Sarge Steel #1
CASE #101 – The case of the “PEARLS OF DEATH”
Sarge Steel created by Pat Masulli
Script by Joe Gill
Art by Dick Giordano
CHAPTER I – CONSIGNMENT TERROR
Our first impression of Sarge Steel, aside from this issue’s wonderfully sketched and inked cover by Dick Giordano, is that of a Rock Hudson-like playboy who comes to work at 5:45 singing “Oh What a Beautiful Morning,” from the musical Oklahoma. This seems at first to be hardly either the battling action hero that a name like Sarge Steel suggests, or the cool urban “pulp” characters that are usually personified by the “private detective” modifier. But perhaps this opening scene fell under the influence of the Hudson-Day comedies, a popular genre of the time.
Also popular was the globe-trotting spy genre, led by pop icons like James Bond and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. By the end of the first page, we find that this genre carries the larger influence on Sarge Steel, Charlton’s foray into the world of espionage that predate Marvel’s Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. by eight months (Sarge Steel #1 came out in Dec. 1964, according to the indicia, whereas Nick Fury came back as a spy in Strange Tales #135, dated Aug. 1965). The Steel character has the typical look — the white tuxedo, short-cropped black hair, the German WWII standard-issue handgun in the shoulder holster (Bond’s was a Walther, Steel’s a Luger)…Steel even has his own Moneypenny, a blond named Bessie that he describes in the first person narration as, “A real doll who I’d hired before I even found out she could type.” They have a playful relationship, one of those in which two people almost kiss until one pulls away to make a smart-alecky comment.
Sarge gets dandied up
But this is the last bit of aleckness in the book. At the bottom of the page, Steel (and Giordano) treats us to a vision of his first client, the lovely Lin Ying. Steel decides on the spot, however, that life-or-death situation or not, a change of clothes is in order. He retreats to the shower room in his office, and emerges in what has to be the coolest suit in comic book history. It’s a set of brown blazer and slacks that hangs (no doubt he has his suits specially cut, like Bond, to hide the shoulder holster) over a black shirt and white tie. The fashions in this issue, as with the rest of the series, were both realistic (thanks to the art of Giordano) and timely. Sarge Steel probably wears the best name brand stuff…after all, we find, in addition to the swell suit and trendy Luger, he also drives a Jaguar XKE (also called the “E-Type” series). That watch attached to his steel hand is probably a Rolex.
Anyway, enough about fashion…back to the story.
Sarge asks Yi Ling what the trouble is (Apparently getting tongue-tied as he says, “Not a jealous husband of finance I hope!” That crazy A. Machine.) and she explains that her father has gone missing with a string of expensive pearls on his person. Not only that, but he was on his way to see IVAN CHUNG! Sarge gives a brief hint of recognition, then beats up a Chinatown thug who’s been trailing them. Over lunch, Ling and Steel cough up exposition — Chung is a Saigon terrorist who, “deals in violence and death!” Ling’s father has gone to meet him, not knowing this, but planning to sell him the pearls at twice the price everyone else has offered. The two hop into the Jag and drive to Ivan Chung’s office.
Demon with a Glass Hand could never have done this.
On the way, our attention is directed to Sarge’s steel hand for the first time as he explains that he lost it in Saigon. It still has its uses, he shows while busting down Chong’s door. (They also point out that I was wrong earlier — it’s not Steel’s suit, it’s the holster that provides camouflage.) Nobody’s there, until, suddenly from the shadows…what appears to be the same Chinatown thug as before gets his face “SPLAAAT”-ed.
Here, we get our first view of Ivan Chung, ordering a machine gunner to gun down Sarge and Lin, who are chasing the Saigon terrorist’s vessel in a smaller boat. Lin jumps clear of the boat, but Sarge rides it right up until the point that it’s destroyed by Chung’s apparently impervious ship. Steel’s pulled out of the water, as is Lin, and Sarge blacks out, first saying, “Half-conscious, I looked up into hate-filled eyes…eyes I had seen before…in Saigon…the place where I had lost my left hand!” I think in ellipses, too, Sarge, don’t feel bad. Ivan Chung looks back over his shoulder and tells the unconscious Sarge that he plans to eliminate him. Behind him, the henchmen probably chuckle at his craziness, but we don’t get a chance to see that. Because that’s the END OF PART I.
CHAPTER II – NIGHTMARE IN SAIGON
Come with Sarge and me back in time, if you will. It’s early in the Vietnam conflict, when a police action is still just that. Captain Sargent (that’s his name, see?) Steel of the Special Forces works with the C.I.A. operatives in Saigon, fighting terrorism. Steel’s on the path of a Vietcong organizer, and his guide, a man named Dhu, gets shot. Bent on revenge, Steel enlists the help of a V.C. hunter named Chang, and together they track Chung (don’t get confused) to his jungle hideout. There, Cap’n Steel arrests the man, despite offers of a bribe.
Thank Gill and Giordano for sparing us the next panel
But Chung has friends, one who attacks Sarge in the midst of shaving, and, later, one who interrupts Sarge’s R and R furlough. Strategically planning the proper moment (saying loud enough to be heard through the window, “Now…while the American fool is lost in the woman’s eyes!”), the unseen terrorist tosses in a grenade that’s covered in some sort of adhesive that sticks to Steel’s hand. Rather than let the grenade blow up and destroy everyone, Sarge punches his hand through a window. End hand. END PART II.
CHAPTER III – DESTINATION DEATH
SPLAAT!
OK. Back to the present. Sarge and Lin are being held at gunpoint on Chung’s boat. Lin breaks into hysterics at the thought of her father being killed, and Sarge smacks her. Luckily, it’s with the fleshy hand, so it merely shocks her and doesn’t decapitate her. She tells Sarge where the pearls are hidden — sewn into the lining of her largest valise — and Chung, who has bugged the room sends our old friend “Chinatown thug” to collect them.
But Bessie, great secretary that she is, has alerted the C.I.A. to Sarge’s disappearance. The C.I.A. man catches the thug, and learns where Steel and Lin are being held. Coincidentally, a Coast Guard plane is flying overhead. Neither one of these facts matter, because over the next three pages, possibly inspired by the appearance of Lin’s father, Sarge decides to bust out and kick ass. First, he deflects a bullet off of his steel fist. Then, he knocks, Chung’s gun away and slaps him with another “Splaat!” Short of shooting the ship’s captain and radioing for help, Sarge’s work is done.
Oh, except for securing a spot in his bed for Lin that night. What do you say, Lin? Interested?
Thought so.
Overall, this is a great start to what turned out to be a pretty decent series. As far as espionage books go, I’d rank it story-wise above Marvel’s famed Nick Fury stuff. For that matter, Giordano’s realistic details and layouts seem to be more cinematic to me than Steranko’s much lauded artwork on the S.H.I.E.L.D. books, although it is true that there are no photo-illustrations in Sarge Steel. The first person narration is one of the few details that suggests Steel belongs in the detective genre — it reads like a Raymond Chandler spy novel (although Gill does seem to use the word “gunsel” a lot). The series also featured fairly good action stories, with Sarge globe-hopping to save various beautiful girls in various bad situations to do various bad things with them off-panel.
If Time-Warner were smart, they’d have lined up a Sarge Steel film with Quentin Tarantino by now. For the life of me, I still can’t figure out why they insist on making Sarge Steel a pseudo-badguy at DC. At the very least, I wish they’d release a Showcase edition of these stories so that a new generation of readers could enjoy them. For now, though, eBay seems to be the best bet.
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