Journey back to the Golden Age of Comics– a period that defined and shaped the course of comic books for years to come!  It was a time of historical firsts… the first indestructible hero… the first female hero… the first sidekick… the first organized team of heroes.  Between 1938 and 1942 alone, dozens of super-powered heroes and masked vigilantes debuted, many of whom are still being published today.

Among these pioneering heroes was the first ever super-patriot– a hero with great power, strength, and courage who donned the colors of the American flag, lived for democracy and protected the world from the foes of freedom.  No, it’s not who you think… it’s The Shield!  Leaping from the pages of PEP COMICS #1 in January 1940, The Shield bested his better-known counterpart by over a year.

Copies of The Shield’s early adventures routinely command high prices among collectors, but now you can relive the thrilling adventures of this historic character in a special edition that reprints his first eight stories from PEP and SHIELD-WIZARD COMICS, including his first appearance and origin!  By popular demand, Archie Comics is proud to present THE SHIELD: AMERICA’S 1st PATRIOTIC COMIC BOOK HERO!

In this thrilling edition, you’ll meet Joe Higgins, a G-Man sworn to avenge and uphold his father’s memory by crushing the evil forces that threaten democracy!

* Behold J. Edgar Hoover commissioning The Shield to service!
* Learn the secret behind the S.H.I.E.L.D formula!
* Witness the transformation of Joe Higgins into a super-powered hero!
* Thrill to the excitement as The Shield vanquishes mankind’s enemies!

Painstakingly restored and faithfully colored, this action-packed edition reprints eight classic stories and the covers of the comics they originally appeared in, along with a foreword by Golden Age comics’ historian, Robert M. Overstreet and a cover by Archie fan-favorite, Rex Lindsey.

THE SHIELD: AMERICA’S 1st PATRIOTIC COMIC BOOK HERO, 96-page, full color paperback format, $12.95. Ships August 28th