Joseph Cartelli (Earth-616)

Blue Shield
Name	Joseph Cartelli
Current Alias	Blue Shield
Aliases	Joey, Joe
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	Project Pegasus
Relatives	Anita Cartelli (mother), Frank Cartelli (father, deceased)
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Male
Height	6′ (1.83 m)
Weight	180 lbs (81.65 kg)
Eyes	Irises: Blue
Hair	Brown
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Genetic structure transformed by energies of force field generating belt.
Living Status	Alive
Reality	Earth-616
Place of Birth	Morris, Park, Bronx, New York
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Security Director for Project: Pegasus Formerly assistant to crime boss.
Base of Operations	Mobile
Creators and Appearances
Creators	Tom DeFalco, Frank Springer
First	Dazzler #5 (March, 1981)
First	Dazzler #5 (March, 1981)

History

File:3083-21372-1-dazzler 400.jpg

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.

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), before taking up the role again, in time to confront the fugitive Angler.

The Initiative

After the Civil War, Joseph was considered as a potential recruit for the Initiative program.

Blue Shield has since been working alongside Jackpot, and has clashed with Spider-Man.

Attributes

Power Grid

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 super-humanly 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 streetfighting, 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

• 17 appearance(s) of Joseph Cartelli (Earth-616)
• 7 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Joseph Cartelli (Earth-616)
• 2 minor appearance(s) of Joseph Cartelli (Earth-616)
• 1 mention(s) of Joseph Cartelli (Earth-616)
• 1 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Joseph Cartelli (Earth-616)
• 6 image(s) of Joseph Cartelli (Earth-616)