| Sarge Steel | |
|---|---|
 Sarge Steel as depicted inSarge Steel, Private Detective #1 (December 1964). Art byDick Giordano. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Charlton Comics, nowDC Comics |
| First appearance | Sarge Steel #1 (December 1964) |
| Created by | Pat Masulli |
| In-story information | |
| Team affiliations | CBI L.A.W. Checkmate Department of Metahuman Affairs |
| Abilities | Prosthetic metallic left hand. |
Sarge Steel is adetective/spy character published byCharlton Comics during the 1960s. As he was published during the time of Charlton'sAction Heroes line of superheroes, and had loose ties to some, he is sometimes included with that group. He was purchased byDC Comics along with the other "Action Heroes".
Sarge (short for "Sargent" as in "Sargent Shriver") Steel has a mechanical left hand. AsDick Giordano stated in the editorial page ofL.A.W. #4 he was created byPat Masulli, and later written and drawn byJoe Gill and artistDick Giordano. Other artists, including the team of Bill Montes and Ernie Bache, would later take over.
Sarge Steel first appeared in his own title,Sarge Steel #1 (December 1964).[1] His title would last until #8, at which point it was retitledSecret Agent (Gold Key Comics also published a comic with the same title in 1967 based upon the television series,Danger Man), and cancelled with #10 (October, 1967). After that, his series continued inJudomaster #91-98 (the stories in #91-96 fit in the year-long hiatus between issues #9 & #10, as all his stories are listed as 'File #xxx'). Sarge also appeared in short spots on self-defense inFightin' 5 #34 and 37 and in the Sentinels stories inPeter Cannon, Thunderbolt #57 and 58 as theirCIA contact.
Sarge was originally ahardboiled private eye (in fact, in the bookThe Fine Art of Murder,Max Allan Collins notes that Steel was the first fictional private eye to be aVietnam veteran),[2][3] who somehow also got involved in "spy cases" and became, bySarge Steel #6, a "special agent".
Sarge Steel's enemies included characters like The Lynx, Ivan Crunch, Smiling Skull (a Nazi villain who foughtJudomaster during World War II), Werner Von Wess, Mr. Ize, and others.
In the DC Comics continuity, Sarge is put in charge of the United States' governmental agencies involved with "superhuman" activities for many years. He was apparently the head of a small agency known as theCBI (Central Bureau of Intelligence), which also includedKing Faraday and his agentsRichard Dragon andBen Turner. Sarge is later depicted as a Federal Cabinet Secretary ofMetahuman Affairs, giving him control of agencies such as theSuicide Squad.[4]
Around this time, Sarge is sent to investigate the country ofBialya. The entire place had re-opened, now a trendy vacation spot, after a months-long media blackout. Sarge encountersCaptain Atom,Major Force, and the secondRocket Red as various attacks rattle the country.[5]
Around this time,Mister Mind is handed over to Steel's custody. Mind takes control of Steel, hiding inside his artificial hand to escape the detection of superhumans. Controlling Steel, Mind causes the nuclear devastation of the midwest American city of Fairfield. Though the bomb's detonation is contained to the limits of the town, thousands of civilians are killed.
Later,Lex Luthor would be elected as President. Luthor appointsAmanda Waller as his successor until Luthor was re-exposed as a criminal in the events ofSuperman/Batman: Public Enemies.[6]
Steel has since resumed his old Cabinet posting as a member of the Horne Administration. He is in charge ofNemesis andDiana Prince as part of the Department of Metahuman Affairs. During his time at that post the villainCirce kidnapped Steel and had him replaced with her shape-shifting henchmanEveryman. Using Steel's pull at the agency, Circe and Everyman helped bring about the events ofAmazons Attack!.[7][8]
Steel is freed, but is left suspicious over Wonder Woman's motives, questioning she may still serve theAmazons' cause, to him perceived as harmful and dangerous. He correctly guesses the love story budding between Nemesis and Wonder Woman, and so decides to keep Diana and Tresser in constant surveillance.
Steel is seen composing an essay accusing prominent female historical figures of being Amazonian spies. It is then revealed that since his kidnapping by Circe thatDoctor Psycho has been tampering with his mind, enhancing his suspicious nature. Psycho manages to switch bodies with Sarge Steel. He is then brainwashed into being a jester in a cage fight that Wonder Woman andBlack Canary infiltrates. Diana uses her Lasso of Truth on him to remove the influence of mind control. Now remembering everything and understandably furious, he helps Wonder Woman and Black Canary capture Psycho, who is behind the illegal cage battles, to switch their bodies back and bring him to justice.
In 2011, "The New 52" rebooted the DC universe. Sarge Steel is re-introduced in theOMAC comic.[9] Sarge Steel is an agent of Checkmate, and is put in charge of investigating the OMAC attacks atProject Cadmus when the sentient satellite Brother Eye goes rogue.[10]Maxwell Lord sends him as the leader of a team of elite agents including Maribel and Little Knipper to hunt down OMAC, but their attempt to capture him fails.[11] For this failure, Lord takes him off the assignment and sends Mokkari to take down OMAC instead. Sarge voices his displeasure when they call inS.H.A.D.E. agentFrankenstein to do the job. In Checkmate's last battle against Brother Eye, Steel is called in again to lead his team against OMAC. They fight through Checkmate Headquarters inMount Rushmore and Steel loses his hand in the fight.[12]
In "Titans: Beast World", Sarge Steel partakes inAmanda Waller's efforts to kill the transformedBeast Boy and his spores by havingChunk self-destruct inside him.[13] After an Amazon warrior murders a group of men in a pool hall inBillings, Montana, Steel leads the US army in forcing all Amazons residing in America to be deported back toThemyscira, and rallies the troops againstWonder Woman when she refuses to leave.
An alternate universe variant of Sarge Steel appears inThe Multiversity chapter "Pax Americana".[14]
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