Al MacKenzie is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

. Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie appeared in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published ...

TV series ''

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ''Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is an American television series created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen for ABC, based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, an ...

'', portrayed by

Henry Simmons Henry Oswald Simmons (born July 1, 1970) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Alphonso "Mack" Mackenzie in the ABC superhero drama series '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2014–2020) and Baldwin Jones in the ABC police drama s ...

. He eventually became the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Publication history

Al MacKenzie first appeared in ''

Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. ''Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D.'' is a six issue comic book miniseries published by Marvel Comics in 1988. It was written by Bob Harras and drawn by Paul Neary. Each issue is 48 pages long and are referred to as books. The series was the first time in ...

'' #3 (Aug. 1988), and was created by

Bob Harras Robert Harras (born January 11, 1959''Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; page 107) is an American comics writer and editor, who was editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics from 1995 to 2000 and editor-in-chief of DC Comics from 2010 to 2020. ...

and

Paul Neary Paul Neary (born 1949) is a British comic book artist, writer and editor. His first work was for Warren Publishing in the 1970s before working with Dez Skinn at Marvel UK as well as work for '' 2000 AD''. He later became editor-in-chief of Ma ...

. The character subsequently appears in '' Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' #1-7 (Sept. 1989-Jan. 1990). An entry for Al MacKenzie appears in issue four of the reference series '' The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89''.

Fictional character biography

Al MacKenzie was born in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. He was once the C.I.A. liaison to

S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage, special law enforcement, and counter-terrorism agency appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in ''Strange Tales'' #135 (August 1965), it often ...

He became romantically involved with Contessa Valentina Allegra di Fontaine after a while, which led to an estrangement between him and

Nick Fury Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury Sr. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, he first appeared in '' Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos' ...

. Because of this, he returned to the CIA with the Contessa. MacKenzie later joined the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization full-time, and spent considerable time as the senior liaison officer to the C.I.A. Subsequently, under unknown circumstances, MacKenzie resigned from S.H.I.E.L.D., and wrote a "tell-all" book entitled ''UnSHIELDed: an Unauthorized Insider's Look Behind the World's Most Powerful Global Spy Network'', which purportedly explained some of the history behind the organization from his point of view. Since then, he also acted as an unofficial source to

Ben Urich Benjamin "Ben" Urich is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character usually appears in comic books featuring Daredevil and Spider-Man. Urich is a chain-smoking, tough-as-nails investigative ...

, prodding Urich and

Jessica Jones Jessica Campbell Jones Cage is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos and first appeared in ''Alias'' #1 (November 2001), a ...

to attempt to expose Fury's unauthorized mission to

Latveria Latveria is a fictional country appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It is depicted within the storylines of Marvel's comic titles as an isolated European country ruled by the fictional Supreme Lord Doctor Doom, suppo ...

In other media

Mackenzie appears in the TV series ''

'', portrayed by

. His full name is Alphonso Mackenzie, but goes by the nickname "Mack". He is an African-American

mechanic A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars. Duties Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning an ...

and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considerin ...

who is recruited into the newly rebuilt S.H.I.E.L.D. by Phil Coulson after the events of the film '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier''. He is old friends with Barbara "Bobbi" Morse. He develops a close friendship with

Leo Fitz Leopold James Fitz is a fictional character that originated in the Marvel Cinematic Universe before appearing in Marvel Comics. The character, created by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen, first appeared in the pilot episode of '' ...

, and a romantic relationship with Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez. Mack later goes on to become the director of S.H.I.E.L.D due to the ill health and subsequent death of Phil Coulson. In the final episode, "What We're Fighting For", Mack continues to lead S.H.I.E.L.D. Simmons reprises his role in a six part

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

titled '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Slingshot''.

References

External links

Al MacKenzie
at Marvel Wiki {{DEFAULTSORT:MacKenzie, Al Characters created by Bob Harras Characters created by Paul Neary Comics characters introduced in 1988 Fictional Central Intelligence Agency personnel Fictional characters from Texas Fictional spymasters Male characters in comics Male characters in television Marvel Comics male superheroes Marvel Comics martial artists Marvel Comics television characters S.H.I.E.L.D. agents