A Man & His Hammer: STEEL (Simonson/Bogdanove, Priest, Etc.)

[C-Dot]

On February of 1994, the "Reign of Tomorrow" kicked off with books that spun off of the events of the "Reign of The Supermen" event in Superman comics.



One of the books starred John Henry Irons, the lead "Superman" in the book "Superman: Man of Steel". Creating a suit of armor and wearing the cape of Superman, Irons defended Metropolis while honoring Superman's legacy. The character, given the name "Steel" by Superman, became a hero in his own right in a 52 issue series with creators Louise Simonson & Jon Bogdanove (with Steel in Washington D.C.) and Christopher Priest & Denys Cowan (With Steel in Jersey City).

This year is the anniversary of the Steel series.

Steel and his niece Natasha Irons (who would later receive a suit of armor for a brief time) would become mainstays in the comics. The character earned a place in the Justice League, made several appearances in other media, and became a known hero to this day.



This thread is about John, but also about Natasha, his supporting characters, villains, his armor (all five or six versions of them), favorite stories, his role in the JLA, moments, thoughts, things you liked about the series, and all of the above.

[Sacred Knight]

Really dig that costume. I liked it best when they started applying two different shades of color to the steel. Gives it more pizazz.

[Penguin Truth]

I never got into Bogdanove's art. I felt it ruined a lot of otherwise good stories.

[C-Dot]

Prototype Steel Armor.


Reign of the Supermen
(See armor above)

Steel in Washington DC


Steel in Jersey City.

[C-Dot]

Fourth armor with the different helmet.....



Entropy Aegis



Return of Reign of the Supermen theme.

[manduck37]

Steel quickly became one of my favorites. I loved him in Reign and followed his short lived series. Any guy who can strap on some armor and take down the Eradicator is cool with me. I hope we see more of him in the Nu52. He's a dreadfully underused character. It would have been nice to see him turn up in JLU or something.

[C-Dot]

Really dig that costume. I liked it best when they started applying two different shades of color to the steel. Gives it more pizazz.

That armor did make him stand out.....had his own S, the overall look, and the "smart hammer". The armor before that one had the different shades too and I did like that it was more advanced than his first.

But this one from the art of "Forging of a Hero" .....



Looks like a mix of the two.

[TomServofan]

He's been one of my favorite underrated DC characters for 25 years since i was 11/12 when i read his comics and he's quite a unique character and a relatable character to some folks.

Do you consider him to be DC's Iron Man in aspects even John Henry Irons as DC's Tony Stark in aspects? they did fought and met in DC vs Marvel crossover comics/cards.

[Kuwagaton]

That's so crazy, I was going to start this thread later today.

Well, not crazy, because Steel is worth it. I recently finished a read through of Gangs of Metropolis, and am restarting the Priest/Cowan run. I still remember grabbing issue #28, my first regular Steel comic, off the rack.

[rosawater]

Yes, I am so here for this! Steel is one of my favorite characters as well and I also feel he is underrated.

[stephens2177]

Isn't there a steel appreciation thread somewhere in this forums old pages? Can't imagine this great character not having one for this long

[Thor-Ul]

Bring back the man of mettle!! A fave of mine.

[Assam]

He's pretty cool. Haven't read too much of his solo, but his storyline in 52 was bloody fantastic.

Isn't there a steel appreciation thread somewhere in this forums old pages? Can't imagine this great character not having one for this long

Not that I'm seeing with a google search. Linda didn't have a thread till I started one a few months ago either.

Bring back the man of mettle!! A fave of mine.

He's been around since Rebirth started as a main character in Superwoman.

[daBronzeBomma]

Isn't there a steel appreciation thread somewhere in this forums old pages? Can't imagine this great character not having one for this long

I found it. It's on these current boards:

A Man And His Hammer - STEEL

Maybe a merger between the two threads is in order?