“Yesterday’s” Comic> Steel #40

Thankfully not the design they went with. I don’t think it suits him.

Steel #40

DC Comics (July, 1997)

“The Never Ending Story”

WRITER: Christopher Priest

PENCILER: Vince Giarrano

INKER: Prentis Rollins

COLORIST: Stu Chaifetz

LETTERER: Pat Brosseau

ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Ruben Diaz

EDITOR: Frank Pittarese

Steel unveils his new hammer and drops off a drug pusher posing as an ice cream man to the mob boss he claims to be related to. (He isn’t.) Then he shows up at school because Nat didn’t bring her phone with her, John still worried about guys like Skorpio. When she runs afoul of one of the girls in school and the punk who she turned (not the same person), he threatens her and John if she doesn’t…submit to him. John learns of this and the next day Margot comes to arrest a broken-armed John for murder.

What they got right: Not going with the hammer design on the cover. Instead it’s a two-headed hammer with the new Steel “S” as a template. While I like the original hammer better (it looked stronger and had some good features I haven’t seen on this one) it’s not a weaker hammer, and the new abilities aren’t weaker, a running problem with Steel’s gear by this point.

What they got wrong: When I saw Steel before I was able to get it and missing the good starting points to jump in he was dealing with superenhanced gang bangers, high-tech villains, and flying off into space with the rest of the Superman wing of the DCU. What story do we get now? Natasha being gang raped and dealing with the school mean girl, and supposedly Steel killing the rapists. If someone out there finds this interesting, fine. However, this wasn’t the Steel I wanted to read, but it is the reason I didn’t get into the Milestone comics.

Recommendation: If you’re looking for a good superhero comic this isn’t it. If you want urban street drama with the occasional monster, enjoy.