Star Trek star Michael Dorn is writing a comic book starring STEEL

March 12, 2023 Chris Well

Dorn is also the most-seen Star Trek character

DC Comics has announced some big changes coming to their lineup of comic book series. Along with news regarding Wonder Woman, The Flash and Hawkgirl, a big piece of news is that Star Trek veteran Michael Dorn is writing a new comic book starring Black superhero John Henry Irons, who is a tech genius armored up as Steel.

Related link: 42 Important Black Comic Book Superheroes

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From the official press release:

Michael Dorn, legendary actor and the voice of Steel in the classic Superman: The Animated Series, will be writing the not-to-be missed Steelworks with art by Sami Basri (Harley Quinn). The Metropolis of the future is here today, but can it survive a terrorist who’s out for revenge against its builder, John Henry Irons—a.k.a. Steel—and his company, Steelworks…and who possesses secrets that could undo everything John has worked so hard to build?

While John’s professional life is firing on all cylinders, his personal life is even better, as his on-again, off-again relationship with Lana Lang might be back on, permanently. Now he must decide whether it’s time to give up being Steel once and for all. But does John even know who he would be without his superhero identity? How does the other Steel—John’s niece, Natasha Irons—feel about his momentous decision? And does any of that matter if Steelworks crumbles around him when he lacks the superpowers to fight back?

About Michael Dorn on Star Trek

Michael Dorn is an actor who has acted in lots of places. Our favorite place, of course, is his time in the Star Trek universe. Dorn plays the Klingon character Worf, who was introduced on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Worf (and Dorn) was later part of the regular cast on spinoff Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He has also appeared in ST:TNG movies and is part of the current season of the spinoff series Picard on Paramount+.

In fact, it’s been said that Dorn has appeared more times as a regular cast member than any other in Star Trek history.

About John Henry Irons / Steel

When Superman was killed by Doomsday (don’t worry—he got better), one of Superman’s replacements was Steel (John Henry Irons). Inspired by Superman’s selflessness, Irons used his engineering genius to build a robot suit of armor to duplicate Superman’s powers—and also wield a powerful sledgehammer.

Steel first appeared in The Adventures of Superman #500 (1993). He was created by writer Louise Simonson and artist Jon Bogdanove, who were clearly inspired by the African American folk hero John Henry. Henry has a niece named Natasha Irons—she is also a superhero who wears mechanized armor.

The character of John Henry Irons / Steel was played by Shaquille O’Neal in the movie Steel (1997). Wolé Parks plays the character in the television series Superman & Lois.

Steel comic books

Steel comic book series (1994-1998)

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