Steel Facts

Are you a fan of John Henry Irons? Well, metal up! We got One Dozen Steel Facts!

1. John Henry Irons was created in 1993 in "The Adventures of Superman #500" and was created as one of four replacements for Superman following "The Death of Superman". After Doomsday killed Superman, John Henry Irons created an armored suit to replicate Superman's powers, donned his symbol, and became Steel, protector of Metropolis. From there he became the central character of the "Man of Steel" series where he fought gang violence.

2. John's name is inspired by John Henry, an African American Folk Hero. He was described as a steel-driving man who used a hammer and a drill to dig through stone. John Henry's proficiency wound up getting him into a digging competition with a steam-powered hammer. He miraculously won the contest, but died of exhaustion with his hammer in hand.

3. John began as a weapon engineer for AmerTek Industries. After building a weapon that caused the death of innocent people, he faked his death to escape his company's grip over his inventions. AmerTek secretly released John's weapon designs to gangs in Metropolis, so Steel waged a one man war on his former company. During that period, Steel removed the "S" from his chest as he felt he was going outside the law to battle AmerTek.

4. Between Steel, The Eradicator, Superboy, and Cyborg Superman, Lois Lane was less skeptical of Steel than the others replacement Supermen. Currently, John is dating Superman's high school sweetheart Lana Lang/Superwoman. Steel knows Superman's secret identity, he has access to and has helped rebuild The Fortress of Solitude.

5. John's sister-in-law has five kids. Two of which were foster children. They were taken by child protective services after Steel's identity was revealed to the public and his family home was burnt down. John's brother Clay was a hitman who went by the name "Crash" and turned himself into the police so that his daughter Natasha could get some of his blood for a much needed blood transfusion.

6. Darkseid once created a suit of armor called The Entropy Aegis, crafted from Apokolips technology and the shell of the Imperiex, a villain with the power to create big bangs and destroy universes. This suit was supposed to trap Superman, but Steel donned the armor instead. He could use it to grow giant, form energy wings, travel through space and time, and reduce enemies to composite elements with an energy beam. Steel became increasingly dependent on it until Superman freed him.

7. Following the cancellation of his solo series, Steel was added to The Justice League roster at the request of Batman who wanted more intelligent members on the team. He was a critical player in the battles against Queen Bee and Prometheus. He led The Justice League during a time when the main team was displaced in time, his reserve team consisted of Plastic Man, Huntress, Big Barda, and Zauriel The Angel.

8. In "DC: The New Frontier" John Wilson dons a black hood tied with a noose, a sledgehammer, and the name John Henry as he avenges his family after they were murdered by the KKK. In "Kingdom Come" Steel joins Batman's faction against the totalitarian Superman, now wearing an armor with Batman's ears, symbol, and cape, as well as a bat-shaped hammer. In "Injustice" John died when Joker nuked Metropolis, but his niece Natasha became Steel and claims her "S" symbol isn't Superman's, it's Steel's. In "Steel: Crucible of Freedom" John is depicted as a slave during the Civil War. He creates suits of armor for his master who fights for The Confederacy, but dons one himself after his son and other slave children drowned to death due to their master's negligence. He leads the slaves to revolt against the masters, and goes on to become the John Henry from folktale legends. 

9. Steel's armor gives him flight, durability, and super strength. He can also fire rivets from his gauntlets and hammer. The hammer is the consistent part of Steel's armory, as it was once a simple bludgeoning weapon Steel has upgraded the hammer with an on-board navigational system and made it capable of independent flight. He also invented a device that could teleport the suit over him and off of him, he later evolved this tech to teleport himself completely. Lex Luthor once altered John's DNA against his will, this caused John's body to be composed of stainless steel. John could form a suit over himself, produce metal from his body, and heat metal to the point of melting.

10. After his teenage niece Natasha Irons created her own armor to help Superman release John from the Entropy Aegis, John retired and gave the Steel mantle to her. As Steel, Nat once saved Superman's life with Supergirl/Cir-El and Traci 13. Natasha wanted to join The Teen Titans, but John forbid her from going to try-outs so she could help clean debris in Metropolis. She refuses and John took the armor back. Nat would go on to get her DNA altered and become Starlight, capable of super strength, flight, and solid light construction, and following that her power's devolved and she became Vaporlock with the power to turn into mist. Recently, she has returned to being Steel and it has been established that she is dating Traci 13 and will become a member of Nightwing's Titans.

11. In "Superman vs The Terminator: Death to The Future" Superman is thrown to a future ruled by Skynet. There he meets an older version of John Henry Irons who retains his armor and hammer and has been helping John Conner and The Resistance battle Skynet. In "JLA/Avengers" Steel created a battery pack that allowed Wally West/The Flash to stay in The Marvel Comics Universe by absorbing Speed Force energy, as the Marvel Universe does not have a Speed Force.

12. Steel fought Atlas once and was left comatose. After he recovered he fought Atlas again, and won. He also temporarily overpowered Doomsday using nano-machines. He and Batgirl once deprogrammed a planet-destroying alien weapon with minutes to spare.

Thanks for reading.

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