General Information
Real name: John Henry Irons
First Appearance: Adventures of Superman #500 (June, 1993)
Created by: Louise Simonson
Jon Bogdanove
Affiliations: Justice League
Abilities: Genius-Level Intellect
Expert Engineer
Expert Inventor
Portrayed by: Shaquille O'Neal
Michael Dorn (Voice)



John Henry Irons was originally 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 overseas. Faking his death, he came to Metropolis under the assumed identity "Henry Johnson," where one day, while working a construction job high up on a skyscraper, he fell off while saving a friend from the same fate. His own life was saved by Superman. During Superman's fatal battle against Doomsday, Irons was buried in rubble amidst the devastation. Shortly after Superman's death, he finally awoke, to find out that gangs in inner-city Metropolis were fighting a bloody gang war using BG-80 Toastmasters, an upgraded version of his earlier design. Irons created and donned a suit of powered armor in Superman's memory in order to stop the flow of weapons--and find atonement. During the Reign of the Supermen storyarc, he was often called the "Man of Steel" to identify him in contrast to the other Supermen, which was shortened to "Steel" by Superman himself.

The Man of SteelEdit

His parents were murdered when he was young and he felt that the only way to protect his family was to become rich and powerful. John Henry went to Yale on a sports scholarship before getting hired for Amertek. John Henry Irons, a ballistics expert, enjoyed both wealth and success designing hi-tech weapons for a contractor with government ties. Irons used the money to help his family and was convinced he was doing good. When a series of weapon prototypes, the BG-60s, were leaked to a terrorist cell in Qurac, a fire fight erupted that left many innocent people dead. Irons, flying over to inspect the scene, was horrified at the thought of what his work had led to. He destroyed all the remaining prototypes and attempted to delete all information of a more powerful model, the BG-80, before going into hiding in Metropolis. He got a job as a steelworker under the assumed name "Henry Johnson." One day, a coworker on a high-rise fell and "Henry" swung out to save him, only to then fall and plummet towards his death. Luckily, Superman saved him. He told Superman "I owe you my life" and Superman replied by telling him he should make it count for something. Not very long afterwards, Doomsday smashed his way into Metropolis, and Irons tried to reach Superman--only to be buried in a collapsing building. He was not able to free himself until it was too late. A few weeks later, his weapons are being used by gangs on the street, under the name "toastmasters." Irons decides he must take action, so he forges a suit of armor, flight boots, and completes the look with an "S-shield" and cape. He quickly learns the source of the guns is a mysterious White Rabbit. A neighbor of his, a psychic named Rosie Kratz, insists that this "Man of Steel" is in fact Superman--or at least Superman's soul in a new body. At the same time, however, there are three other "Supermen" in Metropolis, all with seemingly stronger claims.

The Man of Steel gets to work. Shrugging off an offer by Lex Luthor to work for him, he continues to follow the trail of guns, attempting to nail down the source. During his effort, he meets Lois Lane, after he saves her in a manner reminiscent of how she met Superman. Unlike the other claimants, however, he insists that he never claimed he was the actual Superman. He also chides Superboy for being too reckless. His search leads him to the White Rabbit, and as he feared it is his old partner, Angora, who helped him design the weapons. She offers to make him a partner, and when he refuses, she blasts him out a window and flees. As he attempts to track down White Rabbit, Steel encounter the Eradicator, here calling himself the "Last Son of Krypton, who brutally kills a thug who had turned a gun on John Henry. Steel criticizes the visored Superman, telling him there is no way he can be the real thing. Enraged, the visored Superman attacks Steel, and they fight until Lois Lane arrives and is able to pull them apart. The Last Son gets enraged again, however, when a process server arrives telling him that the Superboy has secured the actual rights to the name "Superman." Steel attempts to contain the situation, prompting the Eradicator to launch them almost into orbit before crashing in California. The Eradicator resumes the fight, but Steel is able to battle him to a standstill (at least temporarily) yelling that being Superman is about more than just having power, but having humanity and compassion. The Eradicator withdraws from the battle. Steel gets a lift back to Metropolis, where the White Rabbit ambushes him at the airport. Fighting off her thugs, he grabs her and forces her to take him to her manufacturing plant. She attempts another ambush here, but he breaks free. The plant is destroyed and the Rabbit seemingly killed, but Steel knows it is not the end of the Toastmasters.

After Coast City is destroyed, Steel decides to investigate first hand. The Cyborg Superman has announced that he and Superboy were not able to defeat the "Last Son," responsible for the destruction, but Steel does not trust this account. Running into Lois Lane, he finds she does not trust it either. Hearing a nearby disturbance, they find Luthor and Supergirl at the docks, facing a huge Kryptonian warsuit. Superboy arrives as Steel knocks down the suit, telling everyone that the Cyborg is the real villain and plans on destroying Metropolis next. The real Superman emerges from the warsuit. Steel and the others are skeptical at first, especially since Superman wearing a black costume and is powerless. Upon being assessed of the situation and having a brief, private conversation with Lois Lane, Superman decides to head for the ruins of Coast City. Steel and Superboy decide to go with him, despite their doubts. Superman borrows a pair of LexCorp flight boots and they set out. They discover Engine City in the midst of the ruins and launch a frontal attack. They manage to get inside the city, but Superboy must quickly leave again to deflect a missile launched for Metropolis.

Steel and Superman continue their way inside. Superman reveals that Supergirl has been with them the entire time, fighting invisible along side them. This only helps affirm to Steel that Superman is who he says he is. The trio encounter Mongul, who announces he has just ordered Engine City to fire its reactors, which will cause the Earth to spin out of orbit. While Superman and Supergirl fight Mongul, Steel goes off to stop the reactor. There he encounters the Cyborg--taking on monstrous new forms--and desperately gives all he's got to grind the engines to a halt, saving the Earth and frustrating the Cyborg's plans. Steel manages to free himself, but his armor is ruined. Superboy returns and saves him from the Cyborg. Green Lantern uses Steel's hammer to defeat Mongul. In the end, however, Superman must battle the Cyborg one-on-one, but emerges victorious and back to full strength. Steel, battered and bruised, leaves the ruins, heading back to Metropolis alongside Superboy and Supergirl via a military transport helicopter. After a few weeks of doing his best without his armor to round up more toastmaster, John Henry decides it's time to head back to where it all began--Washington, D.C. He parts ways with Superman and leaves Metropolis, and what he thinks is his career as a superhero.

Steel Solo SeriesEdit


Steel's early adventures pit him against Amertek and against the gangs that using the weapons he designed. He quickly learns his nephew Jemahl is involved in one of the gangs, which he thinks offers both him and the family protection. His faith in his "crew" is shaken, however, when a fellow gang member, Spiral, frames Jemahl after a gun deal goes badly. The gang's leader, Cowboy, turns Jemahl over to their supplier, Amalgam. Steel rescues Jemahl and delivers Amalgam over to the police (though not before Amalgam murders Spiral, learning the truth of what happened).


The information Steel gave to Beryl eventually leads to the downfall of Amertek and the arrest of Col. Weston. Not satisfied with ending it there, Steel decides to go after the ones behind Amertex. This leads him to track down a group called Black Ops lead by the villain Hazard. The trail first leads back to Metropolis, recently in ruins due to the Fall of Metropolis storyline. Steel's arrival also coincides with the World's Collide event. Steel has to fight alongside Superman once again to defeat the power of Rift. He also gets a firsthand look at Hazard and Black Ops. Hazard is all to aware of Steel's intentions.

Back in D.C., John Henry meets Dr. Amanda Quick while checking on Tyke's condition (his paralysis has left him depressed). Hazard orders his troops to attack Steel at the National Mall. Steel battles Flatline, Hotspot, and Quake while his family is nearby (at the Vietnam Memorial). Hazard calls off the troops, sending his teleporter, Split, to pull them out. Shortly thereafter, Steel saves a U.S. Senator from Hazard's assassination attempt, whereupon Hazard sends Shellshock, Hardsell, and Mainlineto attack him. Split turns up in the battle and takes everyone to Hazard's lair, where Hazard himself knocks Steel unconscious. Stripped of his armor, John Henry tells his entire story to Hazard. After his offer of employment is rebuke, Hazard fires on Steel--whose armor mysteriously appears around him. Breaking free, Steel forces Split to take him clear of Black Ops. He knows the situation with Black Ops is far from over.


Wanting to track a Black Ops satellite in orbit, Steel turns to the Justice League for help. Maxima, on Earth at the time and working with the League, offer to help him by bringing him into orbit. Once there, however, they are captured by an alien warlord named De'cine, and his accomplice, B'add. De'cine is trying to force Maxima to marry him as a means of seizing power on Maxima's homeworld. Steel is not killed because the alien scan indicate he is a cyborg. During this time, Steel's armor demonstrates it will appear around him whenever he is directly threatened (i.e. in mortal danger). Steel manages to break free, defeating B'add, and then rescuing Maxima from De'cine and his mother, who has rendezvoused with them in her own warship. The two steal De'cine's ship and head back to Earth with their enemies in pursuit. They detonate the ship after fleeing in a lifepod, creating the impression they were both killed so De'cine and his mother depart. Steel and Maxima are then rescued by the Justice League, but the satellite he wanted to investigate self detonates when he gets near it, leaving another dead end.



Another kidnapping--this type of an old high school teacher of his--leads Steel to join up with Lethal. They find his old mentor and rescue him from a zombie lord named Declaude. During Underworld Unleashed, a string of riots breaks out over D.C. While attempting to help the police, Steel encounters Metallo, now with the ability to reform any metal into a new body for himself. Steel tries to fight him off and recover a bomb planted beneath a mosque. He uses the bomb on Metallo high above D.C., seemingly stopping him. Afterwards, he meets the Alpha Centurion, who was seeking him to join a Superman Rescue Squad, as the Man of Steel had been kidnapped by an alien Tribunal. Steel agrees to join the team.

Steel joins Supergirl, Superboy, and the Eradicator onboard the Centurion's ship and head out into space. Superboy tells the others he does not trust the Centurion. These fears seem to be vindicated when the Centurion seemingly abandons the rest to battle an alien platoon on an asteroid. Steel modifies some equipment the Centurion left them to form a makeshift transport. Arriving on a nearby planet, the team is confronted by the Cyborg Superman, who easily takes down all four of them. He turns them over as prisoner of the Tribunal, whom he is working for.







A Fresh Start in Jersey CityEdit



Villain is subsequently kidnapped by an African warlord and Steel has to go rescue him. During this adventure, he joins up with the Question to free Villain. While in Africa, Steel meets up with Double and asks him to track down Hazard for him. On the way back to Jersey City, he stops off in D.C. to visit Col. Weston in prison, asking if he knows anything about the microchip that had been implanted in him. Weston denies any knowledge of the chip. Hazard then contacts Steel and admits both that he knows nothing about it and that he is no longer interested in Steel at all. Unbeknown to John Henry, his brother Clay Irons--whom everyone assumed was dead--has come to Jersey City to settle some scores under the name Crash.

Steel designs a new hammer to augment the new armor. At the same time, Natasha is beaten up by a creep at her school named Kilo after she refused to sleep with him. Kilo is found dead the next day. Margot brings John Henry in for questioning. He admits to confronting Kilo, but says he did not kill him, and the D.A. has no choice but to let him go for lack of evidence. Double, Crash, and Skorpio all confronted Kilo but none of them killed him either. The real killer was Dr. Villain, though no one discovers this but Skorpio. Crash keeps an eye on Nat (his daughter) from a distance. Steel helps deliver a baby before John Henry has a date with Dr. Quick. After getting lost driving in the city, they are pulled over by racist white cops who pull John Henry out of the car and beat him senseless. They let the pair go after stealing John Henry's flight boots from the car. Amanda drives them to the hospital. While Steel learns that Boris is there (he is HIV positive), Amanda learns that Skorpio is actually a doctor at the hospital--but she does not tell Steel.




Steel is notified by a man named Cardinal that Crash is the one who took his flight boots. Crash plans on ridding Jersey City of crime by controlling the criminal element. Steel is still unaware Crash is his brother when he confronts him. He is then asked by Dr. Villain to bring a heart transplant to the hospital. Along the way, he is attacked by Deadline, who is hired to destroy the heart (being rushed to a mafia don). Steel fights him off and the transplant is successful--though Skorpio kills the man shortly thereafter. Steel is called on to assist Superman Red and Superman Blue--as well as the Justice League and many other heroes--battle the Millennium Giants, part of the crossover Behold! The Millennium Giants!. Shortly after the battle, Steel is asked to join the recently reformed JLA.

Skorpio, angry at Steel for "stealing" Amanda, contacts Crash and promises to help him get Steel's attention. Crash does not know the details, and is shocked and angry when Skorpio poisons Natasha. Steel uses an EMP pulse to knock all his hoods out of the air before confronting Crash, realizing finally it is his brother. Skorpio's poison has no antidote, but requires a complete blood transfusion. His plan had been to leave Steel at Crash's mercy, but instead Crash volunteers for the transfusion to save his daughter. Steel battle Skorpio, who admits to working for Dr. Villain. Steel refuses to kill him, but has him and Dr. Villain arrested. Amanda is arrested as well for not disclosing what she knew about Skorpio. Nat recovers and John Henry is appointed the new hospital administrator.

JLA and the Men of SteelEdit

Around the time of Steel's cancellation, he was recruited as a member of the Justice League. He stayed on as a supporting member for quite some time. He also became a regular member in the Superman titles. Steel does not stay with the hospital long, but soon relocates with Nat to Metropolis to run his own workshop there, called Steelworks, now developing non-lethal weapons and equipment for the Special Crimes Unit and other outfits. The two became partners of a sort and John Henry helped Superman build a new Fortress of Solitude. Superman eventually decided to reveal his secret identity to his partner, but John Henry had already deduced it. Nevertheless, he was honored to have Superman's full trust. Steel retired from active duty after he was injured while wearing the Entropy Aegis, an alien armor created on the evil planet, Apokolips, which nearly consumed his soul.







Three days and two nights later, Irons appears, transformed into a man of living steel, at a party held by Lex Luthor. In a rage, he attacks Luthor, demanding to see Natasha and threatening or endangering anyone that gets in his way. However, Natasha herself soon appears to stop John before he kills Luthor. John, still enraged, is then beaten by Natasha one-sidedly until he comes to his senses. Realizing that Natasha was right to stop him from killing Luthor, he admits it, but maintains that he is right, too. He then asks Natasha to "give it up, come home". Natasha responds by punching John repeatedly and sending him flying into the Metropolis bay.




Powers and AbilitiesEdit


  • None, but wears a powered armor. Previously, during the 52 event John Henry Irons was altered by the Everyman Project and had become composed of stainless steel due to Lex Luthor tampering with John's DNA without John's consent. In 52 #29, the metal skin peeled off completly, leaving him, again, a normal human.
  • Living Stainless Steel (formerly): had a body composed of bulletproof stainless steel. In addition, he can generate enough heat to turn metal fluid (including his own body, which he can then drip off of himself in small amounts). It is as of yet unclear exactly how he generates the heat, though it may be somewhat electric or kinetic in nature.


  • Genius-Level Intellect: Genius engineer and inventor. It is obvious that Dr. Irons possesses several degrees in Physics, Quantum Physics, Advanced Energy Physics, Temporal Mechanics, Mechanical Engineering, and Robotics. It is likely that he has even more education than can be currently assessed by the creation of his powered armor. Has knowledge of physics and ballistics.
  • Expert Engineer
  • Expert Inventor


  • Possesses the strength of a man that engages in intensive regular workouts. In armor, is capable of lifting 70 tons under optimal pressure


  • Electromagentic Pulses: The armor can be shut down through Electromagnetic Pulses

In Other MediaEdit

  • Coming Soon

See AlsoEdit


  • Coming Soon


  • Priest's run on Steel focuses heavily on themes of racism.

