Savage Steel
Real Name: The first Savage Steel was controlled by the Cabal, a group of present and former police officers. The second Savage Steel was Arthur Vale, an unstable police driver. The third and current Savage Steel is Jimmy Zafar.
First Appearance: Savage Steel I, Darkhawk 4; Savage Steel II, Darkhawk Annual 1; Savage Steel III, Darkhawk Annual 2.
What's His Problem? The Cabal took payoffs from criminals to finance the Savage Steel project which would be their "edge against crime" - a controlled vigilante. Vigilantes, of course, don't control so easily; the second Savage Steel was mentally unstable and determined to eliminate all criminals, or at least those who he thought were criminals. The third Savage Steel, Jim Zafar, lost his wife because of criminals. In spite of his personal tragedy, he is trying to be a hero but not finding it to be an easy path.
Abilities: All of the Savage Steels have had some degree of police training.
Weapons: The original Savage Steel armor was bullet proof, had flight capabilities, and various built-in weapons (gas, grenades, flares, sonics). The current Savage Steel armor is an advanced design with such options as stealth flight and repulsor rays.
Favorite Quote: Jim Zafar got the best Savage Steel lines, including: "Now me, I'm not a villain. I don't want to kill anybody." (Darkhawk Annual 2)
And this ever-classic dialogue with Darkhawk:
Savage Steel: "I made one of those stupid pledges to myself that I'd try not to kill any of my enemies."
Darkawk: "Try?"
Savage Steel: "Nobody's perfect, Hawk."
Heroes He Keeps Running Into: The original Savage Steel fought Darkhawk several times and even attempted to kill the Punisher. The second Savage Steel ran afoul of Iron Man (who destroyed his armor) as well as Darkhawk. SS3 has argued with Darkhawk but they pretty much seem to know that they are on the same side. For now.
People Who Think He's Not So Bad: Darkhawk doesn't trust the new Savage Steel but can tell that Jim is making an effort to be non-lethal. He even knows there are bound to be some Punisher fans out there who support the actions of the first two Savage Steels.
Most Despicable Act: Savage Steel (all versions) considered himself more of a vigilante and so committed no extremely despicable acts. However, one member of the Cabal took particular pleasure in killing small-time criminals.
by Kirk Furlotte
