Sarge Steel

The Charlton Years
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The man known as Sarge Steel is a member of the Special Forces in the US Army. Steel proved himself to be a smart, tough and ruthless combat soldier. He earned promotions that led him to the rank of Captain Sergeant by the time he was serving with the special forces in Viet-Nam during the height of the American's involvement in that conflict.

Steel's work in espionage and counter espionage brought him into deadly conflict with the Communist sabatuer Ivan Chong. Steel thwarted Chong's plans to sabotage the government's war efforts and Chong was sentenced to imprisonment under the worst conditions. Chong could not take vengeance out on Steel personally, but he could, and did, send one of his henchmen to plant a booby trapped hand grenade on the Special Forces officer. When Steel attempted to use the grenade, it exploded before he could throw it, and his left hand was blown off in the explosion.

His injuries earned Steel a medical discharge from the army and he returned to the . There in a VA hospital, he spent several months undergoing corrective surgery and rehabilitation, and was fitted for a prosthetic device to replace his hand. Rather than settling for something utilitarian, Steel chose a replacement far better suited to his temperament: a solid steel clenched fist.

After his release from hospital, Steel set himself up in a one-man detective agency. He was kept on the right track by his secretary / girlFriday/friend /confidante Bess Forbes.

Steel's clientele were usually involved in some manner of international intrigue or terror. They led him to face such evil as Von Wess, a wanted Nazi war criminal who attempted to blackmail the world with the nuclear warheads of Polaris missiles he had hijacked along with a submarine. Steel also faced such menaces as Mr. Ize, the Smiling Skull, the Lynx, the Black Lily and Liza Monelli. A number of cases brought Steel, and often the world, to the brink of disaster before the so-called "Iron Man with the fist of steel" claimed victory from what for any other man would have spelt doom. More and more, Steel found his cases bringing him into contact with the government's intelligence agencies, and he would often work directly with the FBI or CIA. Eventually, Sarge Steel. private detective, became a secret agent when he was recruited by a top secret, unnamed branch of the intelligence services.

DC: The Story Continues 

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Sarge Steel’s history continues as he’s put in charge of the United States' governmental agencies involved with super-human activities. At one time Steel became the head of an agency known as the CBI (Central Bureau of Intelligence). He worked alongside men like King Faraday and Faradays two agents at the time, Richard Dragon and Ben Turner. He also worked with spy operative known as Nightshade.

At one point the caterpillar-shaped alien criminal Mr. Mind is handed into the custody of Sarge Steel by the Marvel Family. Mr. Mind takes control of Steel by hiding in Steel’s prosthetic steel hand, which prevented his detection from the super-human community. Through Steel, Mr. Mind programs the villain Mr. Atom to cause mass destruction on the city of and kills thousands. Mr. Mind is eventually stopped by the Marvel Family and several Green Lanterns.

Sarge Steel at one point reactivates a version of Checkmate in order to find the comatose body of Deathstroke (Slade Wilson).