Steel

Right.

His name is John Henry Irons.

So it's in the name.

Who's a genius weapons developer, but a former colleague goes rogue, starts selling these weapons to bad guys, so Irons makes himself a very powerful suit and becomes Steel.

Yeah, he does.

He wears the heavily armored high-tech suit of protective gear that grants him enhanced durability against gunfire and explosions.

Yeah.

So just to mention, when we talk about potential love interests for Alana Lang, I mean, of course, you know, we're debating the viability of Clark, but certainly she had this, this long-term marriage to Pete Ross and she's currently married to John Henry irons.

And, uh, in the, my girl episode of Superman, the animated series, she's dating Lex and on Smallville, she marries Lex, but let's not forget a Vartox here as well.

The other thing about Bronze Age that I just wanted to mention more, it's relatively minor, but a fascinating bit of business here.

I mean, whether, again, we've seen different spins on how involved they are, but yeah, ultimately, it is that road not taken.

Now, we've talked about our mixed feelings about her as Superwoman.

But as far as Lana's current status quo as the wife of John Henry Irons, a.k.a. Steel, which we also saw play out on the television screen on Superman and Lois.

Yeah.

Uh, on Superman Unlimited Number 17, this is what happens.

So Steel, who is Lana Lang's, uh, man, his, her romantic love interest, Steel apparently shows up in the tunnels underneath El Caldero, and just gave Lana a hope speech that it...

A hope speech so good that it allowed her to remove the K infection from Superman, Lois Lane, Tomorrow Man, Superboy Prime, and Conner Kent.

So when we thought she lo- she had, like, passed out and something had happened to her, uh, she just kind of recovered because Steel was like, "You got this, Lana.

You can do this."

[laughs] Believe in yourself.

Uh, so the, so Superman Unlimited number 2, uh, in the second issue of the series, uh, Superman manifests a spectacular golden form that makes him temporarily immune to green kryptonite.

Uh, let's see.

[laughs]

Uh, where's John Henry Irons right now? [laughs]

J- John Henry Irons, it is like [laughs] you can see like the big like big cartoon like shift card going in.

Like the shing, shing.

[laughs] And like, "Ah, another day handled.

He pauses and then he like waits for it to buzz again, which it does, and then he looks at it.

[laughs]

It is, um, what is, what is, uh, what does John have Superman listed in, in, in his phone?

100%.

Um, you know, ever since we met John Henry Irons-

Yes

... or John Henry in, uh, the Absolute Universe, all I've wanted-

Yeah

... was more.

Exactly.

All I want is more, and, like, that's what this is about, right? Like, you know, we, we start with, like...

Superman villains.

And, um, it's all told through the perspective of John Henry Irons-

Yeah

... who's been a very prominent character as of recent.

[laughs]

He's adorable.

He runs up to things and he goes, "Ah." Um, and, uh, we get a reflection of, like, uh, John Henry Irons talking about, it's like, "Well, I was there.

Like, you saved me from this." So, like-