Who Is Blue Shield? Origin, Powers and Key Facts

Blue Shield is a Marvel comic book character, the alter ego of Joseph Cartelli, with over 51 comic issue appearances. Blue Shield is crimefighter who sought to destroy the mob from within.

Who is Blue Shield?

Origin When Joe Cartelli was a boy, he and his father Frank witnessed mobsters attempt to murder rival gangster Bo Barrigan, and when Frank tried to assist Barrigan, the hitmen gunned him down. Barrigan felt responsible for Frank's death, and Joe, having vowed to destroy the mob, kept in touch with the crimelord, eventually joining his organization, secretly working to bring it down from within. Joe obtained a belt that generated a force-field, and donned an identity-concealing outfit to become "the Blue Shield." Creation Blue Shield was created by Tom DeFalco and Frank Springer , and debuted in Dazzler #5. Character Evolution Joe plays the role of a criminal for several years while he rises up through the ranks of Barrigan's organization, even keeping his true motives secret from his widowed mother, Anita, who becomes estranged from her son because she believes he has become a criminal just like those who had killed her husband. Meanwhile Blue Shield becomes a major thorn in Barrigan's side, until he eventually steals the army's new Terror Tank as a means of stopping the bulletproof vigilante. While in the hospital dying from a broken heart, Anita shares a room with the superpower.

Key facts

Blue Shield is of human origin and first appeared in "Tell Joey I Love Him!". The character is published by Marvel. With 51 recorded issue appearances, Blue Shield ranks among the most featured characters in comics.