Steel, the Indestructible Man #5

Weak from injuries, Steel, the Indestructible Man, tackles a monstrous creature. Steel, the Indestructible Man, beats the shambling horror away from Doctor Olivia Brown. The nightmarish beast gains the upper hand, first slamming Steel, the Indestructible Man, into Brown's vehicle, then hurling him deep into the wilderness. Brown hurries to gather the samples of bio-restardant formula she was transporting, while the monster is occupied with Steel, the Indestructible Man. While she gathers the samples up, Brown reflects on their creator, biologist Hank Heywood. The creature returns for Brown, her scream cut short as she, mercifully, loses consciousness.

The horrific abomination carries Brown deeper into the marsh, towards a structure, barely visible in the fog. Steel, the Indestructible Man, regains consciousness, in a pool of quicksand. Using a climbing cable, Steel, the Indestructible Man, is just able to pull himself out, before the tree supporting the cable snaps under his considerable weight. Steel, the Indestructible Man, returns to Brown's vehicle to find her gone, along with the bio-retardant formula. Steel, the Indestructible Man, reflects on the events that brought him to this moment. Steel, the Indestructible Man, had been severely injured, in a battle against the Gadgeteer.

Barely conscious, Steel, the Indestructible Man, kept the doctors from removing his cowl, and revealing his secret identity. Upon regaining consciousness, the doctor told Steel, the Indestructible Man, that he would likely die from the severity of his injuries. Steel, the Indestructible Man, knew that his only chance lay with the bio-retardant formula. The same formula that could also save the life of his mentor, Professor Gilbert Giles, who lay dying from a massive cardiac infarction. Despite the risk to his life, Steel, the Indestructible Man, left the hospital, and tracked Brown, across the country, in the hopes of garnering the formula.

Giles daughter, Gloria, believes that her boyfriend, Private Hank Heywood, has abandoned them, during their hour of greatest need. Unbeknownst to Gloria, Heywood is Steel, the Indestructible Man. Steel, the Indestructible Man, believes that the revelation of his identity is what caused Giles' heart attack, and thus blames himself for his mentor's dire condition. Steel, the Indestructible Man, finally caught up with Brown's vehicle as it neared the Canadian border. That's when the creature first appeared, causing the driver to swerve off the road. The hulking behemoth beat the driver to death, spurring Steel, the Indestructible Man into action.

Alas, Steel, the Indestructible Man fared little better against the terrifying monstrosity, barely surviving his own encounter with it. Steel, the Indestructible Man, follows the creature's tracks to Hawk House, an enormous mansion left to ruin. The caretaker allows Steel, the Indestructible Man, entry, but bars him from meeting with the master of the house, Andrew Hawk. Steel, the Indestructible Man, shoulders past the caretaker and moves to the rear of the house. As Steel, the Indestructible Man, makes his way through the shadowy corridors, he is nearly slain by an enormous guillotine blade, that drops from the ceiling.

Steel, the Indestructible Man, is next targeted by heavy machine gun fire, from turrets that emerge from the very walls. Warily moving through the house, Steel, the Indestructible Man, nearly falls through a trap door. A heavy slab of concrete falls to plug the opening, forcing Steel, the Indestructible Man, to drop down through it. Steel, the Indestructible Man, falls into an aquarium, where he is promptly attacked by a shark. The severity of his injuries, coupled with the abuses he has been put through begin to take their toll on Steel, the Indestructible Man. With the last vestiges of his strength, Steel, the Indestructible Man, shatters the aquarium glass, with the body of the shark.

In a flooded laboratory, Steel, the Indestructible Man, is confronted by Gunnerson, the head of the Hawk Medical Research Center. Gunnerson reveals that Hawk was once a famous silent movie actor, whose career was ruined by the advent of the 'talkies". One night Hawk, and his brother, Jonathan, drank themselves into a stupor, before departing for Hawk House. Jonathan cautioned his brother against driving in his inebriated condition, but was rebuffed. Hawk crashed the car, but survived nearly unscathed. His brother was not so lucky. Jonathan underwent multiple surgeries to repair his shattered body.

Though the bio-retardant formula finally mended his broken spine, the process ruined his mind, and horribly mutated his body. Unnoticed by Gunnerson, or Steel, the Indestructible Man, the ceiling begins to crack, and crumble. Gunnerson leads Steel, the Indestructible Man, to Jonathan Hawk, who is revealed to be the monster. Steel, the Indestructible Man, attacks the horror that was once Jonathan Hawk. Steel, the Indestructible Man, notices that Gunnerson seems to be reveling in the creature's attack. Remembering Gunnerson's commentary on Jonathan's broken spine, Steel, the Indestructible Man, strikes hard there, felling the beast. Gunnerson is crestfallen.

Steel, the Indestructible Man, reveals the truth. The creature is actually Andrew Hawk. "Gunnerson" is merely a disguise worn by Jonathan Hawk. The guilt of not standing up to his brother, on the night of that fatal car crash, has consumed Jonathan. As Hawk House begins to collapse around them, Jonathan does nothing to save himself, or his brother. Steel, the Indestructible Man, gets Brown, and the bio-retardent formula, to safety.

Note: In 1978 the series was abruptly canceled in a company wide decision on cancellations which has become known as the DC Implosion. The cancelled material was later reworked into All Star Squadron #8-9.

Note: This issue contains the Hostess Superhero Ad, Batman and the Corsair of Crime.