Archie Comics is mostly known for making, well, Archie comics. But not only they were in the superhero business (back when it was called MJL Magazines), but two of its characters were historically significant.
And the first one wields a recognizable emblem.
Pep Comics #1 (1940)
by Harry Shorten & Irv Novick
At first glance, anyone today would probably say that The Shield is a Captain America ripoff.
But not only he precedes Steve Rogers by more than a year, he’s the very first patriotic-themed superhero EVER.
We’re not exactly off to a great start, because the entire origin of The Shield is relegated into a MASSIVE infodump.
AND IT KEEPS GOING.
Long story short: his uniform gives him super-strength and makes him indestructible, at the cost of making him look ridiculous.
Seriously: the logo is great, but the costume as a whole really sucks.
This time we’re NOT dealing with racketeers, but with the other stock plot that covers 95% of Golden Age stories: saboteurs.
Our hero, still in his civilian identity as an FBI agent, is ambushed by “Stokian spies” but manages to knock them out.
His investigation leads to a hotel, but since he’s denied access he decides to solve the situation as The Shield.
That costume has pockets? WHERE?
On second thought, I don’t want to know where he was keeping that vial.
Irv Novick’s artwork is still quite rough, but the panel where The Shield drops into the room is impressive for the time, taking up half of the page.
Although it makes me wonder how big this hotel is.
This is The Shield’s time to shine, and he seems to be really enjoying himself.
Those spies sure were polite to keep all the evidence neatly organized…
…next to the MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF EXPLOSIVES.
Listen The Shield, I don’t want to tell you how to be the first patriotic superhero, but maybe incapacitate the spies BEFORE examining every single piece of paper!?
Of course his uniform protects both The Shield and papers he’s holding (???) from the explosion.
I really didn’t expect the flagpole to break, especially in a 1940 story. If superhero comics are to be trusted, those things are supposed to be nearly indestructible!
Good thing there are enough conveniently placed objects to slow down his landing, otherwise the indestructible man would’ve… uhm… caused more damage?
Apparently the costume also gives him super-speed.
He has no trouble arresting the spy who blew up the hotel…
…on the authority of his enormous badge.
I still don’t want to know where he keeps all this stuff.
Historical significance: 17/76
First patriotic superhero. But he may also have another strange significance… more below.
Silver Age-ness: 07/04
Not really.
Does it stand the test of time? 4/USA
Not the worst Golden Age story, but quite dated. The action is fine, but the plot is paper-thin and the protagonist has absolutely zero characterization. His happyness during the fights is quite contagious, though.
How close is this to the modern character? What modern character?
The Shield proved to be quite popular, being published on Pep Comics until #65 in 1945.
In Pep Comics #11, he would get his own sidekick with “Dusty the Boy Detective”. No clue WTF that has to do with a patriotic superhero (other than Robin was popular by then).
In fact The Shield was STILL on the cover of #22…
…but he would be completely overshadowed by the other character introduced in that issue.
With Archie’s popularity, and with serious competition from various other patriotic superheroes that… let’s just be honest, were light years ahead of The Shield in terms of quality… he was utterly overshadowed.
He’s had TONS of attempted relaunches over the years; the rights to the character were sold to DC Comics. He’s had multiple relaunches, but it always seem to go nowhere.
Even turning him into a legacy character, with various people taking the mantle, didn’t stick.
I mean Joe Simon and Jack Kirby tried a relaunch in 1959 and even the creators of Captain America couldn’t make it last more than 2 issues.
Speaking of Cap, The Shield is historically significant for another reason.
Because when Captain America made his debut in 1941, his shield had a serious resemblance to the Shield.
Reportedly, after the very first Captain America story proved to be a big success, John Goldwater (head of MKL Magazines) complained about the similarity.
Allegedly he threatened to sue, which lead to Captain America changing the design of his shield in the second issue.
No lawsuit was ever filed, and it’s quite possible it is a legend.
But if it was true… The Shield is responsible for Captain America having the round shield instead of the original!!!
