The Many Shields of Captain America

Taking a short break from the reviews to introduce a few different sections of the blog, today let's have a good look at the many shields Captain America has used over the years. 

ORIGINAL SHIELD

The Sentinel of Liberty was introduced a lot earlier than most other Marvel superheroes, in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941). In fact, it was so early that Marvel wasn't Marvel yet, and was going by the name Timely Comics. The Pearl Harbor attack hadn't happened yet, but War World II was raging in Europe with many American volunteers fighting on England's side, and Timely started introducing a few superheroes for propaganda stories. Cap was created by Joe Simon and a young Jack Kirby, and had a shield from day one. Only, his original shield was triangular in shape, and only used as a defence weapon. It was bulletproof and made of steel or titanium steel (depending on the sources) but couldn't really be effectively thrown. 

Apparently, the design made Cap too similar to a character from rival company MLJ (now Archie Comics), so the shield was redesigned shortly afterwards, in Captain America Comics #2. The reason wasn't given in the story itself - a rather gruesome tale with giant humanoid monsters - but the fate of the original shield will be expanded upon decades later. Apparently, the first triangular shield was donated by Cap to T'Chaka, father of the current Black Panther T'Challa and King of Wakanda in exchange for a sample of vibranium. Steve would then use a replica for a short time, until an accident resulted in the creation of the more famous circular shield. The second triangular shield was put in Cap's footlocker and thought lost for decades, until SHIELD returned the entire trunk to him in Captain America #247. Cap would then move the footlocker and its contents to Avengers Mansion, where it would eventually be destroyed by Mister Hyde in Avengers #275, part of the famous Under Siege storyline (you know all about it, right?). Years later, a repentant Zemo would use time-travel to save the trunk and give it back to Cap, shield included. Steve would then pass the shield on to Patriot of the Young Avengers. A third shield donated by the Smithsonian Institution was briefly used for a time too before being destroyed by a Kree soldier during the "Live Kree or Die" crossover in Captain America V3 #8

The original shield already had the American stars and stripes on it, going with Cap's patriotic attire, and leather handles on the back to hold it. It didn't have any particular property and could only take so much damage before buckling. 

CLASSIC SHIELD

The classic, disc-shaped shield is the most famous. Often believed to be made of adamantium, it is in fact even more resistant as it's made of a vibranium-steel alloy. It was created by accident when an unknown catalyst influenced the reaction process and for this reason it's been impossible to replicate, with attempts to do so actually resulting in the creation of adamantium. The vibranium was donated by king T'Chaka of Wakanda and is the reason behind the shield's shock-absorbing properties. Any impact transfers only minimal energy to Cap, preventing accidental damage even when attacked with massive brute or explosive force. The shield has repeteadly withstood blows from the Hulk, Thor, Thanos and several others. When Superman wields it in Avengers/JLA #4, Thor comments "there's none like it in all the worlds". For the same reason, the shield can ricochet multiple times with minimal loss of energy, making it capable of striking multiple enemies with the same force.

It's occasionally been implied that the edge of the shield is thin enough to be sharp and capable of slashing through wood, flesh or even metal, with Steve mentioning it could cut someone's head off in Avengers #213. According to the Maestro in Hulk: Future Imperfect, if hurled with enough force it could injury or behead even the Hulk. However, Steve always grabs it in mid-air without sustaining injury, and more often than not it seems to hit like a blunt object.

The shield was originally presented to Cap by president Roosevelt, as seen in Captain America #255. The American colours aren't part of the metal but are actually painted on it, with Steve occasionally needing to repaint it from time to time. When seen without its paint on, the shield looks silver/metallic, usually shiny. Like the original shield, it has two leather straps on the back.

Despite its properties, the shield has been damaged or destroyed a number of times, usually by cosmic beings or characters accessing unusual powers, such as Thanos with the Infinity Gauntlet, Thor with the Odinforce or Doom with the Beyonder's powers. Its destruction always symbolizes a great crisis, but sooner or later the shield is always restored in one way or the other. It's also been occasionally lost (most notably in the ocean in Captain America V3 #2), stolen (for example by Doctor Octopus in #259 or Batroc in #302) or given away when others have replaced Cap. This is because the shield doesn't legally belong to Steve but to the American government, which can give to whoever it sees fit.

Several replicas of the shield have been made over the years, starting with those used by various Captain Americas replacing Steve between the end of WWII and his return in the modern day. These were all failed attempts by Timely/Marvel to reintroduce superheroes in the comic book market, but were later retconned into being three different men altogether, each using a steel replica of the shield. When Cap came back in Avengers #4, the shield was modified upon by Iron Man, adding magnets or sometimes even circuits inside, and it was destroyed in at least one instance. This was a mistake by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, later fixed by saying the destroyed shield was only a steel replica given to Cap while Tony Stark was studying the original. Likewise, the magnets were later removed off-panel because they disrupted the shield's balance. One final replica was briefly seen in Captain America V3 #3, once again made by Stark, but its balance was so different that Steve chose to use the Smithsonian replica of his original triangular shield instead.

CAPTAIN'S SHIELD(S)

In Captain America #332, the American government strips Steve of his Captain America identity, giving costume and shield to John Walker. After some soul-serching, Steve comes back with a modified black costume and the identity of the Captain. In #339, Tony Stark presents him with an adamantium shield, identical in shape to the classic one but without any paint on it, so that its surface looks silvery and reflective. Given its lack of vibranium, the new shield shouldn't have the same shock-absorbing properties of its predecessor, but Steve only uses it for a very short time anyway since he and Tony have a falling-out almost immediately afterwards. The Captain then returns the shield in #340.

In #342, the Black Panther sends Cap a shield made entirely of vibranium. Once again it keeps the usual shape, but this time it's painted similar to the original, only lacking the central star and with the blue parts replaced by black. Since the Panther didn't have the exact original specs, the new shield rebounds in a different way, but Steve quickly learns to compensate for it. This shield is eventually passed on to Walker when Steve reclaims the Captain America identity (along with the original shield) and Walker goes on to become the U.S.Agent. It's implied to be very resistant but not quite as much as the classic shield, as seen for example in Hulk: Future Imperfect where the vibranium shield is shattered and the classic is intact.

AMALGAM SHIELD

The short-living Amalgam universe is a fusion of Marvel and DC characters, as seen in the "Marvel Comics VS DC Comics" crossover. This post doesn't include alternate realities, but the Amalgam universe was canonic for a short while, so here we go. Cap was fused with Superman to create the SuperSoldier and equipped with a pentagonal red and gold shield, made of the same vibranium alloy of the original. It most likely has all the same properties, but its shape makes it unpractical to throw.

ENERGY SHIELDS

Exiled by the American government in Captain America #450, Steve was given an energy shield by his then-girlfriend Sharon Carter in #451 to help her in a mission. Described as a "charged cool-temp plasma field", it was generated by a gizmo Steve could wear around his wrist and was able to mimic vibranium to an extent. It couldn't be thrown, but it could be switched on and off. Cap only used it very briefly, and returned to his normal weapon in #453.

A modified and upgraded version of the energy shield appears in Captain America V3 #9, when the original was still lost at sea and the Smithsonian replica had been ruined. Once again provided by Sharon, it was built into Steve's glove and when activated it would look like a transparent version of the classic shield. Once again it couldn't be thrown, but it could turn into an energy staff to use as offensive weapon. Cap used it on an off for quite a while, most notably during the Ultron Unlimited storyline, before going back to the classic one once it was found again.

Another upgraded energy shield was briefly seen in Secret Avengers, keeping the transparent look. Only this time Steve could throw it as the shield would keep its consistency for a few seconds before dissipating and reforming on his arm. Its ricocheting properties appeared similar to the classic shield, but Steve never went into details so we don't know if any training was necessary.

MODERN TRIANGULAR SHIELD

Recent years haven't been kind to Cap, who has been killed, sent back in time, exiled in another dimension, aged, de-aged and now revealed to be an Hydra sleeping agent (it's a long story). With the mantle of Captain America and the classic shield now belonging to the former Falcon Sam Wilson, Steve uses a new version of the triangular shield that can deploy an energy blade on its pointy end, powerful enough to cut through the hull of a jet in seconds. This shield can also be divided in two, allowing Steve to use both halves in combat. It has a red border and keeps the white star in the middle, inside a black circle, but for the first time (excluding the adamantium shield and the first energy shield, both of which were only used for a very short time) there's no white section on it, replaced by a full blue background. 

And there's that. Tomorrow we go back to the reviews visiting one of the earliest tales of the Silver Age!