Cecil Stedman

Cecil Stedman is a fictional character, a United States government operative in the Image Comics Universe. He is the head of the Global Defense Agency and is in charge of the Guardians of the Globe.

Fictional character biography

He first appeared in Brit: Cold Death. Cecil is head of the Global Defense Agency, a secret U.S. government agency charged with protecting the world from planetary level threats. His most distinguishing characteristic is scarring on the lower right side of his face.

In Invincible #9, Cecil reestablished the Guardians of the Globe under the leadership of Robot.

In Invincible #13, he offered Mark a job with the G.D.A.; the same position his father Omni-Man once held.

In Invincible #36, Cecil arrested D.A. Sinclair for the crimes he committed while creating his "Reanimen" only to offer him a job with the G.D.A. to create more "Reanimen".

His secret history is revealed in Invincible #50, after the falling out between him and Mark Grayson.

As a young agent, Cecil was held captive by a brother-sister team of supervillains called The Order of the Freeing Fist, who were intent on sparking a revolution by using a highly corrosive gas called chemical X to destroy an entire city. The superhero Brit was sent in to stop them and rescue Cecil, but was too late to prevent the siblings from setting off the canisters of chemical X, which Cecil was tied to. In the ensuing fight, Cecil is horribly burned and loses most of his skin. A few weeks later, Brit visits a fully recovered Cecil in a hospital and Cecil tells Brit that now most of his skin is in fact artificial, and the scarring on his face was the only part of his skin that was salvageable. Cecil chose to keep it as a reminder that failure of his job got people killed.

Years later, The Lizard League launches an assault on the Pentagon. Cecil and his boss (the current director of the GDA) are attacked by Komodo Dragon, only to be saved by the same villains responsible for almost killing Cecil. Cecil's boss reveals that he faked their deaths and has been using them as both bodyguards and to train an elite force, far more useful than keeping them behind bars. Cecil shows his gratitude by shooting both of them. This is witnessed by the Guardians of the Globe and Cecil is sent to Stronghold Penitentiary. Months later, Cecil's boss comes to him with an offer: replace him in the Global Defense Agency, or rot in prison. After some debate, Cecil accepts. A year later, Omni-man comes to Earth. Cecil meets with him, and afterwards it's shown that Cecil's adapted the methods of his predecessor, despite his previous attitude towards them, and has known the whole time that Nolan has not been truthful of his intentions on Earth, but lets him go on because, although he might be lying, he's a tremendous asset to the protection of the planet.

In Invincible #111, Cecil was killed by Robot.