John Steele (Marvel)
John Steele is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
John Steele
As an American soldier, John Steele was on the Western Front of World War I as the Germans attacked the area. Coming across a spy named Marie who tells Steele that she needs to get the stolen secrets back to the general. Steele offers to take her through the battlefield. He captures an enemy tank and they escape through German ranks. When their tank is incapacitated, Steele grenades a dugout of soldiers and steals a German motorcycle to continue their escape. Being followed by a bomber plane, John and Marie dive into a foxhole and knock out the German soldiers inside and use their anti-aircraft guns to shoot the plane out of the sky. Finding their motorcycle intact they continue on their journey. John manages to get Marie to the general but is disappointed when the girl, to whom he has developed a liking, drives away with the officer. (Daring Mystery Comics v1 #1)
During the war, he was noted to had encountered both Captain America and the Prince of Orphans where he was considered a comrade-in-arms against the Nazi's. (Secret Avengers v1 #9) One mission was run jointly with Captain America where the pair were sent to infiltrate a Nazi occupied castle in Prussia. During their investigation of the site, Steele recognised the signs that this was an operation by the Shadow Council who were conducting one of their dark rituals. In this time, Steve Rogers was separated from Steele who continued deeper into the castle to confirm his suspicions and encounters the Council. Battling them, he was captured by Director Thorndrake who revealed that they had orchestrated this operation to draw Steele out and bring him back into their fold. The ritual was completed and Steele encountered the dark 'Abyss' that was worshipped by the Shadow Council leading to him re-joining their ranks. He then disappeared from the war with Captain America and the Prince of Orphans never able to find out what happened to their comrade. (Secret Avengers v1 #12)
By February 1940, John Steele's body was moved to a lab located in Frankfurt, Germany. There, Nazi scientists, including Abraham Erskine, sought to unlock the secrets of Steele's abilities for Project: Nietzsche. Their attempts were met with little success. (Marvels Project v1 #2) Following Erskine's defection to the United States, his successors continued to try and learn Steele's secrets until the summer of 1940. A secret mission carried out by the Sky-Devils, Nick Fury, and Red Hargrove would see the facility in Frankfurt bombed, freeing Steele from his captivity. (Marvels Project v1 #3) Active again for the first time in twenty years, Steele quickly caught up with the rest of the world and began killing Nazis. He would liberate a small German town before tracking down the Sky-Devils, Fury, and Hargrove and joining them in their mission to bomb Nazi forces. (Marvels Project v1 #4) However, in the early days of 1941, Steele and the others would come back to the town that he had liberated earlier to find that everyone had been slaughtered by the Red Skull. Although his allies were being pulled back to their respective countries, John vowed to avenge these people and kill the Red Skull. (Marvels Project v1 #5)
The father of Noah Burstein was also said to had studied the notes about John Steele's superhuman biology. (Secret Avengers v1 #9)
The continued efforts of the Secret Avengers was impeding the plans of the Shadow Council with Steele being sent to deal with Commander Rogers. (Secret Avengers v1 #7) Alongside Max Fury, the pair decided to abduct Sharon Carter from the heroes mobile base and had Zheng Zu stage an attack in downtown Hong Kong to draw out the superhero team. With them away, Steele and Fury broke into the Quincarrier where they managed to capture Sharon Carter with them planning to hold her hostage. (Secret Avengers v1 #8) A meet-up was arranged where they were to exchange Sharon Rogers for Shang-Chi. During the exchange, Steele shot Shang-Chi to render him unconscious with this provoking a fight with Steve Rogers. Despite Commander Rogers training, Steele overpowered him but the Secret Avengers arrived leading to a battle with the Shadow Council forces. This forced John Steele's hand and he revealed that he had the building rigged with explosives and unless they were allowed to leave then he would detonate them which would harm all the tenants at the site as well. As a result, the Secret Avengers were forced to watch as John Steele departed with Shang-Chi as part of the Shadow Councils' machinations. (Secret Avengers v1 #9) He was present at the ritual site where Zheng Zu intended to sacrifice his son and complete his resurrection. Steele voiced his concerns in allying with Zheng Zu but Director Thorndrake believed it was a calculated risk as the Council wanted a foothold in the China region. During the ritual, the Shadow Council was unaware that Moon Knight had infiltrated their ranks and had revealed the location to the Secret Avengers who arrived at the scene. This saw Commander Rogers conducting a surprise attack against Steele who was separated from the Council and was ultimately knocked out by the heroes. Despite that, his defeat allowed Director Thorndrake to escape though the Shadow Council was thwarted as Zheng Zu's ritual was stopped where he was petrified as a result and his body shattered by the Prince of Orphans. The defeated Steele was then taken into custody where he was placed in a special cell at the Raft where he was interrogated for information by Commander Rogers. (Secret Avengers v1 #10)
Overview
Personality and attributes
Powers and abilities
Steele was said to be supersoldier with abilities beyond that of a normal human with him being much stronger as well as faster than Captain America and nearly indestructible. However, he lacked the training of Steve Rogers with him instead relying on his brute strength. (Secret Avengers v1 #9) He was noted for his advanced healing capabilities that allowed him to recover from injuries at a fast pace. (Secret Avengers v1 #10)
Steele's skin is extremely durable, similar to Luke Cage's and cannot be lacerated by conventional materials, his superhuman durability is such that he can withstand high caliber bullets, explosions, high temperatures and falls from great heights without sustaining injury.
Notes
- John Steele was created by Dean Carr where he made his first appearance in Daring Mystery Comics v1 #1 (January, 1940).
Appearances
- Daring Mystery Comics v1: (1940)
- Marvels Project v1:
- Secret Avengers v1:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
