Still mourning the loss of his dear friend, Joe Higgins has taken refuge at his mother's house. Before he can take the fight to his father, he'll have to rest up. But that may be difficult with a gang of street thugs looking for trouble in the neighborhood…

The epic story of America’s greatest hero begins here! In an effort to revive a vanished hero, the US Military has created the ultimate weapon: the SHIELD armor! A super-resilient, bulletproof suit worn by Sgt. Joe Higgins, Project: Shield seems like the perfect ace in the hole. Little do Joe and his father Gen. Marion Higgins know, there is someone—or someTHING—who wants the power of the suit, too...

When Joe Higgins starts having Shield-related nightmares, Lt. Devon Hall does some snooping on Higgins’ project to help ease his friend's mind. What he finds is chilling--the Shield's next mission is a set-up!

A New Year’s Eve gala turns into a nightmare when a failed magician-turned-maciac unleashes his horrible genetic experiments on innocent partygoers. Black Hood is on the scene, but he’s unarmed—and there’s a hostage involved! Nate must think on his feet, or a lot of innocent people won’t live to see the new year...

The title of Patriarch is a long and storied one in Seaside City’s history. By taking a walk through the past, will we discover who the Patriarch is—as well as who the Black Hood fighting him is?! Nate is all but finished with the hero business—until he finds out the new Black Hood has kidnapped Jeff’s father!

Joe Higgins and Bert have come to Washington, D.C. to look for something--ANYTHING--that can bring down General Higgins. That will have to wait, though--The Weapon has his sights set on Senator Beal, and he's ready to pull the trigger! Who is this mysterious hitman, and what does he know about Project: Shield?

Giles “Hit” Coffee is The Patriarch’s right-hand man in the mafia crime ring. So why does he have to get his hands dirty on an errand run? His big ego may cause a problem for him as he hits his boiling point… Meanwhile, Black Hood investigates a counterfeit bond operation. It seems like an easy takedown, but Nate should know by now that nothing’s ever easy in Seaside City...

Nate Cray’s mother is in critical condition and Dr. Harvey has escaped custody! Nate must make a difficult choice—to stay by his ailing mother’s side or to stop Harvey’s insane plans. But Dr. Harvey is not all he seems to be and has some lethal tricks up his sleeve...

While avoiding the desperate searching of General Higgins, Joe stumbles upon Dusty, former assistant to the original Shield! There’s comfort in having an ally, but the streets are still dangerous, and Dusty has not been well in his old age. How long will the peace—and Dusty—last?

Finally—we learn the history behind the Black Hood itself! Is there any truth to the claims Nate has made about its power? There must be, or The Web wouldn’t have snuck into Nate’s house…

Black Hood is locked in battle with a wave of slime—but it seems to be more than that! Will he be able to stop Pirate Blue at the same time? Maybe if the newly-born Fox lends his help…

Has The Patriarch of the mob really called off its bounty on The Black Hood? Hit Coffee makes it sound like The Hood is actually working WITH the mob now, but that couldn’t be right… Could it..?