Warning: contains spoilers for Avengers Assemble #1Marvel’s Earth-616 needs all the help it can get, and one team ofAvengersis rarely enough for the domestic, global, and interstellar conflicts, which is whereCaptain America’snew “Avengers Emergency Response Squad” comes in. Debuting inAvengers Assemble#1, Steve’s new Avengers team must facethe Red Skull’s daughter, Sin, as their first mission, and in their deadly battle with Sinthea Shmidtthe iconic hero Photon unlocks the maximum power of Captain America’s shield.
Monica Rambeau’s Photon is by no means the first hero to use the Captain’s shield in an epic way, likethe Hulk using it to wreck Abomination, but Photon’s use of Steve’s Proto-Adamantium super-shield isthe perfect synthesis of her incredible power and Captain America’s iconic weapon.
Avengers Assemble#1, from writer Steve Orlando with artists Cory Smith and Oren Junior, seesCaptain America traveling to Germanyto defeat Sin,alongside Photon, Wasp, and Shang-Chi, leading to Photon using Steve’s shield in a brilliant and explosive manner.
September 11th, 2024
Variant Covers:
Anand Ramcheron, Cory Smith, Emilio Laiso, Betsy Cola
RETURN TO AVENGERS MANSION! When vampires attacked, a ragtag group of volunteer Avengers changed the tide of battle. And in the aftermath, Captain America has formed the Avengers Emergency Response Squad! Steve’s handpicked team of veterans and newcomers live and train in Avengers Mansion, and when Captain America sounds the mission horn, whoever’s on base has seconds to pack up and deploy. When the Red Skull’s daughter discovers a dangerous artifact, Cap, Wasp, Photon and Shang-Chi set out to stop her – while Hawkeye hosts a poker game for the late arrivals. Will the AVENG.E.R.S. pass their first real test? And did someone say… jackets? Spinning out of Jed MacKay’s AVENGERS, comics powerhouses Steve Orlando (SCARLET WITCH, SPIDER-MAN 2099) and Cory Smith (WOLVERINE, GHOST RIDER) join forces to expand the world of the Avengers!
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Photon Is Not The First Hero To Borrow Captain America’s Shield
But only a select few are able to successfully use it
Captain America’s legacy is practically synonymous with that of his shield, which was first crafted for Steve Rogers by Dr. Myron MacLain during World War II to be used for offense and defense. Cap’s shield was accidentally created by combining Proto-Adamantium and Wakandan Vibranium, a combination that has never been successfully done again, making the shield truly one-of-a-kind. While the shield has been broken or damaged several times - like from Thanos using his Infinity Gauntlet or an Odinforce empowered Thor punching it -the weapon is nearly indestructible and incredibly dangerous. While the shield has no magical enchantment, like Thor’s Mjolnir, stopping anyone from picking it up, it is wildly difficult to use and only a few other heroes have been able to.
Using her faster-than-light flying abilities and incredible strength, Photon literally flies around the entire planet before smashing the shield into Sin’s face, taking her down, epically stating, “Mighty shield. Lightspeed delivery… there’s always room to innovate.”
InAvengers Assemble#1 it quickly becomes clear that Steve, Wasp, Shang-Chi, and Photon can’t defeat Sin without getting Erida’s Death Mask off her head, which none have been able to do single-handedly. Unsurprisingly, Monica comes up with a plan to get the helmet off Sinthea, asking Steve, “Care to lend me your best friend?” Using her faster-than-light flying abilities and incredible strength, Photon literally flies around the entire planet before smashing the shield into Sin’s face taking her down, epically stating, “Mighty shield. Lightspeed delivery… there’s always room to innovate.“No other hero in Marvel history has so successfully combined their innate ability with Captain America’s shield to deliver such a devastating defeat, elevating the shield to a whole new level of lightspeed power.
Captain America’s Shield Ends Up With a Shocking Hero in the Comics
The legacy of Captain America will live on longer than Steve Rogers ever thought - because the shield is destined to be held by the X-Men’s Cable!
Besides Photon, a small number of other heroes have also wielded Captain America’s shield, some in incredibly unique ways. In one brutal scene, Spider-Man uses his sticky fingers to steal Steve’s shield, before slamming the shield into the Captain’s face, taking him down with his own weapon. After Steve Rogers' death (one of them), Iron Man has Hawkeye attempt to use the shield, and because of Clint’s skills as a marksman, he is able to use the shield incredibly well, withTony telling him that close to 75 S.H.I.E.L.D. agents tried and failed to use it. In one future, the X-Men warrior Cable went on a lifelong mission to retrieve the shield, so he could use it as a symbol of freedom and justice in his far future timeline. Plus, in Marvel’s crossover with DC Comics, the incredible Superman wielded Captain America’s shield alongside Mjolnir!
With new, creative team members anything is possible
With incredible new Avengers members like Night Thrasher and Julie Powers, Captain America’s Avengers Emergency Response Squad already has a uniquely different roster. It would bereally exciting to see different members of the Avengers team borrowing Steve’s shield and using them in creative ways, inspired by Monica Rambeau’s innovation in her fight against Sin. Perhaps Hawkeye will even get the chance to pick up the shield for real this time, and show off his incredible marksmanship.
Regardless of how the iconic shield ofCaptain Americais used in the future, Photon’s brilliant and violent use of the weapon in her first mission back with theAvengerswill surely go down in the history books.
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