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The Debut of Steel (and True Diversity)

By Andy Frisk
December 13, 2011 - 17:07

John Henry Irons, aka Dr. Irons, aka Steel made his return to DC Comics as a superhero in Action Comics (2011) #4. Obviously, to thousands of Superman fans, this was a good thing, as Steel was the best supporting Superman Family character to spin out of The Death and Return of Superman saga. In fact, for a while, Steel was popular enough to support his own series. It didn’t last long, and recently John Henry Irons/Steel has languished on the sidelines, hardly making an appearance in any of the Superman titles. Subsequent writers, most likely wanting to distance themselves from the glory years of Dan Jurgens and company’s run on Superman in the 1990s, and in an effort to make their own legendary stories (which met with mixed success at best), pretty much let Steel gather dust. Now though, with the new focus on diversity in the DCnU, and with one of their original, and actually interestingly portrayed, diversity characters not even being regularly used, is it any wonder that he’s coming back to the fore so quickly? Should this have been the case though? John Henry Irons is not an affirmative action character, and shouldn’t be though of in that way…as I’m sure some readers might. John Henry Irons/Steel demonstrates that a minority character can stand all alone on his own without his minority being a driving factor for getting him onto the printed page. In fact, John Henry Irons/Steel is such an interesting character in his own right that his "diversity" has nothing to do with his appeal. It is a huge shame that Steel wasn’t awarded his own New 52 book. He is a greater example of diversity mattering because as far as this character is concerned his diverseness doesn’t matter.

Instead, characters like Virgil Ovid Hawkins/Static Shock and Voodoo got their own series. While these characters have their own interesting stories, and Static Shock had his own cartoon series, they really weren’t central to the DC Universe in any real way before the re-launch. They are new(ish) characters. One didn’t even exist in the DCU before becoming part of it after the folding of DC Comics’ Wildstorm imprint and subsequent recruitment into the DCnU along with a host of other characters who really weren’t that interesting to begin with (like Superman’s new main punching bag Helspont). While giving these characters a spotlight isn’t a bad thing, it feels like this spotlight is being forced upon them. They aren’t widely known. I myself had never even heard of Static Shock before (I quit watching cartoons years ago—I know, I’m a bad geek). At first glance, both Voodoo and Static Shock appeared to be characters pushed to the fore in an effort to demonstrate DC Comics' newly cherished, and blatantly advertised, diversity. The problem is that these characters most likely won’t stand the test of time and are sure to be inevitably replaced by bigger sellers. This is something of a tragedy, of DC Comics’ own making though, as two of their (attempted) marquee diversity characters might end up making room for simply more of the same. Static Shock and Voodoo are not headliners, at least not with today’s comic reading crowd. In fact Voodoo is already undergoing a major “change of direction.” Sadly, DC Comics already has a great character whose diversity is obvious, but so natural that he would have been a great spotlight character, obviously in the hands of a worthy creative team, and would have made DC Comics’ desperate point that they are diverse without having to point out that they are trying to be diverse. Steel should have been one of The New 52 titles.



John Henry Irons, despite being a spin off character of the quintessential All-American character of Superman, is actually inspired of an even deeper All-American character that is part of the nation’s deeper and even more legendary cultural, economic, and social national character: John Henry. John Henry is equal to Paul Bunyan, Babe the Blue Ox, and Johnny Appleseed, all of which themselves are characters that represent other aspects of American diversity. The linking of the characters of John Henry and Superman in the character of John Henry Irons/Steel simply reinforces the fact that Superman now has achieved equal standing metaphorically with the legendary metaphorical characters of America’s past. John Henry is the metaphor for America’s industrial age. Johnny Appleseed represents the America’s farming and ecological aspects. Paul Bunyan is the metaphor for America’s pioneering spirit of expansion, and now Superman is firmly entrenched as the metaphor for the American immigrant experience. All are metaphorically diverse characters, if not in race, in the aspect of the economic, social, and labor diversities that make up America. A diversity of callings that are unique to the American experience, regardless of race, and that demonstrate the inherent diversity in America.



So while there is room for characters like Static Shock and Voodoo, their role should take a backseat to the spotlight role that should belong to John Henry Irons/Steel. Alas though, with DC Comics’ mutilation of the Man of Steel’s status quo, there had to be some other way to introduce Steel since, as is now obvious, The Death and Return of Superman is no longer cannon. Morrison does do a great job of re-introducing Steel in to this new age though, and it’s a perfect example of how Morrison succeeds in weaving his subversion of the mainstream themes into mainstream superhero comics (although he still does better with his own subversive creations). Morrison pretty much effectively removes the direct Superman inspiration from John Henry Iron’s origin. Iron’s states that he’s “always been inspired by heroes,” way before Superman arrives on the scene. He built his suit of armor to protect Earth from aliens, not to take Superman’s place. This is the first thematic development surrounding the DCnU’s Superman stories and history that is changed for the better. Irons is even more of his own man and is on the scene, albeit not as a costumed hero, before Superman. He actually saves Superman’s bacon as well. Morrison subjugates the relatively new American Icon to the “diverse” and already in place American Icon of John Henry. Superman is the alien other (or more aptly: American Immigrant) needing a helping hand. Irons is the established hero (not only of might, but of conscience) who’s eschewing the praise and support of the modern American icon: a greed and ego driven, financially and intellectually superior mega-millionaire and establishment supporting Lex Luthor, in order to extend a helping hand to the newcomer trying to make his way in this new world while using his gifts to better his environment. Now if that’s not a hero of diversity to be spotlighted, I don’t know what is. It’s just a shame that we had to wait four issues in to see him on the scene because of the damage done to Superman and, more importantly, Irons’ already diverse and organic status quo. Again, Steel should have been one of The New 52's titles, not Voodoo.     

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12