It has taken me many years before I finally decided to pick up this series (and, quite honestly, the only reason I did pick it up was because I managed to get four of the five issues in a $1 bin and located the last issue I needed for just as cheap). I was first introduced to the character in 1982 when he made his first appearance in the All-Star Squadron comic book published by DC Comics. At the time, I was not even aware there was an earlier series starring Henry "Hank" Heywood as the superhero known as Steel (referred to as "Commander Steel" in the All-Star Squadron title). When I eventually learned of it, I discovered it only lasted five issues (the sixth issue never seeing publication due to the DC Implosion in 1978 that saw the cancellation of a number of DC titles). For reasons I can't explain, I just never picked up the series whenever I happened across an issue. Now, though, with all five issues in hand (well, technically, all six issues, since I have a copy of the Cancelled Comics Cavalcade that printed the unpublished, not-finished issue), I figured it was time to read it.
The first issue of
Steel, the Indestructible Man hit the newsstands in December 1977, with a March 1978 cover date. This new comic, set in the dark days of World War II, featured a brand new super-hero that was a result of writer Gerry Conway's work on the
Wonder Woman run that featured the Earth-2 character during her WWII days. According to the text in issue 2's letter column (which featured no letters, since the first issue had not even hit the stands when that text was written), Gerry did so much research about the Second World War during his run on
Wonder Woman, that he decided to create a character who had fought in Germany and new the harsh realities of the situation before America even entered the war. The text page reveals that the character was first developed as a super-soldier type of character, what with all of the technological advancements that had taken place in the 1940s, and not a costumed hero; but as his discussions with the publisher continued, it eventually developed into "the more patriotically-clad super-hero" that was eventually seen. The series artist, Don Heck, worked out the costume with editor Al Milgrom, and thus, Steel was born!
With the first issue, Conway, Heck, and inker Joe Giella introduce readers to DC's newest hero, along with all of his supporting cast of characters. Told from the point of view of Hank Heywood's journal, the story opens in August 1939, with Heywood in Munich, Germany, where he rescues an elderly man being attacked by soldiers - only to leave and have the old man shot down by those same soldiers! Heywood returns to the States with his traveling companion, one Dr. Giles, and is reunited with his girlfriend, Gloria, who happens to be Giles' daughter. Readers get a quick glimpse of Heywood enlisting into the Marines, serving his country, where he ultimately sacrifices his life to stop an attack on an ammunition dump - well, almost sacrifices. He is gravely injured, and it turns out only Dr. Giles' biological retardent for transplanting artificial organs could save his life. Unbeknownst to anyone by Dr. Giles and his select medical staff, Heywood is basically rebuilt with not only artificial organs, but grafting a steel alloy to his bones and a metal casing to protect his skull, along with micro-motors in his joints - turning Hank Heywood into a literal man of steel! Returning to the warfront, Heywood dons a star-spangled costume to fight the good fight not as Heywood, but as Steel! In a last panel collage, we learn that as Steel, he tracks down the saboteurs working under a madman named Baron Death, vowing to one day find the mastermind himself. As Heywood writes in his journal, "This is just a beginning...!"
For anyone who thinks the series would proceed to simply be Steel fighting Nazis, think again. While Conway certainly integrates the ravages of war into the story, he also pits Heywood against a number of costumed villains - after all, what would a superhero comic be without a crazed, super-powered villain against whom our hero must fight? With the second issue, readers get to meet the monster who mined miracles - under a cover that proclaims: "The Murderous Menace of The Mineral Master." Yes, the powers that be definitely love alliteration, as most of the covers in this series feature fun taglines that make use of alliteration in spades! In the first few pages of this issue, Conway, Heck, and new inker Vince Colletta, give us the origin of this new villain. A poor scientist named Dr. Moag has created a machine that gives off a strange "omega" force that allows the doctor to basically create whatever he wants (and that "omega" force made me immediately think of Darkseid and his omega beams!). A German baron and his muscle-bound bodyguard push the doctor into the field, which transforms him into Mineral Master! Steel battles the crazed doctor, the first time being defeated, but the second time overcoming the villain by keeping him out of contact with the earth, through which he seemed to gain his power. These battles, in the open public, introduced Steel to the world at large.
Oddly, the third and fourth issues both featured two stories - the first of which features Steel facing off against the major villain of the issue, and the second story more focused on Heywood's personal life (with subplots leading into the next issue). The main stories (10 pages in length) continue with art by Heck and returning inker Giella, while the back-up stories (7 pages in length) feature art by Juan Ortiz and inker Bruce Patterson. Issue three of "The Hardest Hitting New Hero in Town" (as the cover proudly proclaims) sees Steel facing off against the monster-sized mobster, Sledgehammer, while the back-up tale introduces the Gadgeteer, who takes center stage in the two-chapter tale of the fourth issue - which spouts the headline, "The Ghastly Grasp of the Gadgeteer!" As one might expect, Conway has our indestructible hero defeat the villains; however, it is his personal life that takes the hit when Dr. Giles learns that Steel is actually Hank Heywood, which causes him to have a near-fatal heart attack! Filled with guilt, Heywood must weigh his decision to become Steel.
The fifth, and final (?) issue of the series sort of heads off in an entirely different direction. This was the first 50-cent issue of DC's Explosion in 1978, so instead of 17 pages of story, it featured a full-length 25 page story written by Conway, of course, with art by Don Heck and yet another new inker, Frank Chiaramonte. Perhaps this was why Heck only did 10-page stories for the previous two issues in order to be able to provide the 25-page story in this issue. Whatever the reason, Conway opens with Steel already fighting the strange swamp monster depicted on the cover, and then flashes back to his trip across country to locate a former college classmate who holds the key to saving Dr. Giles' life. Here things turn a bit Gothic, as Steel stumbles across a dark mansion in the swamp, where he navigates a labyrinth of traps to learn a rather heartbreaking story of two brothers - but which one is the monster? The answer is not what you will expect, that's for sure. The issue ends with Steel saving his former classmate's life, and the insinuation that he will get her back to the hospital where Dr. Giles is at death's door in time to save his girlfriend's father. The next issue blurb indicates readers will learn "The Secret Origin of Baron Blitzkrieg!" The only problem is, due to the DC Implosion, that never issue never saw publication. Well, not under the
Steel title, at any rate.
You see, at some point, someone put together all of the finished and somewhat finished pages of all of the titles that never saw publication due to the infamous "DC Implosion" that occurred just three months after the Explosion that increased the page count and price and produced a limited number of black and white copies of those issues as "Cancelled Comics Cavalcade" issues one and two. Fully penciled, inked, and lettered, issue six of
Steel appeared in the second issue of this cavalcade of cancelled comics, even with a black and white cover with no logo or words! But this was put out in very limited quantities (although, over the years, copies of copies of copies have been produced, and I managed to snag a copy of these issues from eBay some years ago). And while it was nice to read that Dr. Giles did get the miracle medicine in time and he did survive, it would have been nice to have seen these pages in full color. But, wait! I did see them in full color. Well, most of the pages, anyway. Yes, just four years later, Roy Thomas repurposed these pages in his
All-Star Squadron comic, in issue eight, where he brought Steel into the 1940s of the Earth-2 universe (this was before Crisis on Infinite Earths did away with Earth-2), and used the main story and most of the panels from this issue as a way of "introducing" readers to Steel in the All-Star Squadron team. Some panels were omitted (many dealing with Dr. Giles and his daughter, Gloria and the entire portion where Steel finds himself in the concentration camp), while others were altered or replaced in order to fit into the
All-Star Squadron story without all of the subplots from the
Steel series. And the intended cover was used as a major splash panel in the
All-Star Squadron tale. So, while the entire issue never got published as intended, at least a chunk of the story finally saw full color print.
From what I've read in articles about the series, it seems Conway never intended Steel to be an Earth-2 character - he had intended for Steel to be on the main DC Earth (which was Earth-1 at the time). Personally, with the World War II connection, it made more sense to me to have him on Earth-2, which is where the JSA and other Golden Age heroes made their debut; otherwise, why would the heroes of Earth-1 have never talked about the "superhero" that existed prior to Superman's rocket crashing in Smallville? As far as the art in the Steel series goes, I have never been a fan of Don Heck's art. I absolutely hated his work on Wonder Woman during that final run of her original series. For me, this art is barely a step above that art. I can't pinpoint what it is I don't like about his art, except that his faces do not seem natural to me, too sharp and angular in many ways. However, I did not let that detract from my enjoyment of the series. Gerry Conway is an excellent writer. I loved his work on All-Star Comics, Firestorm, Justice League, and many other series. This is just another example of his superb writing skills.
Thus, another short-lived series that deserved more of a chance gets boxed away with so many other of its kind, and hopefully this review will encourage other comic fans to get out there and track down issues of the series - it's well worth the read!
RATING: 9 steel-infused skeletons out of 10 for super-hero stories with plenty of super-powered battles, personal angst, and fantastic plotting and dialogue!
