Detroit Steel is a fictional suit of

powered armor A powered exoskeleton, also known as power armor, powered armor, powered suit, cybernetic suit, cybernetic armor, exosuit, hardsuit, exoframe or augmented mobility, is a mobile machine that is wearable over all or part of the human body, provi ...

appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

s published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

, in which it is usually operated by adversaries or rivals of

Iron Man Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charact ...

. Created by writer

Matt Fraction Matt Fritchman (born December 1, 1975), better known by the pen name Matt Fraction, is an Eisner Award-winning American comic book writer, known for his work as the writer of '' The Invincible Iron Man'', '' The Immortal Iron Fist'', ''Uncanny ...

and artist

Salvador Larocca Salvador Larroca () is a Spanish comic book artist, primarily known for his American work on various ''X-Men'' titles for Marvel Comics. Career After several years of working as a Cartography, cartographer, he began working as a comic artist at ...

, Detroit Steel first appeared in ''

'' (vol 5) #25 (June 2010) as part of the "Stark Resilient" storyline.

Publication history

Detroit Steel first appeared in '' The Invincible Iron Man'' (vol 5) #25 (June 2010), the first part of the nine-part "Stark Resilient" storyline, which depicted

Tony Stark Iron Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was co-created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The charac ...

's struggle to build his new company Stark Resilient, whose signature product is a car powered by the same clean repulsor technology that powers his Iron Man armor.Mahadeo, Kevin
"SNEAK PEEK: Detroit Steel"
Marvel Comics. April 1, 2010 Writer

created Detroit Steel to embody jingoistic patriotism in the vein of '' Team America'', and describes the character thus:

He is what follows in the hole left behind by Iron Man once Tony Stark leaves the world stage. Tony hasn't been around to protect the regular interests that he might have during his time running
Stark Industries Stark Industries, later also known as Stark International, Stark Innovations, Stark Enterprises and Stark Resilient, is a fictional company appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The company is depicted as being owned an ...
or running S.H.I.E.L.D. And now that he's back, he's made it clear he doesn't want to get back into the geo-political side of things necessarily. Detroit Steel is what happens in that absence. He is a sort of Blackwater-meets-
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
corporate-sponsored armored enhanced guy available for hire to the highest bidder for whatever cause around the round. Basically, Iron Man's worst nightmare of what he could become. An absolute perversion of everything he is.

Though the Detroit Steel armor exhibits the

American flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the c ...

's colors, Fraction states that the Detroit Steel armor can repainted to reflect the colors of whatever country or corporation purchases them, from the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

Rising Sun Flag The is a Japanese flag that consists of a red disc and sixteen red rays emanating from the disc. Like the Japanese national flag, the Rising Sun Flag symbolizes the sun. The flag was originally used by feudal warlords in Japan during the Ed ...

(which makes an appearance in ''The Invincible Iron Man'' #27) to the yellow and red colors of

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

. Fraction also contrasts Detroit Steel with Iron Man's Bleeding Edge armor, which debuted in the same issue, by describing the latter as "sleeker, slicker and pared down", whereas the former is "bigger and better and boisterous and loud and noisy and everything else. It's like the difference between a Porsche and a Mack Truck".

Fictional history

Former

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

Lieutenant Doug Johnson III is the first pilot of the Detroit Steel armor, first appearing during the "Stark Resilient" storyline. He underwent surgical modifications in order to operate the weaponized suit, and also trained the other pilots in the Steelcorps army. Hammer Industries, led by

Justine Hammer This article lists Marvel characters beginning with the letter "H", with a brief description introducing each one. Hala the Accuser Gabrielle Haller Gabrielle Haller was a catatonic Holocaust survivor who awoke from the disorder after Charle ...

and

Sasha Hammer This article lists Marvel characters beginning with the letter "H", with a brief description introducing each one. Hala the Accuser Gabrielle Haller Gabrielle Haller was a catatonic Holocaust survivor who awoke from the disorder after Charles ...

, not only wish revenge on Tony Stark for their patriarch

Justin Hammer Justin Hammer is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as a villainous entrepreneur, head of Hammer Industries and a frequent adversary of the superhero Iron Man. As he ex ...

's death, but see Stark as an obstacle for their product Detroit Steel which they hope to market globally as a new soldier for the world. Justine and Sasha embark on a campaign to discredit

in the industrial market, conspiring with the corrupt Pentagon General Babbage, and staging civilian attacks in which Detroit Steel is arranged to intervene before Iron Man. Shortly after, Detroit Steel launches a surprise attack on Stark Resilient by orchestrating a remote-server air-strike unwittingly piloted by young gamers on their mobile devices who are unaware these actions were actually taking place in the real world. The combined efforts of Iron Man, War Machine,

Rescue Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation. Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ho ...

and

Maria Hill Commander Maria Hill ( ) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch, the character first appeared in '' The New Avengers'' #4 (March 2005). As a form ...

are able to stop the strike and shut down Detroit Steel. Detroit Steel next appears in ''The Invincible Iron Man'' during the 2011 company-wide crossover storyline " Fear Itself".Evans, Alex
"Invincible Iron Man #505 – Review"
Weekly Comic Book Review. June 19, 2001 Detroit Steel is deployed in Paris, where he confronts the Asgardian demon Mokk: Breaker of Faith. As Mokk turns the city's population into stone, Detroit Steel confronts the villain, resulting in his armor being ripped open and Johnson turned into stone as well. But in the subsequent "Demon" storyline, Johnson is revealed to be alive. When asked his name by a relief worker, he gives "Detroit Steel" as a name. The public however, believes Johnson to be dead, and Justine makes Sasha into the Detroit Steel armor's new public face. In the subsequent "Long Way Down" storyline, Johnson kidnaps Sasha in order to steal a Detroit Steel unit, after which he is confronted by Sasha, who kills him.

Steelcorps

The Detroit Steelcorps (otherwise known as the Steelmechs and Hammermechs) is a line of armored soldiers marketed by Hammer Industries. During the "Stark Resilient" storyline, a fleet of unmanned flying drones aided in Detroit Steel's attack against Iron Man. Anonymous

gamer A gamer is a proactive hobbyist who plays interactive games, especially video games, tabletop role-playing games, and skill-based card games, and who plays for usually long periods of time. Some gamers are competitive, meaning they routinely ...

s were duped into believing that the missions carrying out on Hammer Industries' behalf were a playable video game via a cell phone

application Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a c ...

, in which they pretended to be Detroit Steel's "

wingman A wingman (or wingmate) is a pilot or UAV who supports another pilot in a potentially dangerous flying environment. ''Wingman'' was originally the plane flying beside and slightly behind the lead plane in an aircraft formation. According to th ...

". A team of Steelmechs are subsequently led by Sasha into Paris, ostensibly on behalf of the U.S. and French governments, where they battle Rescue before being confronted by Mokk: Breaker of Faith. The Steelcorps also appear in the subsequent "Long Way Down" storyline.

Powers and abilities

According to Hammer Industries, Detroit Steel represents "the most bleeding-edge research into man/machine spinal hybrid mechanics the world has ever seen", and incorporates technology, such as C.N.S. (Controlled Exo-Enhanciles), that would eventually be used to end paralysis caused by

cervical In anatomy, cervical is an adjective that has two meanings: # of or pertaining to any neck. # of or pertaining to the female cervix: i.e., the ''neck'' of the uterus. *Commonly used medical phrases involving the neck are **cervical collar **cervic ...

thoracic The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the crea ...

corticospinal The pyramidal tracts include both the corticobulbar tract and the corticospinal tract. These are aggregations of efferent nerve fibers from the upper motor neurons that travel from the cerebral cortex and terminate either in the brainstem (''cort ...

injuries An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, or ...

. Weighing four and a half tons, the "oversized" Detroit Steel towers over Iron Man, at approximately twice his height. The Detroit Steel suit affords its occupant considerable protection from automatic weapons and explosives, though the magically-powered being Mokk: Breaker of Faith was able to easily rip open the armor. The Detroit Steel suit allows its users to fly, and usually is seen with a

rotary cannon A rotary cannon, rotary autocannon, rotary gun or Gatling cannon, is any large-caliber multiple-barreled automatic firearm that uses a Gatling-type rotating barrel assembly to deliver a sustained saturational direct fire at much greater rate ...

mounted on its right arm, and a specialized chainsaw on its left, which can penetrate Iron Man's Bleeding Edge Armor. There are rocket-powered munitions on the suit's shoulders. The rotary cannon can be dismounted so that the soldier can carry and fire it as a traditional handheld weapon, and the Detroit Steel armor's users have been seen outfitted with other types of weapons in this manner, including both

directed-energy weapon A directed-energy weapon (DEW) is a ranged weapon that damages its target with highly focused energy without a solid projectile, including lasers, microwaves, particle beams, and sound beams. Potential applications of this technology include we ...

s and scaled-up rifles. Sasha Hammer's Detroit Steel armor has also been depicted with a directed-energy weapon in palm of its hands. Those who pilot the Detroit Steel armor are required to undergo considerable surgical modifications, which leave implants visible on the pilot's chest, which Doug Johnson felt "turned him into a monster". According to Justine Hammer, the company designed models for different environments and hot zones, including arctic climates and urban encounters. Suits of different heights and designs have also been depicted.

Reception

Alex Evans, reviewing ''Invincible Iron Man'' #33 for

Weekly Comic Book Review Weekly Comic Book Review (WCBR) is an American blog founded by Jason Montes focusing on reviews of newly issued comic books with occasional reviews of graphic novels or comic book related television programs and movies. The blog is valuable to com ...

, while praising the "Stark Resilient" storyline (which he gave a B-), found

and

to be more effective villains than Detroit Steel, which he found to be "bland" and "boring". Evans also disliked the lack of a resolution to Detroit Steel and Iron Man's battle in ''Invincible Iron Man'' #33,Evans, Alex
"Invincible Iron Man #33 – Review"
Weekly Comic Book Review. December 24, 2010 though he later praised ''Iron Man'' #505, which he felt tied up that loose end. Evans was more receptive to the character's use in the subsequent storyline "The Long Way Down", saying of ''Invincible Iron Man'' #518, "The manner in which Fraction and Larroca depict the fight between Detroit Steel and Sasha Hammer was brilliant, alternating panels between the fight itself (at night) and the aftermath (the broken apartment in the daylight). It created almost a police procedural, detective feel that also served to make the whole thing a bit haunting and unsettling, which is great given how creepy 'Detroit Steel' already is".

In other media

Television

The Detroit Steelcorps appear in the '' Avengers Assemble'' episode "Dehulked" as Igor Drenkov's robotic enforcers.

Video games

* The Doug Johnson III incarnation of Detroit Steel appears as a playable character in ''

Lego Marvel's Avengers ''Lego Marvel's Avengers'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, for the Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Windows, ...

''. * The Detroit Steel armor appears in ''

Lego Marvel Super Heroes ''Lego Marvel Super Heroes'' is a 2013 Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Microsoft W ...

'', in which it is operated by

.Hanneke Weitering (February 20, 2017)
"New DC & Marvel LEGO Sets Unveiled at Toy Fair 2017"
Newsarama.

References

External links

*
Detroit Steel Armor
at Marvel Wiki
Detroit Steel (Doug Johnson III)
at Marvel Wiki
Detroit Steel
at Comic Vine {{DEFAULTSORT:Detroit Steel

Armor Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or fr ...

Fictional armour Marvel Comics military personnel Marvel Comics supervillains Comics characters introduced in 2008 Characters created by Matt Fraction Characters created by Salvador Larroca Fictional United States Air Force personnel Fictional soldiers Fictional aviators