DC Comics superhero is from the Philippines
The super-strong Captain Steel is the latest character in mainstream
American comics to have Filipino roots
By Ruel S. De
Vera
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Saturday, June 15th, 2013
CAPTAIN Steel in DC Comics’ “Earth 2” #13
Believe it or not, the Philippines appears in mainstream American comics
fairly often, though the country is usually shown being ravaged by a natural
disaster—a tidal wave or a volcano erupting—and is in the process of being
rescued by a superhero.
Sometimes, the superheroes can speak a little Filipino while they’re at
it—even villains do it occasionally. A Filipino artist will sometimes drop a
visual reference or two, such as when Leinil Yu had an alien shape-shifter take
on the appearance of a certain former Philippine president in an issue of Marvel
Comics’ “Secret Invasion” miniseries.
What is extremely rare is for a superhero appearing in DC Comics, Marvel,
Image Comics or Dark Horse Comics as a Filipino character.
Salvador Joel Alonday
The Filipino superhero who has appeared in American comics is Salvador Joel
Alonday, the erstwhile Philippine Scout Ranger with energy powers code-named
Grail. Created by Filipino-American comics artist Whilce Portacio for his
“WetWorks” series in Image Comics, Alonday debuted in “WildC.A.T.S” #2 in 1992.
Portacio later gave a supernaturally Filipino feel to his series “Stone” for
Avalon Studios.
Ginaldo
The earliest appearance by any kind of Filipino character in Marvel Comics is
the badly stereotypical, bolo-wielding villain Ginaldo, a Filipino assassin
working for the Japanese during World War II who appears in 1941’s “Marvel
Mystery Comics” #26, according to Marvel’s Wikia.
Super team
Marvel gave the Philippines its own super team when writer Matt Fraction and
artist Salvador Larocca introduced the Triumph Division in “The Invincible Iron
Man” #2 in 2008. They had a headquarters known as Triumph Hall, and teamed up
with Iron Man to battle longtime nemesis the Mandarin. Iron Man’s alter ego,
Tony Stark, also hired a Filipino scientist named Timothy “Tim” Cababa for his
new company, Stark Resilient.
Manuel Lago
DC Comics had its first recurring Filipino character in Manuel Lago, an old
friend of the Flash (Barry Allen), but he essentially became the duplicating
clone villain Mob Rule in Filipino-Canadian writer/artist Francis Manapul and
Brian Buccellato’s “The Flash” #4 in 2011.
Captain Steel
DC has never had a hero with Filipino roots until now. In “Earth 2” #13,
which shipped to comic shops last June 5, the character known as Captain Steel
was revealed to have Filipino origins.
This wasn’t always the case. The original character, then just called Steel,
was thoroughly American—his real name was Henry Heywood—and first appeared in
1978’s “Steel: The Indestructible Man” #1, later becoming known as Commander
Steel, with adventures set during WWII.
His two grandsons became superheroes as well, with Hank Heywood III joining
the Justice League of America as Steel in 1984, and Nathan Heywood joining the
Justice Society of America as Citizen Steel in 2007.
That continuity was erased after DC’s “New 52” reboot. The series “Earth 2”
featured a parallel world where the invading forces of the planet Apokolips had
killed Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman—thus paving the way for a new
generation of heroes, called “wonders.”
Thus, “Earth 2” #13 had the World Army’s Commander Khan describing Captain
Steel this way: “Although an American citizen, he’s native Filipino—born in the
Philippines. His father—natural or adopted, we’re still unclear—wanted the best
for his son.”
Congenital defect
But Hank Heywood Jr. suffered from a congenital defect causing his bones to
grow increasingly brittle. So, his scientist father created a metal substance
and replaced his bones, organs and limbs with it, giving him super strength
(this was also pretty much the origin and superpower set of the previous Steels,
along with a degree of invulnerability).
Additionally, Captain Steel has gained the ability to control anything made
of metal. This version of Steel was created by writer James Robinson and drawn
by Yildiray Cinar. Captain Steel makes one heck of an initial impression as he
pilots an experimental craft known as the Red Torpedo into an Apokolips Fire Pit
in Brazil, only to emerge alive but injured and on fire.
In March, Robinson told reporters he was including a Filipino superhero to
add diversity to the book. That proved to be Captain Steel. Robinson, however,
has since left the title after finishing “Earth 2” #16, which likely ships in
September or October.
Who knows what’s in store for DC’s first superhero from the Philippines?
Budjette Tan, cocreator of the comic book series “Trese,” says: “Considering
how we Pinoys are so proud of fellow Filipinos whenever they win competitions
abroad, even if they’re just 1/4 Pinoy, we already feel like we also won! If the
character is handled right, then he can be a hero that Pinoy kids can look up
to.”
Trickle-down effect
Tan cites the trickle-down effect of having a young Hispanic hero like the
new Blue Beetle or an African-American teen like the current Ultimate
Spider-Man: “Kids can easily imagine themselves as those heroes.”
Says Paolo Fabregas, writer/artist of “the Filipino Heroes League”: “If we
can look heroic in any aspect in Western media, I’ll take it. There may be more
Filipino characters. There are millions of us in the US and our numbers are
still growing, so we’re getting difficult to ignore. Is there a need for such
characters? Well, I guess that would depend on the author’s intentions. I hope
that they give a just depiction of us.”
Tan adds: “If the story calls for it, it would be great to see more Filipino
characters from the big four. It would be inspiring to see a Pinoy character in
the comics we read on a monthly basis.”
"Superman, Batman, the X-Men, Spider-Man—almost everyone is at least familiar with them, but not many know that Filipinos have drawn the exploits of these and other characters going on several decades now. I think exploring this topic would be a source of great pride for all Filipinos," says Marcelo.
