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History

When Frank Cartelli was murdered, his son Joe vowed to avenge his father by waging war on crime. Acquiring a belt (from sources as yet unrevealed) that generated a force field, Joe fashioned an identity-concealing costume and went into action as the Blue Shield. In his civilian guise, he even worked his way into the crime syndicate, eventually becoming the assistant to the crime boss. He once had to help Alison Blaire (also known as the Dazzler against the crime boss Bo Brannigan who was controlling the Terror Tank. After the battle, Alison Blaire told him she was to give a message to Joey from his mother and Joey later visited his mother in hospital.[2] He later encountered Dazzler again when he interfered with an assassination attempt made at one of her concerts. Due to their proximity, the involved mobsters mistook Dazzler's road manager Lance as being the Blue Shield's secret identity, and the Shield and Dazzler had to team-up again to rescue him.[3]

Dazzler Vol 1 5

The Blue Shield's immediate activities afterwards are unknown, but he was next seen among the multitude of super-heroes and other super-powered beings kidnapped from Earth by Death and The Grandmaster. However, he was not among those few selected to take part in the two cosmic beings' "Contest of Champions", and was returned back to his world without much further ado.[4]

Joseph later attempted to join the Avengers, alongside Mechanaut, Speedball and Gladiatrix. When Captain America, who was trying them out for the team, was called away, Hydrobase, where the Avengers were then based, was visited by the Soviet Super Soldiers, who were considering defecting to the United States. Thinking the Soviets' appearance was a test, Joseph and the other auditionees attacked them, only to quickly lose the upper hand. Before they could be beaten, Captain America intervened and stopped the fight. Joseph and the other prospective Avengers were not offered membership.

Joseph later became the head of security for Project Pegasus, and briefly resigned from the job after he failed to stop an alien threat from the Omnivore (Omnivore killed fifteen of Blue Shield's security staffers before being stopped by Quasar),[5] before taking up the role again, in time to confront the fugitive Angler.[6]

After the Civil War, Joseph was considered as a potential recruit for the Initiative program.[7] Having become a registered superhero, Blue Shield once tried to apprehend Spider-Man after spotting him while coming back from a bust. Since Spider-Man was teaming-up with registered hero Jackpot, Blue Shield had her help him stop Spider-Man. Blue Shield almost got to unmask Spider-Man, until Menace's presence distracted the heroes, giving Spider-Man a chance to slip away from Jackpot and Blue Shield's grasp.[8]

Following Hydra's sudden takeover of the United States of America under the leadership of an evil doppelganger of Captain America, Blue Shield joined the Underground, a contingent of America's remaining super heroes that fought against the new regime. Under the assumption that Captain America could have been mind-controlled, the Underground raided Doctor Faustus' institute. The mission failed, and among the assault's one hundred and sixteen casualties was Blue Shield.[9]

Attributes

Power Grid[10]
:Category:Power Grid/Fighting Skills/Experienced Fighter:Category:Power Grid/Energy Projection/Single Type: Short Range:Category:Power Grid/Durability/Bulletproof:Category:Power Grid/Speed/Superhuman:Category:Power Grid/Strength/Superhuman (800 lbs-25 ton):Category:Power Grid/Intelligence/Normal

Powers

Originally, Blue Shield possessed no superhuman abilities and was required to wear his force-belt to achieve them. However, long term exposure to the field generated by the belt has altered his genetic structure and, as a result, he no longer requires the belt to produce his powers.

Superhuman Strength: Blue Shield is superhumanly strong, approximately 2.25 times stronger than even the finest human athlete. He can lift approximately 1,800 lbs.

Superhuman Speed: Blue Shield can run and move at speeds greater than even the finest human athlete. He can achieve a maximum speed of 50 miles an hour over short distances.

Superhuman Stamina: Blue Shield's advanced musculature produces less fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of an ordinary human. He can physically exert himself at peak capacity for several hours before fatigue begins to impair him.

Superhuman Durability: Blue Shield is capable of generating a protective forcefield around his body which enables him to withstand heat, punctures, concussion and extreme temperatures. Projectiles such as knives and high caliber bullets are deflected by the field. The field can absorb the shock of impact of any force up to at least 1,000 lbs of pressure per square inch. The forcefield also filters out unwanted particles in the air giving him immunity to gases and pheremones.

Abilities

Joe is skilled at street fighting, boxing, judo, and gymnastics.

Paraphernalia

Equipment

Body armor, which may be a variation on the Guardsman armor.

Weapons

The Blue Shield's major weapon is his force-belt, which amplifies his body's natural life force (bio-energy). Originally, Blue Shield was forced to wear the belt to gain superhuman abilities. It is presumed that if he were to use the belt in combination with the powers he's gained after long-term exposure to wearing the belt in the first place, his powers would be doubled.

The force-belt also acts upon his bio-energy to generate an oscillating frequency of bio-energy that interacts with nearby atomic particles in a way to generate a self-supporting force field. This field, which radiates 1 inch from every point on the surface of his body, screens him from objects moving at any speed of light. The force field, which tends to grow blue with harmless Cherenkov radiation, is imperceptible to the touch from within, but has a warm, spongy feel from the outside.

Transportation

Various.

See Also

Links and References

References

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