it is always narratively correct to make your characters sleep together before they sort through the hundreds of lies and misdirections between them. make things worse make things worse make things worse #i love betrayal #i love lying #i love people feeling bad about themselves
I went hunting at a place that sells comics (if there's actual comic book stores in my city/country I have yet to find them) and managed to get my hands on a Steel omnibus! I'm enjoying it immensely :^] Are there any storylines/runs you'd personally recommend for more John Henry Irons?
YESSSS STEEL NATION LETS GO!!!! i've been wanting to put together a proper john henry reading list for a while now tbh, so thank you for this excuse to actually do it!
John Henry Irons (Steel) Postcrisis Reading List:
i'm gonna assume you've already read reign of the supermen (linked just in case you or anyone else needs it) and don't need my help re: steel (1994) bc it's a pretty straightforward solo, so i'm primarily gonna focus on steel stuff from triangle era superman!
The Trial of Superman (one of my all-time favorite arcs):
Superman: The Man of Steel #50
Superman (vol. 2) #106
The Adventures of Superman #529
Action Comics #716
Superman: The Man of Steel #51
Superman (vol. 2) #107
Steel #22
The Adventures of Superman #530
Superman: The Man of Tomorrow #3
Action Comics #717
Superman: The Man of Steel #52
Superman (vol. 2) #108
The Adventures of Superman #531
steel is also around during the Millenium Giants event, though he isn't a major focus (it's such a big ensemble event that no one individual really gets a lot of spotlight, you know?). that being said there are some really cute kon & steel and lois & steel moments in it!
Superman: The Man of Steel #78
Aquaman (Vol. 5) #43
Challengers of the Unknown (Vol. 3) #15
Superman (Vol. 2) #134
Teen Titans (Vol. 2) #19
Supergirl (Vol. 4) #20
Adventures of Superman #557
Steel (Vol. 2) #50
Action Comics #744
Superman: The Man of Steel #79
Superman (Vol. 2) #135
after this he appears in a couple of isolated special issues:
Team Superman
Team Superman Secret Files
these are leadups to "Superman Forever" which is a mostly superman-centric follow-up to the millenium giants storyline, set after "Team Superman Secret Files". steel cameos at the beginning of Superman Forever but i wouldn't call it an essential read for him!
JLA is a team-up book, but steel is part of the team from #16-40.
now i'm gonna hop back into triangle era stuff:
Superman: The One Man JLA is a four part story about supes getting kidnapped by aliens (again) and the flash, steel, green lantern, and martian manhunter all going on a space adventure to rescue him. it's in:
Superman (Vol. 2) #147
Adventures of Superman #570
Action Comics #757
Superman: The Man of Steel #92
then back to more on and off issues!
Superman: The Man of Steel #95 (he's only at the very end)
Superman: The Man of Steel #96
Superman: The Man of Steel #97
Superman: The Man of Steel #98
Superman: The Man of Steel #100
Superman: The Man of Steel #101
the next four issues are part of the Critical Condition arc:
Superman (Vol. 2) #158
Adventures of Superman #580
Superman: The Man of Steel #102
Action Comics #767
next up, unfortunately, is the Emperor Joker arc. as you can probably tell by its name.... this arc is about the joker (specifically, the joker stealing mxy's powers). it's...................... i won't lie i found it a slog for the most part. like, yes, there's kon in a burger boy outfit and also batman getting tortured to death, resurrected, and tortured to death again every night, but at what cost. at what fucking cost. i don't really care about this arc, so i'm just gonna link the dcu fandom wiki page in case you want to see the issues in it and leave it there.
Superman: The Man of Steel #106 (REALLY good john henry & lois stuff in this issue <3)
Superman: The Man of Steel #107
Superman: The Man of Steel #108 (CLOISSTEEL)
Superman: The Man of Steel #109
Superman (Vol. 2) #166
Superman: The Man of Steel #110
Superman: The Man of Steel #112 (john henry only is at the end, but what happens there is Important for him. the rest of the issue is mostly about krypto :) puppy!!)
and then we kinda put the caeloss storyline on hold for a bit, because... it's time for Our Worlds At War!! steel isn't in every issue here and it is a huge event, so i'm once again gonna link a list of all of the issues involved. the major points for what happens to steel are in the following superman issues:
Adventures of Superman #594
Superman: The Man of Steel #116
Superman: The Man of Steel #117
Action Comics #782
Superman: The Man of Steel #118 (aftermath)
and then back to more episodic stuff again. the "Gangs of Metropolis" arc picks up on some of the caeloss/suicide slum stuff from before, and is pretty significant for both john henry and nat:
Superman: The Man of Steel #122
Superman: The Man of Steel #123
Superman: The Man of Steel #124
Superman: The Man of Steel #125
the next arc john henry appears in is "Ending Battle", but he's not a major player (it is mostly a superman story), so i'm just linking a list for all of it again. that being said he does show up in:
Superman: The Man of Steel #130
Superman: The Man of Steel #131
and then the aftermath of what happens to him in #131 is in
Superman: The Man of Steel #134 (end of the run!!)
and THEN. this is followed up on by the HOLY GRAIL of all superfam single-issue comics:
Superman Vs Darkseid: Apokolips Now!
after this, he shifts into a more background role as superman's tech and gadget guy, replacing emil hamilton (starting with a cameo in action comics #802), while nat takes up the hammer and becomes steel (for that, see action comics #806-#808).
A World Without Superman is a lil three-part arc about the timestream resetting itself after the Y2K event! john henry (and kon and nat) are around in there:
Action Comics #811
Adventures of Superman #624
Superman (Vol. 2) #201
a last couple of isolated issues again as we get into Infinite Crisis:
Superman (Vol. 2) #220 (disclaimer: this issue is not good lmao. the writer did NOT do his basic research and it really shows)
Superman (Vol. 2) #225
Adventures of Superman #648
after infinite crisis, john henry and nat have a significant plotline in 52 and infinity inc. vol 2, but... i'll be honest, i don't really like it 💀 i don't agree with pretty much any of how 52 characterized their relationship - it's very different from their triangle era interactions and . ugh. that's all complaining for another time.
other than that, john henry gets a part in the New Krypton storylines, which i do heartily recommend in their entirety, but for the john henry-specific issues:
Action Comics #872
Superman Vol. 1 #683
Action Comics #873
Superman Vol. 1 #685
Superman Vol. 1 #686
Superman Vol. 1 #687
Superman Vol. 1 #689
Superman Vol. 1 #690
Superman Vol. 1 #695
Superman Vol. 1 #697
Superman: War of the Supermen #1
Superman: War of the Supermen #2
Superman: War of the Supermen #3
Superman: War of the Supermen #4
then we have Reign of the Doomsdays, the last superfam event before flashpoint!
Steel (2011) #1
Action Comics #900
Action Comics #901
Action Comics #902
Action Comics #903
Action Comics #904
and... that's about it!! there are other comics i left off this list with more minor john henry appearances, but these are what i'd consider all the big ones (and a few smaller but imo important ones). happy reading!!!
I got so distracted by how big gene carlo drew bruce in these panels that I saved this without realizing how profoundly 1980s that internal monologue is lmao
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hi happy 4th of pride 🥺🥳🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🌈 i’m a Black nonbinary Haitian-Senegalese lesbian artist from Brooklyn in recovery for some p severe trauma <3 pls can i get some help with soup so i can take my meds 🫶🏽💔 c4$h4pp v3nm0 p4yp4l k0fi
hey i have an autoimmune disease (sjogren’s) that makes joint pain and inflammation really bad and affects my mobility especially during flare ups, been in a lot of pain, even a little help will go a long way <3
home now, pretty sick tonight, grateful for any help <3 i have literally no clean clothes and i have to dr tomorrow so im trying to do as much laundry as i can afford and i can carry without passing out in the morning
Sometimes it is very frustrating that people seem to think that a relationship being weird and intense must imply that it's romantic, as if platonic relationships are somehow exempted from the human ability to be weird and intense about anything.
When the pairing is so good that it doesn’t matter if you see it as romantic or platonic. What matters is that you see them and know that one is not complete without the other. Frequently bought together. Do not separate. If you separate them one of them will bite you
