The Shield

A patriotic superhero operating in the Archie Comics universe, this Bronze Age incarnation of The Shield carries on the legacy associated with Joe Higgins Jr., blending classic star-spangled heroics with the distinctively offbeat world of Riverdale.

A Bronze Age patriotic hero with some genuinely unexpected company, The Shield debuted in 1983's The Mighty Crusaders #3 under the pen of Rich Buckler, and has since turned up across four decades of comics in some wonderfully eclectic corners of the Archie universe. Sharing pages with the likes of Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, and Veronica Lodge — as well as the legacy hero Joe Higgins, Jr. — this character occupies a fascinatingly offbeat niche where superheroics and small-town Riverdale energy collide. With appearances stretching all the way to 2024 and a catalog presence through Dark Horse's Archie Archives and Archie (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest, The Shield is a durable piece of comics history that rewards the curious collector willing to dig into the more surprising crossroads of the medium.