dig down deep and demonstrate just how tough she is. She has real steel inside of her and it’s nice to be able to write to it. In #20, she channels her inner Wolverine to—I hope—great effect.

Marvel.com: It was also clear from that brief moment that you have a lot of affection for Storm as a character. What has made her so a great and enduring, in your opinion? Why did you need her on your team?

Marc Guggenheim: Everyone’s mileage will vary, but for me, it’s all about tapping into that inner strength I was talking about. Ororo has been through so, so much over the years. There’s an argument to be made that she’s been through more [expletive] than any other X-Man  She’s lost her powers. She’s regained her powers. She’s been the team leader a few times. She’s had to fight for that position. She’s been married. She’s been divorced. She’s been worshipped as a god and lived in squalor as a child. She has a really, really rich backstory and history.

I guess that’s why I always—always—feel like I’m not doing that character justice. There’s so much to play with there and I feel like I’m always falling short.

There’s a storyline that was part of my original pitch for GOLD, which I still haven’t had the opportunity to do yet. But fingers crossed, someday.

X-Men: Gold #20 cover by Ken Lashley

Marvel.com: At the time of the above-mentioned statement, you noted that those moments would be coming for Storm around #20 and #21. Obviously, without spoiling things, what made the Negative Zone War or just the state of the team at this juncture the right time for Storm to really spring to the forefront?

Marc Guggenheim: Without spoiling things, the team ends up on an alien world in #20 [that] has a weather system that she can’t control. That impediment—and the team’s dire circumstances—force her to rely on that inner strength I’ve been talking about rather than her powers. It really becomes up to Ororo to get the team out of their predicament.

Marvel.com: How did artist Lan Medina help you to realize your vision of an X-Team that has achieved victory but might have expended everything they had left in their tank to do so?

Marc Guggenheim: Simply put: Wide shots. Lan did a great job at very key moments of keeping “the camera” really wide so that we’re constantly selling the scope of this alien world.  For the story to work—for the stakes to maintain—the planet which is trying to kill the X-Men has to be wide and vast and without any resources [the Gold team] can use to their advantage.  The look of the planet is critical to the story I was telling and Lan pulls it off wonderfully.

Marvel.com: To focus on the wider team, the plot description implies their victory maybe a Pyrrhic one. Given what they have gone through as of late and the brutality of this latest storyline, where are they looking for strength? Who or what might give them the mental and physical last push to “survive” their win in the Negative Zone?

Marc Guggenheim: One of my all-time favorite X-Men stories—believe it or not—was X-MEN UNLIMITED #1, written by Scott Lobdell. I wanted to place the X-Men in a similar position, where the plot is brutally simplistic: survive. The result is one of my favorite issues of GOLD so far—but, like I said, I leave it up to the readers to decide.

Marc Guggenheim and Lan Medina’s X-MEN: GOLD #20 storms your way on January 17!