Undercover Archie

SHIELD-WIZARD #1

(On Newsstands in June 1940)

It had to happen! After the Shield and the Wizard gave each other some minor assistance in a couple of issues, 

only to have the Sub-Mariner and Human Torch square off the previous month over

 in Timely's Marvel Mystery #9, MLJ's two biggest stars got there own comic!

Was this an exciting time in comics or what???

(from Shield-Wizard #1 - March 1940, artwork by Irv Novick)

The secret origin of the Shield is revealed and exactly what it is that makes him... um... 

the Shield! And what S.H.I.E.L.D. stands for...

This was pretty heady stuff in 1940!

(from Shield-Wizard #1 - March 1940, artwork by Irv Novick)

Just a hint of the gruesomeness of comics to come in the Golden Age...!

(from Shield-Wizard #1 - March 1940, artwork by Irv Novick)

Also in this issue, the origin of the ORIGINAL Wizard, also named Blaine, as a young Pilgrim...

Who liked to play with the Indians...

(from Shield-Wizard #1 - March 1940, artwork by Edd Ashe)

...and also starring Thomas Jefferson, Paul Revere, and George Washington!

(from Shield-Wizard #1 - March 1940, artwork by Edd Ashe)

And thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics (one of my favorite sites), here's March 1940's complete comic line-up!)