Warning: Spoilers for Wonder Woman #1 ahead!
With the passing of the “Amazon Safety Act,” Wonder Woman has found herself at odds with the United States government and the act’s brutal enforcer, Sargent Steel. This government mad-dog isn’t a new character, however: Sargent Steel was a hard-boiled detective hero when he first debuted, but his appearance here marks the completion of his transformation into a government stooge.
Tom King, Daniel Sampere, Tomeu Morey, and Clayton Cowles’ Wonder Woman #1 opens with a shocking new status quo: after the Amazon Emelie apparently murders nineteen men in a pool hall, the United States government orchestrates the “Amazon Safety Act,” which demands the deportation of all Amazons. Enforcing this act are Sargent Steel and his team of A.X.E. (Amazon Extradition Entity) soldiers, who are more than happy to round up the remaining Amazons — dead or alive. When Steel and A.X.E. corner Wonder Woman in a cemetery, however, they bite off more than they can chew.
Wonder Woman takes down the entire strike force and rebukes Steel’s actions, resolving to get to the bottom of Emelie’s choices. In a stinger, it is revealed that all these events have been orchestrated by Wonder Woman’s other new nemesis, a man calling himself “the Sovereign” who wields the mysterious Lasso of Lies.
Sargent Steel Is Now a Full-On Villain
Sargent Steel’s journey from hero to villain has been tumultuous. Originating in 1964’s Sarge Steel #1 by Pat Masulli, Joe Gill, and Dick Giordano, Sarge was a Vietnam War veteran who, after losing his left hand, replaced it with a metal prosthesis and started a career as a private detective. He later returned in the 1990s as a member of the Central Bureau of Intelligence, eventually becoming the head of the Department of Meta-Human Affairs (a position rivaling Amanda Waller’s). Suspicious of superheroes and meta-humans in general, his stance on Amazons was not improved when he was kidnapped and used as the scapegoat for Hippolyta’s assault on the United States during 2007’s Amazons Attack! event (by Will Pfeifer, Pete Woods, and Brad Anderson). Despite this pre-Flashpoint history, his attack on Wonder Woman in Wonder Woman #1 is implied to be their first meeting in modern continuity.
Steel Has a Twisted History with the Amazons
As the head of D.O.M.A., Sarge Steel was suspicious and gruff, but, as of Wonder Woman #1, he’s become a jingoistic government assassin, and the events of Amazons Attack! have given him a vendetta against Wonder Woman. This is a marked change from his previous role as DC’s equivalent to Marvel’s Nick Fury (a soldier-turned-government-agent overseeing superhero affairs). This new rendition of Steel appears to revel in the power and authority his position gives him, cheerfully destroying lives with a smile in the name of Uncle Sam. With this new characterization, Sarge Steel has gone from anti-hero to full-on villain.
Sargent Steel has become increasingly entwined with Wonder Woman’s world over the years — to the point where his character has become completely defined by her. He first oversaw the actions of “Agent Diana Prince” in the Department of Meta-Human Affairs, and now he is the government-approved steel-clad fist raised against her. There is still a chance for Steel’s redemption — he may be under the influence of the Sovereign’s aforementioned Lasso of Lies — but whichever way Steel’s story goes, this current reinvention of the character makes this former hero Wonder Woman‘s newest threat.
Wonder Woman #1 is now available from DC Comics.
