collins_william-shield-fullWILLIAM COLLINScollins_william-shield-face

Real Name: William "Bill" Collins

Identity/Class: Human, advanced technology user

Occupation: SHIELD (Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-enforcement Division) agent

Group Membership: SHIELD

Affiliations: Rachel

Enemies: Hate-Monger (Adolf Hitler clone), Red Skull (Johann Shmidt) and his agents

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Possibly "Bootsy leader"

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    mobile as a SHIELD agent

First Appearance: Super-Villain Team-Up I#17 (March, 1980)

Powers/Abilities: William Collins is an experienced SHIELD agent, trained in armed and unarmed combat, espionage, etc. He was skilled with an apparent laser (or other blaster, or perhaps a ballistic firerarm) pistol. He can fly a SHIELD jet, command a large squadron in air and on the ground against high-level threats, repel down a line, etc.

    Focused and commanding, Collins is also compassionate and passionate in his feelings against Nazis and other terrorists.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6'2")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 240 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Black (graying)

collins_william-shield-meetingHistory:
(Super-Villain Team-Up I#17) - William Collins was among a group of SHIELD agents who met with Shin Bet commando Rachel, who had escaped from the Isle of Exiles and was urging immediate action against to prevent the Hate-Monger and the Red Skull from creating a new Cosmic Cube. When a SHIELD executive stated that, as an international security force, SHIELD couldn't afford to move rashly and had to know the fact, Collins warned that there may be immediate danger. 

    Rachel interrupted, pulling back her hair to show an SS/paired lightning bolt scar below her right eye, carved on her face by those who had imprisoned her. She then detailed the circumstances of her capture, torture, and escape, after which she urged immediate action, unaware that she was being manipulated by the telepathic agent Ali, under control of the Hate-Monger, who wished her to cause a diversion that would allow him to become the sole controller of the Cosmic Cube.

    Later, at a SHIELD strikeforce airbase, Collins tried to contact the Avengers and Fantastic Four for back-up, but received no word from them. Desperate to move against her enemies, Rachel mockingly asked if SHIELD was too scared to go out with super heroes to help. Collins angrily retorted that as they were dealing with someone on the level of the Red Skull, they couldn't go off half-cocked. When Rachel continued, asking if only super heroes fought injustice anymore, Collins decided that her abrasive attitude could jeopardize the mission, and so he told her she was staying behind. collins_william-shield-feelscars

    Her spirit nearly broken by this, Rachel burst into tears and apologized, telling him that her anger was all that kept her going, and she begged him to let her go. Comforting her with a hug, Collins felt the welts and scars on her back from her torture, and he was enraged, recalling the facts of Buchenwald and Auschwitz. He ordered all units to scramble, and they departed immediately.

    Soon after, the SHIELD stikeforce approached within radar range of the Isle of Exiles, and Collins (or another commander, addressed the group as Bootsy squad, advising them that they were comng in fast and hard). When an immense secondary Adamantium casing closed over the island, Collins sent his Overkill Squad to the surface, and they used the Overkill Horn to blast a whole through the casing. collins_william-shield-repel

    Collins then led Rachel and a number of SHIELD agents to drop down from the hole they had created, instructing the agents to head for the main building, as the nerve center was underneath.

(Super-Villain Team-Up I#17 - BTS) - The Red Skull ordered his agents to withdraw from the slave pens and to let loose the decoys.

(Super-Villain Team-Up I#17) - Collins led Rachel and the SHIELD agents to seeming paydirt, and Rachel told Bill to cover her as she rushed and found the Red Skull (actually a decoy), whom she slew. While Collins and his men rigged the facility with explosives, Rachel found her former lover, Yousof Tov, who had been rendered virtually mindless. Urging Rachel that they had minutes to get out before the facility blew up, Collins helped her carry Yousof out. Collins led Rachel and his agents to board the SHIELD jets and depart the Isle of Exiles just before the bombs went off.

(Super-Villain Team-Up I#17 - BTS) - Unbeknownst to Collins, Rachel, or the rest of SHIELD, the Cosmic Cube, held in a level far below the areas SHIELD encountered, was a only a Cube casing. While the Hate-Monger had his consciousness trapped within the powerless casing, the Red Skull safely remained in the lower levels. 

Comments: Created by Peter Gillis, Arvell Jones, and Bruce Patterson.

    This profile was completed on 10/29/2021 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
William Collins should be distinguished from:


images: (without ads)
Super-Villain Team-Up I#17, pg. 4 (seated at meeting);
        pg. 8, panel 5 (face, best detail);
        pg. 9, panel 2-3 (feels Rachel's scars, orders strike);
        pg. 14, panel 5 (repelling);
        pg. 15, panel 7 (charging with blasting rifle);

Appearances:
Super-Villain Team-Up I#17 (March, 1980) - Peter Gillis (writer), Arvell Jones (penciler), Bruce Patterson (inker), Jim Salicrup (editor)

First posted: 09/23/2026
Last updated: 10/29/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters