Steel

ARTISTS

Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciller: Chris Batista
Inkers: Rich Faber, Ande Parks
Colorist: David Grafe
Letterer: Pat Brousseau
Editor: Frank Pittarese

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CHARACTERS & SETTINGS

heroes: Amazing Man II, Blue Beetle II, Booster Gold, Captain Atom, Maxima, Steel III

Setting: 20th-century Mount Thunder, DCU, USA

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ISSUE SUMMARY

Cover Description: Maxima and Steel fly into space. (No Booster Gold.)

Brief Synopsis: Steel seeks help from the Justice League in tracking his enemy Hazard into space.

Costume Worn: MARK IV armored power-suit

Issue Notes: This is the first part of the three chapter "Maximum Orbit" story.

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ISSUE ANNOTATIONS

Page 9, panel 2
Inside their Mount Thunder headquarters, Amazing Man II, Blue Beetle II, Booster Gold, and Maxima attempt to repair the defense computers following an unexpected hardware error. It is Booster Gold who finally discovers and repairs the malfunctioning motherboard.

Page 11, panel 1
Booster Gold joins Captain Atom and Maxima in responding to a computer alert regarding an "unidentified missile." The "missile" is revealed to be Steel III. Booster recognizes Steel but Maxima seems not to, despite the fact that all three responded to Superman's call for heroes during the events of Zero Hour #3.

Page 12, panel 3
Captain Atom refers to his band of followers as "Justice League... West." Whether this is because his base of operations, Mount Thunder, is in Nevada and is the only Justice League headquarters located west of the Mississippi River to date, or if it is a reference to rival comic publisher Marvel Comic's Avengers spin-off, West Coast Avengers, is unclear.

Page 14, panel 3
Booster suggests that Steel should consider adding goggles to his costume to "improve the efficiency of your armor." While Booster's goggles are more than just fashion, he only rarely uses them to their full ability.

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ISSUE REVIEW

Boosterrific Review: Chris Batista's artwork is the highlight of this middling issue sending science-hero Steel into space to face cliched mid-1990's aliens.

Boosterrific Rating:

• Currently 3.0/5 Stars.

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