Harry Stein is a fictional

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

and

secret agent Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ''e ...

featured in

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. Stein first appeared in ''

Vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...

'' #23 (November 1985) and was created by

Paul Kupperberg Paul Kupperberg (; born June 14, 1955) is an American writer and comics editor. He is currently a writer and executive editor at Charlton Neo Comics and Pix-C Webcomics, and a contributing author with Crazy 8 Press. Formerly, he was an editor for ...

and Tod Smith.

Fictional character biography

Vigilante

Lieutenant Harry Stein is an eighteen-year veteran of the

NYPD The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

. His first DCU appearance was in ''

'' #23 where he is introduced as the head of a police task force operating out of Midtown South. This task force's sole job is the apprehension of Vigilante (Adrian Chase) whom they believed was a cop killer. Gary Washington the very first

Checkmate Checkmate (often shortened to mate) is any game position in chess and other chess-like games in which a player's king is in check (threatened with ) and there is no possible escape. Checkmating the opponent wins the game. In chess, the king is ...

Knight was also introduced during Harry Stein's run, in issue #24 as Stein's partner. In ''Vigilante'' Annual #2, Harry Stein uses illegally obtained evidence to prove Adrian Chase is the Vigilante. Stein admitted to illegal search and seizure and all charges against Chase were thrown out. In #37 Stein is forced to resign by his supervisor Chief Rogers and hands over his badge, Rogers informs him that there are criminal charges pending against him. In #37, Harry is recruited into the

Agency Agency may refer to: Organizations * Institution, governmental or others ** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients ** Employment agency, a business that s ...

Valentina Vostok Valentina Vostok is a fictional character by DC Comics. She first appeared in '' Showcase'' #94 (August 1977), and was created by Paul Kupperberg and Joe Staton. In live-action, Valentina Vostok made her debut in the first season of the CW Arrowv ...

, his first mission is to help a mentally unbalanced Vigilante (Adrian Chase) take down a ship full of middle eastern terrorists. During the mission, Vostok, Stein and Chase come into conflict with an equally deranged

Peacemaker Peacemaker or The Peacemaker may refer to: Individuals and groups * UN Peacemaker, a project of the UN to support international peacemakers and mediators * Peace makers, a list of contemporary individuals and organizations involved in peacemaki ...

(Christopher Smith), a man that Adrian Chase had sworn to kill. Adrian Chase becomes a cop killer, but commits suicide out of regret.

Doom Patrol

Harry Stein shows up next in ''

Doom Patrol Doom Patrol is a superhero team from DC Comics. The original Doom Patrol first appeared in ''My Greatest Adventure'' #80 (June 1963), and was created by writers Arnold Drake and Bob Haney, along with artist Bruno Premiani. Doom Patrol has appear ...

'' (vol. 2) #2, heading for a meeting with his boss, Valentina Vostok. Harry later makes it inside Kalki's complex (father of

Celsius The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius temperature scale "Celsius temperature scale, also called centigrade temperature scale, scale based on 0 ° for the melting point of water and 100 ° for the boiling point ...

), and shuts down the electrical plant long enough for the Doom Patrol to free themselves from Kalki's traps. Harry promises to leave any mention of

Joshua Clay Joshua Clay, also known as Tempest, is a fictional character, a member of the superhero team Doom Patrol in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Paul Kupperberg and Joe Staton, he first appeared in '' Showcase'' #94 (August 1977). Joshu ...

's double identity as doctor Johnathan Carmichael out of his reports. Harry later informs the Doom Patrol that the Agency needed them to rescue an American superhero who had been taken hostage in

San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

Checkmate

Harry Stein is appointed Valentina Vostok's replacement in the Agency's command position by

Amanda Waller Amanda Belle Waller (née Blake), also known as "the Wall", is a fictional character featured in some American comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in '' Legends'' #1 in 1986 and was created by John Ostrander, Len We ...

. Stein later sought out the most stable personnel available from the American and international intelligence and law enforcement communities to form Checkmate. His agency would field only the best-trained and well-equipped of agents, working under the strictest rules of secrecy. For the organizational structure of the re-organized Agency, Stein chose the game of

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

as his working model.''

Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/Comic anthology, magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as Detective Comics Inc., which later merged into National ...

'' #598 (March 1988) Stein brought in Gary Washington (Knight One) and Black Thorn as operatives, both of whom were his friends, and both of whom were introduced during his run on Vigilante. Harry Stein's sons Barry and Matthew are introduced in ''Checkmate'' #2. On a rare vacation with his sons, Harry confronts a murderous gang of thieves robbing the payroll of a popular and extensive amusement park. Harry deals with the gang, mostly on his own. Months later, he almost loses one of his sons to a killer's bullet. Harry Stein's last recorded appearance was in ''Checkmate'' #33 (January 1991), the final issue of the original series.

Notes

* When first introduced in ''Vigilante'' #23 and throughout his run in that series, Harry was drawn as slovenly and unshaven, in the mould of Harvey Bullock. * In ''Action Comics'' #598 and ''Checkmate'' #2, Harry is shown as a clean cut level headed father.

References

External links

DCU Guide: Harry Stein chronology

DCU Guide: ''Action Comics'' #598

DCU Guide: ''Checkmate'' #1

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stein, Harry Characters created by Paul Kupperberg DC Comics police officers DC Comics superheroes Fictional New York City Police Department lieutenants