Dark Circle Comics

1ST APPEARANCE: Pep Comics #1 (1940)

Real Name: Joe Higgins

Bio:  Joe was born to Tom Higgins, a chemist and U.S. agent, in the years leading up to World War II.  Tom Higgins died confronting enemy spies before he could complete his greatest work: the S.H.I.E.L.D. formula.  Joe finished school and then completed his father’s work.  A combination of the super-serum and a specialized suit of Joe’s design turned him into the Shield!  Wearing the colors of the American flag, the Shield became the F.B.I.’s top agent, answering directly to J. Edgar Hoover.