John Henry Irons, aka Steel, is enjoying his time in the spotlight thanks to the Dawn of DC, and the “Steel: Engineer of Tomorrow” storyline in the current Action Comics.
June 6th marks the hero’s 30th anniversary (thanks, Adventures of Superman #500), and as a special treat actor and science fiction phenom Michael Dorn will be breaking into the world of comics with a six-issue limited series: Steelworks.
You may remember Dorn as the voice of Steel in the beloved cartoon Superman: The Animated Series which means he has a good idea of who the character is, which helps as this is new territory for him. “Writing a comic book is a completely new experience for me,” said Dorn. “But working with Sami [artist Sami Basri of Catwoman, Harley Quinn fame] and seeing his art has really helped me bring the personality of John I crafted in the series to the page. I can’t wait for fans to see what we’ve got planned!”
The Metropolis of the future owes a lot to John Henry Irons, aka Steel, and his pioneering company, Steelworks, but there’s one person who isn’t into progress and instead wants to tear down everything Irons has done as the ultimate revenge.
Ain’t it always the way that when everything in life starts going great that’s when the problems start? John’s walking on sunshine lately, his personal and professional lives are finally on track, even his will-they-or-won’t-they dance with Lana Lang might be coming to a positive end. But, something’s gotta give and in this case it might be John’s superhero lifestyle: has the time come for him to retire Steel? And, if he does, who is he then? What happens to his niece, Natasha Irons and her embodiment of Steel? Still, these existential questions might be moot if Steelworks comes crumbling down…
Steelworks #1 features a main cover by Clay Mann, with variant covers by iconic Steel and Superman artist Jon Bogdanove, series artist Basri, Ariel Colón, and Héléne Lenoble, plus a PRIDE month variant cover by Joshua “Sway” Swaby. The debut issue is available for pre-order now; check your local comic book shop for availability and cover options.
