John Henry Irons is a former weapon designer for the military who quit after a powerful type of gun he created

called a BG 60 was used by terrorists to kill innocent people. He's also the first person to call himself Steel. He first appeared in the Return of Superman story arc after witnessing a kid get killed by a more powerful version called the BG 80 also called a Toastmaster to after being caught in the crossfire of gang war to his horror he puts on a Steel Suit and calls himself the Man of Steel in order to destroy the weapons and find out who is suppling them to the gangs.