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Description
One of the first (if not THE first) patriotic-themed superheroes in American comic books, appearing almost a year and a half before Captain America. The Shield has had a very weird publication history. For whatever reason, he just never seemed to resonate as well as Steve Rogers did. Created by the company that would become Archie Comics, the first Shield... Joe Higgens ,was the recipient of a special chemical formula. A special chemical formula that once applied to specific parts of his anatomy (Sacrum, Heart, Innervation, Eyes, Lungs, Derma) and a hefty dose of X-Rays... bestowed upon him Super Strength, Nigh Invulnerability, and the ability to make Great Leaps with single bounds.

Somehow said process apparently also gave his outfit the familiar red, white and blue coloration (), and he soon became a special operative with the FBI tasked with defeating foreign agents on US soil and abroad. Sadly, he failed to make as much of an impact as Captain America, and was soon eclipsed by a certain iconic ageless teen redhead who became the company's namesake.

There have been quite a few attempts to revive the Shield even since, and numerous men have taken on the mantle. Lancelot Strong, created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in 1959, was exposed to certain superpowers-bestowing chemicals as an infant by his late scientist father... Lance was raised by a kindly farmer couple until he reached a certain age and apparently his powers began to manifest themselves. Super-strength, Flight, Near-Invulnerability, Vision Powers, and the ability to generate Lightning among others. Turns out his dead dad had also made him a costume. But since his story sounded very similar to a certain Kryptonian, DC Comics cried foul and this comic was soon ended.

Next was Bill Higgins in the 1960's during Archie Comics's 'Mighty Comics'/Red Circle imprint. Son of original Shield Joe Higgins, Bill seemed to gain his powers from a special costume rather than suspect formulas and chemicals. One of the founders of the group 'the Mighty Crusaders', he carried on his father's legacy as a hero until the imprint's eventual cancellation.

Next came Michael Barnes, the main character of the 'Legend of the Shield' series with Impact Comics, (which was also the first time I became familiar with the character, btw) the powers again seemed to come from a specially made suit.. and had a version of the Higgens family involved in it all too.

The Shield kinda laid low for a while before DC Comics licensed the Shield and other old 'Red Circle/Archie Comics' superheroes in 2009/2010, rebooting the properties as well as inserting them into the DC Universe for a time. Once again Joe Higgins is the Shield, a soldier stationed in Afghanistan who was grievously wounded in a terrorist attack. To save his life, Joe agrees to take part in secret government experiments to merge his body with a specially-made nanotech battle suit. The process grants him the familiar array of powers (Super-strength, Invulnerability, Flight and Enhanced Sensory Abilities), but at the cost of it being... more or less... permanently bonded to him. To try and permanently remove said suit would shut down his bodily functions and kill him. Sadly this series didn't last, and soon the Shield (and his fellow Red Circle characters) were cancelled.

Archie Comics, trying to expand it's properties lately, has begun a new series of it's own, The New Crusaders. An older Shield (once again Joe Higgins) is the only survivor of an attack on the Mighty Crusaders by an old foe. He soon finds himself being the sole mentor to a new generation of heroes (mostly the children of his old teammates), as he tries to help train them to better use their abilities.

SO, after this lengthy history lesson, I tried my hand at making a Shield sprite way back in 2010. Liked the design of the DC Comics reboot, so opted to make that version. Used Captain America sprites (my old reliable standby) as well as characters like the 'Unknown Soldiers' (MvC assist character) to craft this. Was quite the tough task, given all the stars on said costume.

Hope it's cool.

The Shield belongs to Archie Comics.

Description
One of the first (if not THE first) patriotic-themed superheroes in American comic books, appearing almost a year and a half before Captain America. The Shield has had a very weird publication history. For whatever reason, he just never seemed to resonate as well as Steve Rogers did. Created by the company that would become Archie Comics, the first Shield... Joe Higgens ,was the recipient of a special chemical formula. A special chemical formula that once applied to specific parts of his anatomy (Sacrum, Heart, Innervation, Eyes, Lungs, Derma) and a hefty dose of X-Rays... bestowed upon him Super Strength, Nigh Invulnerability, and the ability to make Great Leaps with single bounds.

Somehow said process apparently also gave his outfit the familiar red, white and blue coloration (), and he soon became a special operative with the FBI tasked with defeating foreign agents on US soil and abroad. Sadly, he failed to make as much of an impact as Captain America, and was soon eclipsed by a certain iconic ageless teen redhead who became the company's namesake.

There have been quite a few attempts to revive the Shield even since, and numerous men have taken on the mantle. Lancelot Strong, created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in 1959, was exposed to certain superpowers-bestowing chemicals as an infant by his late scientist father... Lance was raised by a kindly farmer couple until he reached a certain age and apparently his powers began to manifest themselves. Super-strength, Flight, Near-Invulnerability, Vision Powers, and the ability to generate Lightning among others. Turns out his dead dad had also made him a costume. But since his story sounded very similar to a certain Kryptonian, DC Comics cried foul and this comic was soon ended.

Next was Bill Higgins in the 1960's during Archie Comics's 'Mighty Comics'/Red Circle imprint. Son of original Shield Joe Higgins, Bill seemed to gain his powers from a special costume rather than suspect formulas and chemicals. One of the founders of the group 'the Mighty Crusaders', he carried on his father's legacy as a hero until the imprint's eventual cancellation.

Next came Michael Barnes, the main character of the 'Legend of the Shield' series with Impact Comics, (which was also the first time I became familiar with the character, btw) the powers again seemed to come from a specially made suit.. and had a version of the Higgens family involved in it all too.

The Shield kinda laid low for a while before DC Comics licensed the Shield and other old 'Red Circle/Archie Comics' superheroes in 2009/2010, rebooting the properties as well as inserting them into the DC Universe for a time. Once again Joe Higgins is the Shield, a soldier stationed in Afghanistan who was grievously wounded in a terrorist attack. To save his life, Joe agrees to take part in secret government experiments to merge his body with a specially-made nanotech battle suit. The process grants him the familiar array of powers (Super-strength, Invulnerability, Flight and Enhanced Sensory Abilities), but at the cost of it being... more or less... permanently bonded to him. To try and permanently remove said suit would shut down his bodily functions and kill him. Sadly this series didn't last, and soon the Shield (and his fellow Red Circle characters) were cancelled.

Archie Comics, trying to expand it's properties lately, has begun a new series of it's own, The New Crusaders. An older Shield (once again Joe Higgins) is the only survivor of an attack on the Mighty Crusaders by an old foe. He soon finds himself being the sole mentor to a new generation of heroes (mostly the children of his old teammates), as he tries to help train them to better use their abilities.

SO, after this lengthy history lesson, I tried my hand at making a Shield sprite way back in 2010. Liked the design of the DC Comics reboot, so opted to make that version. Used Captain America sprites (my old reliable standby) as well as characters like the 'Unknown Soldiers' (MvC assist character) to craft this. Was quite the tough task, given all the stars on said costume.

Hope it's cool.

The Shield belongs to Archie Comics.