When Archie Comics spun-off their Dark Circle imprint last year, fans weren”t sure what to expect (beyond Zombie Archie, obviously). One year later, the Dark Circle stable includes the likes of THE BLACK HOOD, THE HANGMAN, THE FOX…and THE SHIELD. One of these things is not like the others. One of these things is an immortal woman who is an avatar of American justice and not a brooding dude. She”s a shield of the revolution and she”s ready to take on another generation of corruption with humor and violence.
So much violence.
Ahead of THE SHIELD #2, HitFix Harpy interview writer Adam Christopher via email about what to expect as THE SHIELD moves forward. We were even lucky enough to snag a preview of the first few pages! The issue goes on sale February 17, 2016.
HITFIX HARPY: Are the two organizations looking for the SHIELD part of the original lore? If not, what inspired that?
ADAM CHRISTOPHER: Black Seven is a pseudo-reimagining of a Golden Age villain – so named for the seven stars that appeared in the sky whenever he was reborn on Earth. In our story, Black Seven has become a secret organization rather than a single supervillain… but as we”ve already seen in issue one, their leader, Walter Chase, is keeping some pretty big secrets.
Is The SHIELD literally reincarnating into the same body or being born and growing up each time?
CHRISTOPHER: Reincarnating into the same body – she”s literally appearing on Earth as a warrior when she is needed the most. We”ve seen some of her past appearances already in issue 1, and we”ll learn more about those in the future. What makes her return different this time is that something went wrong, and she doesn”t know who she is, what she is, or why she is here. So her fight against Black Seven is a journey of self-discovery as well.
How many SHIELD”s are there, exactly? Is she alone?
CHRISTOPHER: Interesting question! The previous Shield, Joe Higgins, still exists. Somewhere. In issue 2 we see some clues. Although we”ve reimagined the character, the new Shield exists within the old universe.
Do you guys have a rough estimate of how many lives she”s lived?
CHRISTOPHER: She first appeared in 1776, during the American Revolution, and she”s appeared in most major US conflicts (domestic or international) since then. So there”s a couple of centuries and change of appearances.
What exactly is her power set? Does she even know?
CHRISTOPHER: It varies depending on the incarnation. In the past she could fly, not so much today. She”s strong, resilient, bullet proof, but not indestructible. She”ll be discovering her powers along the way.
Will we ever find out her civilian name?
CHRISTOPHER: Her name is Victoria Adams – this isn”t so much a secret, as it”s not a name from existing Shield lore, and it pops up somewhere along the line in the book. Whether that”s the name of the woman who was ritually killed in 1776 and who was reborn as the Shield is another matter…
Who do we have to kidnap to make this into an Assassin”s Creed type game?
CHRISTOPHER: Hey, we”re just waiting for the call… and, aside from a game, we really need a proper female-led superhero movie, right? Right?
Yes. Yes we do.