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Red / Dark Circle Comics
The Shield #1
NEW ONGOING SERIES FROM DARK CIRCLE!
"Daughter of the Revolution, Part 1"
Since the dawn of the republic, whenever her country faces its blackest days, she returns: a spirit of the revolution sent to fight for what is right. But when she reappears for the first time in a generation with no memories -- not even of her own identity -- and encounters an evil force expecting her arrival, all the Shield can do is... run!
"Daughter of the Revolution, Part 1"
Since the dawn of the republic, whenever her country faces its blackest days, she returns: a spirit of the revolution sent to fight for what is right. But when she reappears for the first time in a generation with no memories -- not even of her own identity -- and encounters an evil force expecting her arrival, all the Shield can do is... run!
28 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 21, 2015
2 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Adam Christopher
46 books726 followersAdam Christopher is the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith and Master of Evil, Stranger Things: Darkness on the Edge of Town. He has also written official tie-in novels for the hit CBS television show Elementary and the award-winning Dishonored video game franchise.
Co-creator of the twenty-first-century incarnation of Archie Comics superhero The Shield, Adam has also written for the universes of Doctor Who and World of Warcraft, and is a contributor to the internationally bestselling Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View anniversary anthology series and the all-ages Star Wars Adventures comic.
Adam’s original novels include Made to Kill and The Burning Dark, among many others, and his debut novel Empire State was both a SciFi Now and Financial Times book of the year.
Co-creator of the twenty-first-century incarnation of Archie Comics superhero The Shield, Adam has also written for the universes of Doctor Who and World of Warcraft, and is a contributor to the internationally bestselling Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View anniversary anthology series and the all-ages Star Wars Adventures comic.
Adam’s original novels include Made to Kill and The Burning Dark, among many others, and his debut novel Empire State was both a SciFi Now and Financial Times book of the year.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
December 17, 2020
This story had a lot of potential. It suffers though from trying to pack in way too much into a 4 issue story. What we actually get is an outline of a cool story of an immortal Captain America clone and some kind of demon she's fighting. I feel like every 4th issue of a longer story was what was included in this collection.
May 20, 2022
The Archie/Red Circle/MLJ superheroes have always seemed to have such potential. Sadly, they've never quite seemed to catch on with fans, despite periodic attempts over the decades. My first exposure was in a couple of digests published as Archie's Superhero Spectacular, and featured Jack Kirby's stories of the Fly and the Lancelot Strong version of the Shield among other delights. And I fondly remember Red Circle Comics in the early 80's which started out with such promise, but quickly fizzled. I know there was another attempt to revive the characters in the early 90's or thereabouts, but I wasn't buying comics at the time, and the line had collapsed by the time I got back into collecting.
And now we've got Dark Circle attempting to get the characters going once again. Alas, if the Shield is the best they can do, they're in trouble. It also doesn't bode well that I've been buying my Dark Circle graphic novels from a discount/remainder chain, where they seem plentiful.
So Victoria Adams is the Shield. The book opens with her unable to remember anything of her past, but powerful interests seem to be pursuing her. All together, now: "She doesn't know who she is! Or why they're trying to kill her!" Anyway, it seems that she's older than she appears, and gained her powers in some sort of mystic ritual performed in 1776. She seemingly can't be killed, and her creation is linked to the man pursuing her, who sometimes manifests with flames and pointed ears and a goatee … clearly one of the good guys, right?
There are some fun ideas here, but overall, it's a mess. The whole thing feels like watching a movie in fast forward. It probably could have been better told at twice the length. In particular, the ending doesn't make a lot of sense. Just what *was* that bit with the phones anyway? It was intended to be a powerful, "I am Spartacus," moment, I think, but it wasn't paced–or explained–nearly well enough to pull that off.
And the last panel … oy! Such a cliche!
I remain optimistic that there will eventually be a version of this superhero universe that will catch on and live up to all of the promise inherent in the characters. At the rate that the reboots have been coming, though, I may not live to see it.
If you're a fan of the characters, you'll want to read it, but it will make you sad.
And now we've got Dark Circle attempting to get the characters going once again. Alas, if the Shield is the best they can do, they're in trouble. It also doesn't bode well that I've been buying my Dark Circle graphic novels from a discount/remainder chain, where they seem plentiful.
So Victoria Adams is the Shield. The book opens with her unable to remember anything of her past, but powerful interests seem to be pursuing her. All together, now: "She doesn't know who she is! Or why they're trying to kill her!" Anyway, it seems that she's older than she appears, and gained her powers in some sort of mystic ritual performed in 1776. She seemingly can't be killed, and her creation is linked to the man pursuing her, who sometimes manifests with flames and pointed ears and a goatee … clearly one of the good guys, right?
There are some fun ideas here, but overall, it's a mess. The whole thing feels like watching a movie in fast forward. It probably could have been better told at twice the length. In particular, the ending doesn't make a lot of sense. Just what *was* that bit with the phones anyway? It was intended to be a powerful, "I am Spartacus," moment, I think, but it wasn't paced–or explained–nearly well enough to pull that off.
And the last panel … oy! Such a cliche!
I remain optimistic that there will eventually be a version of this superhero universe that will catch on and live up to all of the promise inherent in the characters. At the rate that the reboots have been coming, though, I may not live to see it.
If you're a fan of the characters, you'll want to read it, but it will make you sad.
December 30, 2017
The Shield has some really nice art to it, it's a bit dark and grungy which fits the story and the theme, but it's nice to look at too! The opening is intriguing, and I was soon sucked in to the story. I wanted to know who she was, what had happened and who's after her and why. There where so many questions to be answered right from the start. I loved the historical aspects as we get glimpses in to her past and everything she's been involved in, it added to the intrigue too! As well as tidbits of her past with Chase which I'm also curious about! I'm curious about so many different aspects of the story to be honest!
I really loved our MC, she was quite funny, and a total badass, I loved her interactions with Nicole too and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the two of them working together and puzzling things out!
This is a fun first volume, introducing the characters and the situation. There's plenty of action, and I'm left wanting more, along with still having a fair few questions that I need answered! I'm so excited to see more of V and Nicole too, they're going to be quite the team!
I really loved our MC, she was quite funny, and a total badass, I loved her interactions with Nicole too and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the two of them working together and puzzling things out!
This is a fun first volume, introducing the characters and the situation. There's plenty of action, and I'm left wanting more, along with still having a fair few questions that I need answered! I'm so excited to see more of V and Nicole too, they're going to be quite the team!
October 31, 2018
The story is incoherent, the character motivations are unclear, and the art is inconsistent. At no time in this volume does the Shield seem heroic.
March 11, 2018
Interesting enough and well done enough to get 4 stars, but I basically still know nothing. She’s resurrected a bunch? Idk. Never read this handle before, so I really know nothing. Also the intro was like “they wanted to reboot this character with a woman! make it new make it fresh!” but they didn’t hire a female writer or artist? And there were two writers and four artists!! And they couldn’t include just *one* woman? (they DID have women do the coloring and lettering, Kelly Fitzpatrick and Rachel Deering.) But folks. Don’t make titles about us without including us in the storytelling. That applies to not only men @ women-centric stories, but also @ white folks re: poc-centric stories, cishet folks re: queer stories, etc. Let us tell our stories, ffs.
July 12, 2016
off to a good start... nice/new/interesting twist to the old Red Circle/Impact stories... we shall see where it goes...
August 18, 2021
This is a total reboot of the Shield character from Archie's Dark Circle comics. Although even that's a bit misleading, because as best I can tell it has nothing to do with the original character and isn't even set in the same universe.
This starts out very promising as we have a female patriotic warrior (her skill set is similar to the original Shield, really the only tie I could see between the two) who dies is reborn over and over. But then things start to fall apart as we find out she's been battling an immortal demon for centuries, and then for some reason I never quite understood she began working for him (maybe a spell or some type of brainwashing? I think he did create her in a way after all) and then eventually smartens up and turns on him.
The review is an oversimplification as the story itself got a little murky. I did enjoy the art, and this wasn't bad, just didn't quite reach its potential.
This starts out very promising as we have a female patriotic warrior (her skill set is similar to the original Shield, really the only tie I could see between the two) who dies is reborn over and over. But then things start to fall apart as we find out she's been battling an immortal demon for centuries, and then for some reason I never quite understood she began working for him (maybe a spell or some type of brainwashing? I think he did create her in a way after all) and then eventually smartens up and turns on him.
The review is an oversimplification as the story itself got a little murky. I did enjoy the art, and this wasn't bad, just didn't quite reach its potential.
May 7, 2024
This story was rough. It felt like the writer started a couple of different rough drafts that got mixed together and then they had to rush to wrap everything up and submit it for a deadline. Poor character development left me with no connection and no cares for any of the characters, good and bad. Skip this one.
February 12, 2018
Overall the book has good art and a steady pace...but the story jumps too far ahead without enough backstory. The fourth (last) issue is very confusing both in terms of plot and who the various male characters are.
June 12, 2020
my pb copy has the cover shown for the kindle version.
the first issue was so promising, then the rest were just winter soldier knockoffs w/foul language. embarrassed archie comics did this to the character
the first issue was so promising, then the rest were just winter soldier knockoffs w/foul language. embarrassed archie comics did this to the character
January 25, 2018
interesting premise. A cross between Black Widow and Winter Soldier, but American. The story takes a bit long to develop and glosses over other areas.
November 12, 2018
The story of one woman's quest to find herself. An excellent mixture of patriotism and occultism. Fast paced action and gripping characters.
July 7, 2021
I recall liking the art, but also that the story either didn't 'come together,' or that it ended without a conclusion...
January 18, 2022
The pacing is terrible. The story should have been expanded with more detail shown. It's rushed.
May 30, 2022
Great idea, but poorly executed. Way too much story into such short issues. Comes across choppy and full of holes.
May 10, 2019
Who is this character again? Why do we care?
I tried to care... honestly I did, but this character’s background kind of sucks!!!! Time to put this character away for like another 50 years!!!!
I tried to care... honestly I did, but this character’s background kind of sucks!!!! Time to put this character away for like another 50 years!!!!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews