POWER MAN STEELE

Real Name: Steele (first name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Human mutate (deceased)

Occupation: former enforcer and guard for Cruz Bushmaster

Affiliations: Power Men;
    Noah Burstein, Cruz Bushmaster, Hardcore (former)

Enemies: Richie/Joshua Anders, Avengers West Coast (Iron Man [Tony Stark], USAgent, Wonder Man), Noah Burstein, Cruz Bushmaster, Cage, Micky Hamilton, Jordan Hamlin, Hardcore

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Power Man

Base of Operations: the Black Hole facility, Rocky Mountains, Colorado

First Appearance: Cage I#3 (June, 1992)

Powers/Abilities: Steele has superhuman strength (Class 10, enabling him to lift/press up to ten tons) and durability.

History:
(Cage I#5 [fb]) - Steele was captured by agents of Cruz Bushmaster and mutated by Noah Burstein's "Power Man" process.  He was then informed that the process would prove fatal within a relatively short time.  The only way he would live was if Burstein found a way to perfect the process, so Steele obeyed the orders of Cruz and his agent Hardcore, and acted as one of his Power Men.  As such he served as a guard at the Black Hole facility and obtained more test subjects for the process.

(Cage I#3) - Posing as a police officer, Steele pulled over Jordan Hamlin.  After running a background check and seeing that Hamlin was a fugitive and would not be missed by anyone, Steele captured Hamlin.

(Cage I#4) - In the Black Hole, Steele picked the next prisoner to serve as a test subject for the process.

(Cage I#5 [fb]) - Per the manipulations of Hardcore, Cage went to Colorado to investigate the disappearance of Anders.  Steele, still disguised as a police officer, located Cage and his traveling companion, Micky Hamilton, and pulled them over.  Once Steele had confirmed Cage's identity, he pulled him from his car and attacked him.

(Cage I#5) - After an even struggle, Steele lit the fuel line that had leaked from Cage's car, causing an explosion and landslide that incapacitated Cage.  Steele then captured both Cage and Hamilton.

(Cage I#6) - Steele and one of the other Power Men escorted Cage to his cell in the Black Hole.  When one of the other Power Men powered out and died, Cage took advantage of the distraction, attempting to free himself.  After a short struggle Steele led the guards to subdue Cage with their electric prods.
    After a week of imprisonment, Cage ambushed a pair of Power Men as they opened his cell door.  After a brief fight, he convinced them that he could take down the head of the Black Hole and put an end to the madness.  Steele found Cage as he approached the testing center and cold-cocked him, but Cage tackled Steele and forced his way into the chamber, only to be subdued by Hardcore.

(Cage I#7) - Cage broke free and both he and Anders began to destroy the lab.  Furious that they were ruining the chance for a cure, Steele attacked them.  Cage overpowered Steele and told Steele to stop blaming him for the power that was killing him, and to look to himself for survival.  Taking Cage's advice to heart, Steele stole three vials of the Power Man treatment, which had been re-synthesized into viral form.  As Cage and the others continued to fight Hardcore, Steele escaped with the vials and cast them out into the reservoir.  By transforming a large population into Power Men, he hoped to make the search for the cure a world-wide priority.

(Cage I#8) - Cage found and stopped Steele from throwing the third vial into the water supply, but he had already cast two of them in. The vials were made of a gelatin that would dissolve in an hour, and then the plague would begin.  Iron Man located one of the vials, but had no luck with the last one. Cage, however, managed to convince Steele that he was cheapening his own life by putting other innocents at risk.  Steele revealed the location of the vial and Cage and Iron Man found and destroyed it before its contents could be exposed to the waters.  When Cage returned, Steele powered out and died.

Comments: Created by Marcus McLaurin, Dwayne Turner, and Chris Ivy.

The was something unique to Cage that had allowed him to survive Burstein's process.  I guess Warhawk had that same thing, or his process was just a little bit different.

CLARIFICATIONS:
He should be distinguished from:

Profile edited/updated by Kyle Sims

Appearances:
Cage I#3-4 (June-July, 1992) - Marc McLaurin (writer), Dwayne Turner (pencils), Chris Ivy (inks), Kelly Corvese (editor)
Cage I#6-8 (September-November, 1992) - Marc McLaurin (writer), Dwayne Turner (pencils), Chris Ivy (inks), Kelly Corvese (editor)

First Posted: 12/15/2003
Last updated: 12/24/2003

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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