Commander Steel
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Publishing history
Steel first appeared in his series set in 1939, Steel: The Indestructible Man, written by Captain America writer Gerry Conway. However the series was canceled after only 5 issues with Steel later made a guest-appearance in Justice League of America.[1]
Biography
Henry Heywood
Commander Steel
Henry Heywood enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps prior to their involvement in World War II, but was injured when saboteurs attacked his base spearheaded by the man who would become Baron Blitzkrieg. As a biology student under the tutelage of Doctor Gilbert Giles, his former professor performed extensive surgery on him with mechanized steel devices that facilitate normal human functions only on a superhuman level. At the request of Doctor Giles, Heywood kept his recovery a secret and was instead forced to return to service in a desk position. Frustrated at his inability to help more directly, Heywood adopted the persona "Steel", and went to steal armaments from the military base at which he worked while some fifth columnist saboteurs broke into the base. Heywood was able to defeat the saboteurs, and embarked on a career fighting foreign threats and other criminals before America went to war.
While Doctor Giles was reading a newspaper article on Steel he called out Heywood's name before having a heart-attack. Upon hearing this Heywood feared that Giles had realized he was Steel and that it had induced a heart-attack. After seeing Giles and his daughter Heywood went to publisher Edward Runyon whom he had saved earlier to ask Runyon to stop publishing articles with a critical slant towards World War II in the hopes that the American people would become more accepting of joining the war. Runyon's girlfriend Kulhammer forced Steel to agree to save capture the Gadgeteer in return for Runyon doing this which he agreed to, however afterwards Kulhammer revealed to Runyon that she didn't intend to honor the agreement as she felt it would ruin the newspaper.
Heywood joined World War II as a secret weapon before he allied himself with the All-Star Squadron during which time he was later commissioned Commander Steel by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His membership in the Squadron was only for a brief period as Crisis on Infinite Earths caused him to shift from his native Earth-Two to The Post-Crisis Earth,wherein he retired from his superhero career as there were no active costumed heroes at that time on his new home.
Years later, as a wealthy industrialist, he incorporated the same mechanized components into his grandson Hank Heywood III - who later joined Justice League of America and fought Heywood along with his ally Mekanique, former allies Justice Society of America and their descendants Infinity, Inc..
Although it was originally stated[who?] that Heywood performed unnecessary surgeries on his grandson, it was later stated in Justice League of America #260 that if he hadn't made his grandson into Steel, "Hank would have been dead... years ago."
After his grandson's death, Heywood resumed the mantle of Commander Steel and died battling the supervillain Eclipso, while a member of the Shadow Fighters. He did come to a heroic end - detonating the Sunburst 300 (a device meant to destroy Eclipso) as his teammate Nemesis escaped.
Hank Heywood III
The second Steel was the late Henry "Hank" Heywood III, grandson to Commander Steel who, as a wealthy industrialist, incorporated the same mechanized components into his grandson much to his grandson's disapproval. Heywood III was a "Justice League Detroit" team member, and was mortally wounded in battle against an android belonging to one of the team's classic foes, Professor Ivo. His body remained preserved in the JLA Bunker until it was discovered and destroyed by Despero.
Although it was originally stated that Heywood performed unnecessary surgeries on his grandson, it was later stated in Justice League of America #260 that if he hadn't made his grandson into Steel, "Hank would have been dead... years ago.
Nathan Heywood
The relaunched Justice Society of America features another member of the Heywood family. During an interview to Newsarama, new series writer Geoff Johns announced him as a brand new character with new powers. He debuted in Justice Society of America #2 with the name of Nathan "Buckeye" Heywood.
Nathan is the grandson of Henry Heywood and cousin of Henry Heywood III. Formerly a football star at Ohio State University, Nathan retired after shattering his kneecap and having his leg amputated due to an undiagnosed infection. The incident left Nathan addicted to painkillers.
While attending a Heywood family reunion, he is attacked by the Fourth Reich, a team of metahuman Neo-Nazis ordered by Vandal Savage to wipe out the bloodlines of Golden Age heroes. Despite the Fourth Reich's effort, they fail to completely destroy the Heywood bloodline, as both Nathan and a few children manage to survive. Both Nathan's brother and mother are turned to metal statues by the villain Reichsmark. Nathan jams his crutch into Reichsmark's mouth, causing him to spit liquid metal blood onto Nathan. Hawkman takes him to Dr. Mid-Nite, who notes that the metal is being absorbed by Nathan's skin.
Later, it is revealed that the metal has grown out from where Nathan's amputated leg once was, forming metallic bone, muscles, and flesh. Waking in his hospital room, Nathan is shown to have superhuman strength. Dr. Mid-Nite informs Nathan that he is now a being of living steel, due to an unknown reaction to Reichsmark's blood. However, the steel tissues do not give Nathan tactile response, meaning he cannot feel textures or temperatures, nor gauge exerted pressures, and his weight has greatly increased causing his footsteps to crack the ground. He is given a costume, a "second skin" of a stainless steel alloy developed by Dr. Mid-Nite and Mr. Terrific specifically to restrict his movements and reduce his strength to a more manageable level. They chose the costume's colors because of Heywood's heritage. He then joins the Justice Society to defeat the Fourth Reich. Afterwards, the press asks if he is the new Commander Steel but Nathan denies it saying that he is just an ordinary citizen, and so he is christened "Citizen Steel" by Power Girl.
Powers
Originally Commander Steel could only lift 1000 pounds but when he appeared in the pages of the All-Star Squadron he was attributed 'super human' strength without an exact limit. He was by no means as strong as Superman or Wonder Woman but he was able to hold his own with Robotman and Baron Blitzkrieg.
Citizen Steel's metallic body grants him superhuman strength, and allows him to take direct blows from opponents as powerful as Gog, and remain standing
Other media
- The Hank Heywood Steel appeared several times during Justice League Unlimited's three seasons, most notably during the series finale, "Destroyer".
