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The
Official card for members of The
Shield G-Man Club. Photo supplied by
Harry Matetsky
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The
Shield G-Man Club
Did you
Know...?, Scoop, Friday, October 11, 2002
Many people have
recognized The Shield as the first
patriotic superhero, but did you know the
Shield G-Man Club ran from 1941 until
1948? Truth, justice, patriotism and
courage were represented by the four stars
on the Shield's extraordinary uniform -
the uniform that gave him all his powers -
and his true identity, Joe Higgins, was
only known by FBI director J. Edgar
Hoover. And based on the exploits of the MLJ
Magazines hero, the Shield G-Man Club
was first advertised in Pep Comics #15.
It offered a red, white and blue badge and
membership card in exchange for a 2¢
stamp (those were the days!). Unlike other
such clubs, like U.S. Jones for example
(See Scoop, 8-23-02 for more),
which concentrated on homeland defense,
the Shield's club's theme was more geared
towards crime fighting (and it encouraged
members to write in with their law
enforcement experiences).
There were two varieties of the Shield
badge. The first, introduced with the
beginning of the club, was 1 3/4",
and the second, introduced in 1943, was
slightly smaller at 1 1/4".
In 1948, with many superhero comics on the
wane and MLJ's Archie titles on the way
up, the dissolution of the Shield G-Man
Club was announced. Pep Comics #66
carried the message that the club would be
known as the Archie Club. Members were
requested to send in their membership
cards in exchange for which they were to
receive a new Archie Club button free of
charge (New members could join for 10¢ --
you just knew the 2¢ was too good to
last!). This should help explain why the
membership cards from the Shield G-Man
Club are so hard to find and so prized by
collectors today!
Click
the images for a close-up view (when
available)
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