Steel is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is a genius engineer who builds a mechanized suit of armor that mirrors Superman's powers. Steel initially seeks to replace Superman, who has been killed by Doomsday. After Superman is resurrected, he accepts Steel as an ally. Steel's sledgehammer and real name of John Henry Irons are references to the mythical railroad worker John Henry. He has a niece named Natasha Irons who is also a superhero with similar steel armor.
The character is portrayed by Shaquille O'Neal in the 1997 film adaptation of the same name and Wolé Parks in the television series Superman & Lois. Additionally, Michael Dorn, Phil LaMarr, Zeno Robinson, and Byron Marc Newsome have voiced the character in animation.
Publication history 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. Aspects of the character are inspired by the African American folk hero John Henry, as well as Superman.
Fictional character biography The Death of Superman
John Henry Irons is a weapons engineer for AmerTek Industries who designed the BG-60, a portable energy cannon. After gangsters and criminals obtain the BG-60 and use it for evil, Irons fakes his death and flees to Metropolis. While working on a construction site, Irons falls off a building and almost dies, but Superman saves him.
The story arc "The Death of Superman" sees the rise of four "Supermen" who seek to replace Superman after he is killed by Doomsday: the Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, Superboy, and Irons. The four are differentiated with nicknames previously applied to Superman. Irons is referred to as the "Man of Steel", which is later shortened to "Steel". After Superman is resurrected, he allows Steel and Superboy to continue operating as heroes, expressing pride in what Irons had done with his second chance.
Steel series Steel was spun off into a solo series,Manning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 265: "Steel finally stepped out of Superman's shadow in his own ongoing series by writers Jon Bogdanove and Louise Simonson, and artist Chris Batista." written by co-creator Louise Simonson and later by Christopher Priest, from 1994 to 1998. The series involves John Henry Irons returning to Washington, D.C. five years after his departure. 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).Steel (vol. 2) #1 (February 1994)
Steel's early adventures pit him against AmerTek and against the gangs that were using his weapons. His nephew, Jemahl, is involved in one of the gangs, which he believes offers him protection. Tyke is paralyzed by a bullet meant for Jemahl and Blondell is assaulted. Steel eventually takes 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.Steel (vol. 2) #2–8 (March–September 1994)
Tyke, frustrated and angered by his handicap, reveals Irons' secret identity to men working with Hazard. Hazard unleashes a cyborg named Hardwire, who attacks the Irons family and seriously wounds Butter. Child protective services take Tyke and Darlene away, with Tyke ending up in Hazard's custody. During Steel's battle with Hardwire, he is forced to remove his armor to save his life, revealing his identity to the public.Steel (vol. 2) #23–27 (December 1995 – April 1996) Various villains attack the Irons family, during which Irons' grandmother Bess is killed and the family is forced to go into hiding.Steel (vol. 2) #28–29 (May–June 1996)
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 its predecessor. The series was canceled after issue #52, which featured Steel running the hospital after the unmasking of its previous coordinator, Villain.
JLA and the Men of Steel Around the time the Steel series was cancelled, Steel is recruited into the Justice League due to Batman's concern that the League was already top-heavy in brawn and required more thinkers. During his time in the League, Steel played a crucial role in the defeat of villains such as Prometheus and Queen Bee. He even served as the leader of the reserve team—consisting of Huntress, Big Barda, Plastic Man, and Zauriel—left in the present during the DC One Million event. Following the battle against Mageddon, he ceased to serve as a full-time member of the League, although he stayed on as a supporting member for quite some time. He also became a regular member in the Superman titles, having relocated with Nat to Metropolis to run his own workshop there, called "Steelworks". He also revealed at this time that he had known Superman's identity for some time.
Steel retires from active duty during the "Our Worlds at War" event after he is injured and the Entropy Aegis armor nearly consumes his soul. During his retirement, Irons creates a suit of armor for his niece Natasha, who became the new Steel.
52
John Henry Irons returns as Steel during the Infinite Crisis event. He is unknowingly subjected to Lex Luthor's metagene therapy, giving him the ability to transform into living steel. John attacks Luthor, but is stopped by Natasha. After investigating Luthor's Everyman Project, John learns that the metagene therapy is temporary and was intended to test the effects of the process.52 #29 (January 2007)
Infinity, Inc.
Steel is one of the main characters of the second volume of Infinity Inc., which debuted in September 2007. Natasha Irons is revealed to have been subjected to the Everyman Project, giving her the ability to transform into living mist. Natasha, Mercy Graves, and several other victims of the Everyman Project found a new incarnation of Infinity, Inc.Infinity, Inc. (vol. 2) #1 (November 2007)
Reign of Doomsday
In January 2011, Steel featured in a one-shot comic written by Steve Lyons. Sean Chen was initially announced as the artist, but due to scheduling problems, Ed Benes took over the art duties. Steel finds himself the only person who can defend Metropolis from an attack by Doomsday. During the battle, Doomsday inexplicably develops metallic armor and the power of flight, countering Steel's own abilities, and manages to capture him.Reign of Doomsday: Steel one-shot (March 2011) Steel awakens in a dimensional prison with Superboy, Supergirl, the Eradicator, and Hank Henshaw/Cyborg Superman, all of whom have been captured by Doomsday. The five explore the prison and learn that they were captured by clones of Doomsday created by Lex Luthor to distract Earth's heroes while he sought the power of the Black Lantern Ring, with each Doomsday clone designed to eliminate a specific target.Action Comics #900 (June 2011)
The New 52 In The New 52 continuity reboot, John Henry Irons is a scientist working on the government's "Steel Soldier" program. He retaliates and quits his job after seeing Lex Luthor mistreat Superman.Action Comics (vol. 2) #2 (October 2011) When John Corben goes on a rampage after donning the government's "Metal 0" suit, John Henry aids Superman in fighting him off by using his own prototype armor for the first time, uploading a virus into the Metal 0 suit that he designed specifically to shut it down in the event of the user going rogue.Action Comics (vol. 2) #4 (December 2011)
DC Rebirth In 2016, DC Comics implemented a relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth", which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to The New 52. Steel now protects Metropolis alongside his girlfriend Lana Lang.
The New Golden Age reveals that Steel has a great-uncle who was also named John Henry Irons (making Steel's real name John Henry Irons II) and who operated as a racial freedom fighter called John Henry Jr., taking up the mantle of the late John Wilson/John Henry from The New Frontier who was now canonical to the main DC continuity.The New Golden Age one-shot (January 2023) After being transported to the present day, John Henry Jr. meets his grandnephew and his great-grandniece Natasha.Justice Society of America (vol. 4) #6 (November 2023)
Powers and abilities John Henry Irons is a master engineer and a natural athlete who frequently displays an impressive degree of strength. In addition, he wears a suit of powered armor which grants him flight, enhanced strength, and endurance. Steel modified his suit many times through his career. The initial "Man of Steel" design was armed with a wrist-mounted rivet gun and the sledgehammer (like the one used by his namesake John Henry) that was ubiquitous for most of his designs. The original design on his breastplate featured a metal version of Superman's "S" insignia, which Irons removed after the return of Superman. Two later armor designs incorporated a similar, but different, "S" symbol. A large hammer is also a key weapon in the suit's arsenal. Irons' current "smart hammer" hits harder the farther it is thrown, is capable of independent flight, and has an on-board computer guidance and analysis system capable of detecting stress points.
When he wore the Entropy Aegis, he had god-like strength and durability and could enlarge himself to giant size. He also had the ability of flight due to energy wings, could travel through time and space at will, and could fire blasts of energy that would reduce a target to its composite elements. However, the Aegis made him very violent and slowly erased his soul.
During the 52 event, John Henry Irons was altered by the Everyman Project and temporarily became a metahuman with the ability to transform into living stainless steel.
Enemies
Alter – A detective that developed the ability to turn into a hulking monster with super-strength, claws, and invulnerability. The side-effect left him with a multiple personality disorder.Steel (vol. 2) #9 (November 1994) Amalgam – A criminal with a cybernetic arm.Steel (vol. 2) #2 (March 1994) AmerTek Industries – An industrial military firm that John Henry Irons used to work for. Thomas Weston – A colonel and weapons developer who runs AmerTek Industries. Arthur Villain – A surgeon and administrator at Garden Valley Medical Center.Steel (vol. 2) #34 (January 1997)Steel (vol. 2) #8 (September 1994) Ba'ad – A cyborg mercenary from the planet Kreno.Steel (vol. 2) #11 (January 1995) Black Ops – A criminal organization.Steel (vol. 2) #0 (October 1994) Hazard – Manuel Cabral is the cybernetic-enhanced head of Rainforest Technologies who is the leader of Black Ops. Hardsell – A member of Black Ops with invulnerability and super-strength. Hotspot – A pyrokinetic member of Black Ops who also possesses flight and intangibility. Mainline – A member of Black Ops with energy projection, flight, and super-speed. Quake – A member of Black Ops who can perform shock waves. Shellshock – A female member of Black Ops with super-strength. Split – A member of Black Ops with teleportation. Blockbuster – A super-strong crime boss.Steel (vol. 2) #32 (November 1996) Central Avenue Skulls – A street gang that operated on Central Avenue and wield Toastmaster weapons. Cowboy – The leader of the Central Avenue Skulls. Chindi – Russell Wolf is a man whose suit enables him to possess super-strength, enhanced durability, flight, and force field projection.Steel (vol. 2) #17 (July 1995) Crash – Clay Irons is the brother of John Henry Irons.Steel (vol. 2) Annual #2 (September 1995) Deadline – A phasing assassin who targeted Steel once.Steel (vol. 2) #49 (April 1998) Doctor Polaris – A magnetic supervillain.Steel (vol. 2) #29 (August 1996)