Vigilante Lieutenant Harry Stein is an eighteen-year veteran of the
NYPD. His first DCU appearance was in
Vigilante #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 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 Chase is 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 by
Valentina Vostok. His first mission is to help 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 (Christopher Smith), who Chase has sworn to kill.
Doom Patrol Harry Stein shows up next in
Doom Patrol (vol. 2) #2, heading for a meeting with his boss, Valentina Vostok. Harry later makes it inside the complex of Kalki (father of
Celsius), 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's double identity as doctor Johnathan Carmichael out of his reports. Harry informs the Doom Patrol that the Agency needed them to rescue an American superhero who had been taken hostage in
San Salvador.
Checkmate Harry Stein is appointed Valentina Vostok's replacement in the Agency's command position by
Amanda Waller. 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 as his working model. 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. ==References==