Blue Shield (comics)

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Blue Shield is a fictional character, a superhero in the Marvel Comics universe.

[edit] History

Joe Cartelli is the son of Frank Cartelli, who was gunned down by the mob. While it was never explicitely stated, it is believed that Joe was a cop, or at least received some police training at some point of his life. He started to infiltrate the Barrigan crime family, masquerading as a mobster. At one point, he somehow acquired a belt with micro-circuitry of unknown origin that could give him the Blue Shield powers, and used it to fight his family and various other criminals. He also shortly allied with Dazzler.

Blue Shield was next seen attempting to join the Avengers, but was then approached to become security director for Project: Pegasus, a secret research project of the US Government. At that point, the abilities once conferred by the belt were somehow natural for Joe and could produce the same effects without any visible equipment. He did a good job but resigned after he failed to protect the project from the alien lifeform called Omnivore. However, he later reaccepted the post.

[edit] Powers & Abilities

The microcircuitry-lined belt (of unknown origin and design) granted Cartelli the ability to generate a powerful force field. The field not only protected him from physical attack, but it could also filter out harmful gases and protect him from temperature extremes. The belt also heightened his metabolism, granting him increased speed.

Over time, exposure to the belt (or perhaps its unknown power source) apparently mutated Cartelli's genetic structure to the point where he no longer needed the belt to use his powers. The current status of the belt are unknown.