Natasha Irons (Prime Earth)

Natasha "Nat" Irons is the niece of John Henry Irons. A young technological genius from Metropolis, she followed in the footsteps of her uncle and became the next Steel, using highly-advanced armor she developed herself.

History

Early Years

Due to her father's trouble with the law, Nat and her baby brother Ezekiel were often left in the care of her Aunt Lana and Uncle John, the latter of whom raised her with a deep admiration for the Metropolis hero Superman.^[1][2] Her brother was kidnapped by Skyhook, an former associate of her father looking for revenge, and was never found. Heartbroken, life continued on for Natasha; excelling in the scientific field, she attended college at a young age and became active in scientific research, at one point being invited to conduct studies in Zambia.^[3][4]

At some point, she became well-acquainted with Superman who in turn thought highly of her, calling her a "great kid".^[2]

Becoming Steel

Natasha frequently developed technology for use by her Uncle John and Aunt Lana, then Superwoman, to assist them in battles. Eventually, she began joining them using some of the armor she designed, and together with Traci 13 they faced off against Ultrawoman and later Midnight.^[5][6]

Titans

Natasha began sharing the mantle of Steel with John and was recruited into the second incarnation of Titans.^[7] During this time she developed a working relationship with fellow young genius Ben Rubel after the two briefly had a clash of egos, as well as the ever-friendly Beast Boy.^[8] Steel debated leaving the team after the devastating shooting of Nightwing, who was her inspiration for joining, but ultimately decided to remain on.^[9]

She became somewhat demoralized after an emergency decision to boom the team goes awry, leaving them stranded across the galaxy until their distress beacon is found by the Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. During this time a major Atlantean incident struck the world; Natasha felt guilty, believing that if she had not made the mistake the Titans could have been there to help save lives.^[10][11]

Steel was one of the many heroes deputized as members of the Justice League to assist in the battle against Perpetua.^[12] Along with the other members of the Superman Family, she later helped face the crisis created by Perpetua and her lieutenant, The Batman Who Laughs.^[13]

The Authority

Natasha, who had continued to protect Metropolis in Clark Kent's temporary absence, was recruited by him for a new incarnation of The Authority.^[2] During the team's first outing, Midnighter expressed reservations about Manchester Black's leadership, seeing Steel as the better choice. When the group faced off against fighters hired by the Ultra-Humanite, Steel faced and defeated Siv, a tech-enhanced alien refugee. She expressed empathy for her attacker, who had only participated in hopes of drawing attention to the plight of their people, and promised to help draw attention to their effort.

After the team's success, Superman revealed the team's true purpose: to free the enslaved people of Warworld from the new Mongul.^[14] Unfortunately, they were enslaved by Mongul's warriors after the slaves rejected their call to action.^[15] Natasha managed to defeat multiple combatants throughout her time on the planetoid, leveraging her earned respect to find work with a blacksmith. She used the opportunity to forge a gift for Superman, a rudimentary "S" armor to protect him while depowered by Warworld's red solar radiation.^[16]

Powers and Abilities

Abilities

• Genius Level Intellect
  • Computer Operation
  • Electrical Engineering
  • Mechanical Aptitude
  • Mechanical Engineering

Other Characteristics

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)^[2]
  

Paraphernalia

Equipment

• Chrome Armor: Natasha has semi-sentient metal that she can will to form her own variation of the Steel armor.
  • Superhuman Strength
  • Superhuman Durability
  • Flight: Natasha's armor grants her the ability to fly.^[17]
  • Molecular Reconstruction^[7]
  • Scanners: Nat's armor has built-in scanners to enhance her sensory inputs.^[18]
  • Energy Projection: Natasha's armor has two retractable blasters.^[19]

Weapons

• Kinetic Hammer

Notes

• Natasha Irons was created by Louise Simonson, Jon Bogdanove, and Chris Batista, first appearing in Steel (Volume 2) #1. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Natasha Irons first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Action Comics (Volume 2) #7 by Sholly Fisch and Brad Walker.
  

Trivia

• In Action Comics #1054, Steel refers to Natasha as "Nat Bug", a nickname which the Arrowverse version of John Henry Irons often uses for Natasha's counterpart Natalie Irons in Superman & Lois.
• Natasha once dated Traci 13.^[20][7]
  • The DC Pride variant cover of Steelworks #1 features Natasha with the lesbian pride flag.^[21]
• With her aunt and uncle, she has a pet bulldog named Piggy.^[5]

Related

• 133 Appearances of Natasha Irons (Prime Earth)
• 80 Images featuring Natasha Irons (Prime Earth)
• 1 Quotations by or about Natasha Irons (Prime Earth)
• Character Gallery: Natasha Irons (Prime Earth)

Footnotes

Superman Family member This character is or was an incarnation of or an ally of Superman, and a member of the Superman Family. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Superman Family members" category.

Justice League member This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice League of America members" category.

Titans member This character is or was primarily a member of the superhero team known as the Titans, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Titans members" category.

Authority member This character is or was a member of The Authority, a team of superheroes initially appearing in WildStorm Comics who declared themselves beyond the government, taking justice into their own hands. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the "Authority members" category.