Man of STEEL: John Henry Irons Appreciation 2021

[Celgress]

Man I hope Steel gets a Red & Blue story, he actually has the perfect color scheme for it...

I hope so too. If there is any justice at DC/Warner he will not that I'd hold my breath considering how Steel has been treated historically.....

[Thor-Ul]

I love Steel and I think he has such a cool character design. He needs to be used way more. Has it ever been explained how his mask/helmet works? It’s a metallic mask but his facial features and mouth can move. Liquid metal?!? I know I’m over thinking it but it’s something that intrigues me.

Originally, his mask was solid, stablished by Bogdanove, but later not every artist respected that and as Vordan says, svereal other artists used to "emote" with the face. I'm not sure if with Batista or Knowlan (and Priest pen) he started usinga indestrutible polymerm mask. The liquid metal is a late addition.

[Vordan]

I’ve only ever read scattered issues of Steel’s ongoing. Crazy how he had a solo that ran 40+ issues, what a different time it was. I keep hoping for Steel to pop up in outside media in a big way somewhere so DC might collect all Simonson & Priest’s work in trades or omnibuses, but I think maybe I’ll buy a month of DC Universe and just read the whole series on there.

[Vordan]

Thought I’d bump this to ask: PKJ has been teasing some stuff with Steel. We know that Natasha Irons as Steel will be in Superman & The Authority. Do you guys thing John will be getting something separate, or are the plans with Natasha the teased Steel plans? I’m thinking it’s separate because John was in the spread ad while Natasha wasn’t, so I think he will be getting something else. Much as I do like Natasha, John is my guy and I’m hoping he gets more stuff.

[The Frog Bros]

John's gotta be getting at least something at some point, either in the new run or as some sort of sidebar. It can't be a coincidence that he's on that wraparound variant cover (and pretty prominently featured to boot). Calvin Ellis was on the Infinite Frontier cover and now he's popping up a bunch more in the forthcoming stuff. Maybe we'll see a similar pattern with Irons...

[Powerboy]

This armor is so dope, I love the lights.

Agreed. Or, as I would say, this armor is awesome.

[Vordan]

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That his armor looked a lot like his face always struck me as a really cool feature.

[9th.]

[Mistah K88]

How do we feel that Steel has done in adaptive media? Of course there is the movie that we don't really talk about, he showed up a couple times in the DCAU, the Death of Superman/Reign of the Supermen movies, and he's had small bit parts in other animated projects with larger rosters.

[Vordan]

How do we feel that Steel has done in adaptive media? Of course there is the movie that we don't really talk about, he showed up a couple times in the DCAU, the Death of Superman/Reign of the Supermen movies, and he's had small bit parts in other animated projects with larger rosters.

Underwhelming. He only showed up in the DCAU with JLU and was just a glorified cameo (and they didn’t give him the S-shield! ). I liked him in Reign of the Supermen but the DCAMU basically ended right afterwards.

I must admit I’m kind of worried with the new black Superman movie coming, Steel will just be pushed to the side and forgotten. He’s only gotten scraps so far and that’s really disappointing. I hope whatever plans DC has for him really knock it out of the park because he really needs some love.



Will always be pissed we didn’t get this. Steel and Kenan in a Superman cartoon, seemingly main cast members? Yeah I’m bitter this didn’t happen.

[The Frog Bros]

Underwhelming. He only showed up in the DCAU with JLU and was just a glorified cameo (and they didn’t give him the S-shield! ). I liked him in Reign of the Supermen but the DCAMU basically ended right afterwards.

I must admit I’m kind of worried with the new black Superman movie coming, Steel will just be pushed to the side and forgotten. He’s only gotten scraps so far and that’s really disappointing. I hope whatever plans DC has for him really knock it out of the park because he really needs some love.



Will always be pissed we didn’t get this. Steel and Kenan in a Superman cartoon, seemingly main cast members? Yeah I’m bitter this didn’t happen.

Whoa, that looks cool. I was hoping for some Kenan easter egg in the Superman & Lois episode where he saved that fisherman from the crumbling bridge.

[Vordan]

From Priest’s Steel run

[Robanker]

Count me as a fan who prefers the riveted full-steel face mask. It just feels so visceral, like he actually made a suit instead of the usual super science that may as well be magic. That tangible quality always endeared me to John Henry Irons. It struck the right balance of "spirit of Superman, body of a human" that really works for me. It also provides a good contrast to Lex who is firmly in the "science magic" realm. John is intelligent and a man of integrity and never does it feel contrived as Lex can under weaker writers.

[atomicskull]

I think it's cool that Steel is one of the few black superheroes with a rogues gallery.

[Vordan]

I think it's cool that Steel is one of the few black superheroes with a rogues gallery.

I’m glad Priest was able to bring back Dr. Villain for his Deathstroke run