Team-up Tuesdays: Steeler Sundays Crossover!

During our last installment, we witnessed the dramatic confrontation between a mind-controlled Sarge Steel attempting to arrest the Sensational Sentinels, and of  singled-minded Steel Sterling's desperate attempt to join the Mighty Crusaders! Let's pick up where we left off, in the next issues of Thunderbolt #58 and Mighty Crusaders #5, respectively:

Steel Sterling allies himself with two other Crusader rejects to form the Terrific Three, and then immediately awakens the ire of the always cantankerous Jaguar over his flippant sense of humour. As the story progresses, they kiss and make up, with Mister Justice primarily focused on the task at hand...fly to the aid of the Crusaders and a 2nd group of  Crusader rejects, the Web, Fox and Captain Flag (that make up the Ultra-Men...you would think that a team of MJ, Jag and Steel would be THE Ultra-Men! Oh well.)

Sarge found himself on the wrong side of the Sentinels, as his  verbal attempt at apprehending the aspiring heroic team was thwarted by the vast mind might of Mentalia. This quickly led to his departure from the strip, as rapidly as he had  just appeared. Yep, no fuss, no muss. Apparently the master villian that sent him, Mind-Bender, knew the Sarge had the stuff necessary to defeat this terrific trio of Charltonians.

Neither Sarge nor Sterling appeared alongside heroic teams following these adventures, at least during the silver age. Apparently they operated best as solo stallions of steel  (sorry) Sarge's appearance served to tie the Sensational Sentinels into the main Charlton universe. Meanwhile, picking up on a thread from last week relating to the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, they had an unpublished meeting with the Mighty Crusaders tying them into their universe. Later, the Agents met another heroic Thunder , a Bunny!

But that is another story for another time. Next week, we revisit the original five Crusaders and, well, the strangest assemblage of five costumed crusaders Charlton ever produced...against a stranger foe!

Steeler Sundays: Team-up Tuesdays Crossover!

This week we have a MEGA crossover of massive proportions, as Steeler Sundays and Team-up Tuesdays will chronicle the EPIC clash of our Steelers against the premier teams of Charlton and Mighty, the Mighty Crusaders and the Sensational Sentinels!

First, we catch up with the Sentinels after their battle with the android minion of Mind-Bender, Titan! It appears the Sentinels malignant mental malefactor sent another pawn to bring down the aspiring heroes, our very own Sarge Steel. Here is a rare CIA cover (he used so many over the course of his career), Sarge attempts to bring in the crew:

 

Elsewhere, the Mighty Crusaders are suffering a crisis of their own, as their acclaim as they are now world famous in their exploits, which caused virtually every costumed hero to petition for membership. Including our very own Steel Sterling, who was a trooper at first when his his number one peep, Mister Justice, swallowed a bullet for him, but now is a bit antsy over his competition joining the Crusaders leading to this tiff:

Looks like the Web can take on Sterling in a one-on-one. What becomes of our misguided Men of Steel? Will they cause further anxiety for their fellow do-gooders? Will they play nice come next issue? This we will discover in the next installment of our EPIC crossover, over on Team-up Tuesdays!

Team-Up Tuesdays: More on our Obscure Teams!

Let's once more revist two grovy gangs of good guys from the mid-60's, which we had discussed earlier, the T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents and the Sentational Sentinels of Justice. First the highflying Helio and Raven:

Both men wore special gear that allows them to fly. While Helio was all around good guy Rick Strong, natural born leader of the Sentinels, Raven was one time con artist Craig Lawson, who finds the Agents' heroic ways rubbing of on him.

Meanwhile, a pair of mentally powered rogues were waiting in the wings (no pun intended) to frustrate our noble teams, Menthor and Mind-Bender.

Due to the device he wore, Menthor (John Janus) eventually turned good, first while wearing it and later it influenced him full time. Mind Bender (identity unknown) apparently never had a compulsion towards the welfare of his fellow man, either before or after his accident.

Helio soon clashed with Mind-Bender after this mad man brainwashed Brute. During the course of a lengthy battle, gravity got the better of Bender leading to a gruesome demise for the arch villain.

Menthor however met his ultimate fate valiantly warning his allies of a death trap, showing his heroic spirit.

Years later, he apparently returned via a residual mental presence housed inside his helmet, now worn by a mysterious new heroine as Menthor.

While Helio's further adventures, if he had any, were left unchronicled, Raven returned years later alongside his T.H.U.N.D.E.R. compatriots to battle an early 80's alien invasion then return to relative anonymity. Next week we will touch on the fascinating connection of these teams to our publishers!