| abstract | - In 1966 Reggie Morgan was a third-season starting wide receiver for the Detroit Lions, when the "notorious mad scientist" Dale Dekkar kidnapped him, along with other physically-fit human subjects, for a new treatment he was testing to create an army of super-warriors. Reggie was the only one to survive the treatment. With his newly enhanced strength Morgan broke out of his restraints and defeated Dekkar and his superhuman henchmen, Vortex and the Green Knight, and delivered all three to the police. He kept the Knight's shield as a souvenir. Banned from playing football due to his now-superhuman physique, Reggie became a crime-fighter in Detroit, wearing a red bodysuit and spray-painting the Green Knight's shield the same color. (His true identity was known to the public.) While he fought gangs and organized criminals in Detroit, the Scarlet Shield is best remembered for his involvement in the civil-rights movement in the 1960s and '70s. Although generally supporting the cause, he tried to be a voice for moderation and restraint, but was often vilified by both sides, viewed as too lenient by the police, as a tool of the Establishment by blacks. Scarlet Shield also set up fan clubs in poorer parts of Detroit to try to inspire youngsters to stay in school and give back to the community. The Combination, as the organized criminals of Detroit were called at the time, hired the super-assassin Grave to kill Scarlet Shield in 1974. Rocketman of the famed hero team, the Sentinels, brought Grave to justice. The late hero's shield today hangs in the Sentinels' trophy room, and Scarlet Shield has a statue in Memorial Park.
|
