Name: Commander Steel
Universe: Earth-2
Alter Ego: Henry (Hank) Heywood
Occupation: Former U.S. Marine, now Professional Crimefighter
Marital Status: Single
Group Affiliation: All-Star Squadron
Base of Operations: Mobile
Known Relatives: Hank Heywood III (grandson)
Height: 6 ft.
Weight: 378 lbs.
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Blue
First Appearance: Steel, the Indestructible Man #1

History:
A talented college biology student working with the noted Dr. Gilbert Giles to develop a special bioretardant formula, Hank Heywood joined the Marines when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.

Defending his military base against saboteurs several months later, Hank was caught in an explosion that left him more dead than alive. Realizing he had no other hope to survive, Hank offered himself as a guinea pig to test Dr. Giles’ bioretardant process. Giles argued the technique was too risky, but eventually Hank prevailed.

Over the next several weeks Hank underwent a series of painful operations as Giles rebuilt him from the skeleton up, using steel alloy tubing to replace the pulped bone in Hank’s arms, legs, and rib cage, then adding a metal casing to protect Hank’s skull, and micro-motors to his joints to move all that steel. An artificial lung replaced Hank’s ruined one, and backup devices aided his damaged heart. Finally, and most painfully, the bioretardant was used to induce skin regrowth over the burned areas, covering Hank with a new form of flesh.

After recovering from the operations, Hank found he was now far stronger and swifter, with skin that was for all intents indestructible. Designing an armor-mesh costume to match his new powers, Hank became Steel, the Indestructible Man, and for the next several months battled the Nazi menace in America and abroad.

Dropped behind enemy lines early in 1940 as part of a plan to kidnap Adolf Hitler, Steel was himself captured instead and imprisoned in a concentration camp commanded by the man who would soon become Baron Blitzkrieg. Brainwashed to assassinate Winston Churchill, Steel was returned to England, where he freed from his compulsion by members of the heroic All-Star Squadron.

Rechristened Commander Steel by President Roosevelt himself, Hank served with the All-Stars for several months before finally returning behind enemy lines in search of the prisoner-of-war husband of Hank Heywood’s ex-fiancee. As of this writing, the details of Commander Steel’s exploits between 1941 and the present have not been officially recorded.

Powers:
An exceptional athlete and highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant, Commander Steel also possesses super-strength as a result of his steel-alloy frame and the micro-motors in his joints. This enables him to lift half a ton, outrace a speeding car, and leap great heights without effort. A subdermal layer of steel alloy, combined with the armor-mesh of his uniform, makes Hank virtually indestructible.

Though he carried a modified flare-gun and standard military issue rifle, his super-powers made use of them unnecessary.