First appearing in The Adventures of Superman #500 (June 1993), he is the second character known as Steel and was created by Louise Simonson and artist Jon Bogdanove.[1] Aspects of the character are inspired by the African American folk hero John Henry, as well as Superman.[2][3]
Doctor John Henry Irons was a brilliant weapons engineer for AmerTek Industries, who eventually became disgusted when the BG-60, a powerful man-portable energy cannon he had designed, fell into the wrong hands and was used to kill innocent people.[4] As the company would have coerced him to retain his services, John faked his death, and eventually came to Metropolis. While working on a construction site, he managed to save another worker from a fall but subsequently fell off the building himself, only for Superman to catch him in time. When John Irons asked how he could show his gratitude, Superman told him to "live a life worth saving". During Superman's fatal battle against Doomsday, Irons attempted to help Superman fight the deadly menace by picking up a sledgehammer, but was buried in rubble amidst the devastation. Shortly after Superman's death, he finally awoke and crawled from the wreckage, confused and saying, "Gotta stop Doomsday!".
He recovered, but discovered that the gangs in inner-city Metropolis (now unopposed by Superman) were fighting a devastating gang war using BG-80 Toastmasters, an upgraded version of his earlier AmerTek design. Irons created and donned a suit of powered armor in Superman's memory to stop the war, as well as the weapons, which were being distributed by Dr. Angora Lapin (also known as the White Rabbit), a former partner and lover during his time at AmerTek Industries.
The "Reign of the Supermen" story arc saw the rise of four "Supermen" who were differentiated from each other with nicknames previously applied to Superman; Irons was referred to as the "Man of Steel", which was later shortened to "Steel" by Superman himself.
Eventually, Steel's moral stance led him into conflict with the more ruthless "Last Son of Krypton", the subsequent battle taking them to Coast City when Steel intervened to stop the Last Son killing a lawyer acting on behalf of Superboy, a teenage clone of the original. Steel and Superboy met with Supergirl back in Metropolis in time for the true Superman to return in a Kryptonian battlesuit, brought back to life but with limited powers following his rebirth. Superboy revealed that Coast City had been attacked by the alien tyrant Mongul and the Cyborg Superman, who had already attacked and apparently killed the Last Son. The four heroes travelled to Coast City and were able to defeat Mongul and the Cyborg, while the returned Last Son was revealed to be the Eradicator, who had created a humanoid body based on Superman's own, the entity sacrificing itself to protect Superman from a kryptonite asteroid and recharge his powers. Even with Superman's return, he affirmed that Steel and Superboy could continue operating as heroes, expressing pride in what John Henry had done with his second chance.
The series began by having Steel leave Metropolis and return home to Washington, D.C., revealing that it had been five years since he had left. He erroneously believed that his old employers, AmerTek, would no longer be interested in him. This turned out to be false when they attacked his home. Between this attack and his knowledge that the Toastmasters were now being used on the streets of D.C., he re-forged his armor and began his crusade against AmerTek, which he knew was responsible for leaking the weapons onto the street. Steel decided not to use the "S" emblem, however, since he felt that his battle might take him outside the law.
Steel's family was introduced in this series: his grandparents, Butter and Bess, his sister-in-law Blondell, and her five children: Jemahl, Natasha, Paco, Tyke, and Darlene (the latter two being foster children).[7]
Steel's early adventures pitted him against AmerTek and against the gangs that were using his weapons. His nephew, Jemahl, was involved in one of the gangs, which he thought offered him protection. He was proven wrong, however, when the gangs turned against him to get to Steel. Tyke was paralyzed by a bullet meant for Jemahl and Blondell was assaulted. Steel eventually took down AmerTek and the gangs, and focused on who was helping AmerTek distribute the weapons. This led him to track down a group called Black Ops, led by the villain Hazard.[8]
During this time Steel had found romance with Physician Amanda Quick who treated his nephew Jemahl Irons (who was the brother to Natasha Irons), when he got hooked on the superpowered drug "Tar". She returned John's feelings for her. He shared his identity and adventures with her growing close together and falling in love.[9]
Steel briefly joined up with Maxima, who was still on Earth at the time and working with the Justice League, to help her with an alien warlord named De'cine. During this time, Steel developed the ability to teleport his armor onto and off of himself. At first, it appeared purely by reflex (whenever he was in mortal danger) but he soon began to better control it, although he had no idea how it happened.[10]
Steel continued his battle against Hazard's Black Ops and against the return of the White Rabbit. A bounty hunter named Chindi attempted to take down Steel, but after realizing Hazard was experimenting with children, he ended up as an ally of Irons.[11] He was called away from Earth as part of the Superman "Rescue Squad" when Superman was put on trial for the destruction of Krypton.[12]
Once Steel's identity was out, his family had no peace. They were harassed by neighbors and mobs. Then they were attacked by Doctor Polaris, the Parasite, and others. John Henry's beloved grandmother, Bess, was killed and the family was forced to go into hiding, relocated by a friend of Steel's called Double.[14]
Steel learned that the three Black Ops agents were not truly killed. They briefly joined him in battling a monstrous, animated form of his armor that attacked him. Steel speculated that the armor came alive because of his own guilt and the strange teleportation effects. He managed to banish the monster and recall his true armor.[15]
The title received a shakeup when Christopher Priest became the lead writer in issue #34. Steel relocated to Jersey City, New Jersey with Natasha and began to work at Garden State Medical Center. He built a new suit of armor that was significantly less powerful than the previous one (but featured the return of an Kryptonian peace symbol on his shield on it). While in Jersey City, he clashed with Dennis Samuel Ellis, a resident at Garden State Medical and rival for the affections of another colleague, Amanda Quick. Hospital administrator and gang leader Arthur Villain (pronounced "Will-hane") recruited Ellis to become his personal bodyguard. Given a suit with several hidden weapons, Ellis adopted the name "Skorpio" and became a recurring nemesis for Steel. Eventually Steel was reunited with his brother Clay, a hitman whom everyone assumed had been killed. Clay assumed the alias "Crash" and managed to acquire a pair of Steel's flight boots before turning himself in so that he could save his daughter Natasha when she needed a blood transfusion. The series was canceled after issue #52, which featured Steel running the hospital after the unmasking of its previous coordinator, Villain.
During the Worlds Collide crossover series between DC and Milestone Media, Steel encountered his Milestone counterpart Hardware. Each hero questioned the other's motivations, Steel believing Hardware to be too rebellious and Hardware believing Steel to be too trusting and naive.
Steel retired from active duty during the Imperiex War after he was injured while wearing the Entropy Aegis, an alien armor created on the evil planet Apokolips; it nearly consumed his "soul" after he was taken by the Black Racer while attempting to release Doomsday and use him against Imperiex. Superman eventually confronted Darkseid in single combat with the aid of the rest of the Superman family to keep Darkseid's other forces delayed, requesting only that Darkseid release Irons from the Entropy Aegis after his defeat in exchange for him never sharing the results of this battle with anyone, although they had to rush Irons back to Earth for urgent medical attention, as he was restored in the same physical state he had been in when he was placed in the armor, and it was speculated that the injuries would prevent him ever becoming Steel again.
During his retirement, Irons made a suit of armor for his niece Natasha, who became the new Steel. Although he was no longer actively fighting crime, he remained an important ally of Superman. He unintentionally usurped the position of Emil Hamilton as Superman's technology guru, one of several developments that led to the emergence of Ruin.
John Henry Irons donned his armor once more in the wake of the Battle of Metropolis during Infinite Crisis. Along with most of Earth's united heroes, Steel helped defeat the Secret Society of Super Villains in Metropolis, but became bitter with life and a perceived narcissism within Earth's superhero community. After the disaster, John baited Natasha into an argument in which he prevented her from leaving Metropolis to join the Teen Titans. Irons refused to let her go and ordered her to continue collecting all the debris in the city, culminating in him destroying her armor in spite.
A week later, at his Steelworks facilities, John Henry appeared to be hallucinating due to the effects of an unknown metabolic toxin. His flesh seemed to be in the middle of transforming into metal just before the lab exploded.
Three days later, Steel, again wearing his armor, was called in by Doctor Mid-Nite to help him with the wounded heroes returned from space after the Crisis. He used Pseudocytes to aid in Mal Duncan's recovery.
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