SAVAGE STEEL
Real Name: Arthur Vale
Identity/Class: Human technology/weapon user
Occupation:
Vigilante;
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Harry Lennox, Johnny Leone, Jimmy Zafar
Enemies: The Cabal (Billy, Ernie, Vinnie, Paul Trent, others), Darkhawk, Force Ten, Iron Man (Tony Stark)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: New York, USA
First Appearance: Darkhawk Annual#1/1 (1992)
Powers/Abilities: Arthur Vale was a normal human who had been considered too psychologically unstable to become a police officer and became obsessed with exterminating criminals. He found the interface with the Savage Steel battlesuit easy, with the armor providing Superhuman Class 75 strength, natural winged flight via boot jets plus multi-directional electrical bolts via hand blasters, as well as gas grenades and flares plus a self-contained oxygen supply for one hour. However, Vale was not a trained marksman so his aim was not that good.
History:
(Darkhawk Annual#1/1 (fb) - BTS) - Arthur Vale was considered too unstable to become a police officer and so was allocated diver duties for police vans. One day, he was given the task of transporting the Savage Steel armor that had been taken into custody. He stole the suit and sought to realize his vigilante dreams against criminals. He killed six people he had judged to be criminals.
(Darkhawk Annual#1/1 ) - Iron Man (Tony Stark) followed a lead on a band of criminals using Stark technology to develop battle suits, including one dubbed Force Ten. Vale, in his Savage Steel armor, smashed through a wall and clumsily demanded replacement parts and instruction manuals for his suit. Force Ten then attacked and was easily overpowered by the superior firepower of Savage Steel. Iron Man then stormed in and the two dueled in the sky. Iron Man was able to disable the Savage Steel and Vale fell to the street landing on Darkhawk, who had just turned to find out more about Savage Steel and the link with the Cabal. Darkhawk ripped off the helmet of the Savage Steel armor but did not recognize Vale. Iron Man then arrived and used a negator pack to render the Savage Steel armor useless.
(Darkhawk Annual#1/5) - Inside a prison cell, Vale read in the Daily Bugle of the fight between Iron man, Darkhawk and Savage Steel. The Cabal then sought to have Vale killed but the would-be killer was stopped by Jimmy Zafar. Zafar then broke both Vale and Lennox out of prison and set up a drive-by shooting to fool the Cabal into believing that they had been killed trying to escape. They were then taken to an FBI safehouse to testify as witnesses against the Cabal.
(Darkhawk#23) - Vale escaped and tried to continue his quest against criminals armed with a gun taken from an FBI agent. He came across a group mugging and, after killing one mugger, was instead knocked down by another who recognized Vale.
(Darkhawk#24) - Vale had been passed on to the Cabal, who brutally beat him up to find out the location of the others.
(Darkhawk#26/2) - The remaining Cabal members kept Vale in the back of the van as they attacked the FBI safehouse with one Cabal guard about to shoot him. However, Vale freed himself of his restraints and overpowered his captor and took his Stane-technology gun and went after the Cabal in an effort to redeem himself.
(Darkhawk#27/2) - The Cabal took Zafar, Lennox and Leone outside to kill them. Nearby, Vale leveled his gun at them but was undecided who to shoot - kill the raiders or those who impede violent justice? His delay allowed a newly-arrived police officer to shoot him in the shoulder to disarm him. He was then brought back to his fellow witnesses and criticized by Zafar for selling them out.
Comments: Created by Danny Fingeroth (writer), Mike Manley (pencils) and Phil Felix (inks).
The original Savage Steel armor
received an entry in the OHotMU Master Edn, which also states that his
dual identity is known to authorities.
Profile by Grendel Prime.
CLARIFICATIONS
:
Character name has no known connections to:
images:
(without ads)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe III#36 (main image)
Darkhawk#26, p21, pan3 (image)
Darkhawk Annual#1/1, p15, pan3 (vs. Iron Man)
Appearances:
Darkhawk Annual#1/1 (1992) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Mike Manley
(pencils), Phil Felix (inks), Nelson Yomtov (editor)
Darkhawk Annual#1/5 (1992) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Kev Hopgood
(pencils), Bud LaRosa (inks), Nelson Yomtov (editor)
Darkhawk#23 (January, 1993) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Mike Manley
(pencils), Frank Percy, Chris Ivy & John Lowe (inks), Nelson
Yomtov
(editor)
Darkhawk#24 (February, 1993) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Mike Manley
(pencils), Tim Dzon & Aaron McClellan (inks), Nelson Yomtov
(editor)
Darkhawk#26/2 (April, 1993) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Al Bigley
(pencils), Mike DeCarlo (inks), Nelson Yomtov (editor)
Darkhawk#27/2 (May, 1993) - Danny Fingeroth (writer), Al Bigley
(pencils), Mike DeCarlo (inks), Nelson Yomtov (editor)
Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe III#36 (1993) - Glenn
Herdling, Peter Sanderson & Murray Ward (research/text), Keith
Pollard (pencils), Josef Rubinstein (inks), Tom Brevoort (editor)
First Posted: 12/28/2007
Last updated: 12/28/2007
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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