Irons Family (comics)

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The Irons Family refers to the fictional members of John Henry Irons's (the superhero known as Steel) DC Comics family. Introduced in Steel's solo series, the family were the major supporting cast for the first half of its run. They lived in a house in the inner city of Washington, D.C., a house that the series editor claimed was bought for them by Steel while he was working for Amertek. After Steel's secret identity was exposed, his family was repeatedly harassed and they were relocated to an undisclosed location by a friend of Steel's named Double. Supporting characters during Louise Simonson's run on the series, they disappeared from the regular cast (save for Natasha and Clay) after Christopher Priest took over as lead writer. The rest of the family made one appearance during Priest's run, depicted as dramatically altered from their time in hiding.

• Natasha Irons
• John Henry Irons' Maternal Grandparents: They are never actually seen or named, but it is revealed in Steel's earliest days (in the Superman titles) that they were gunned down by robbers in their own home. John Henry found their bodies when coming to their house after playing a baseball game. Their deaths devastated John Henry, who partially blamed himself for not being there, even though he was only about eleven at the time. This event was the catalyst that compelled John Henry to enter into the weapons industry out of an idea that he could defend his family by building weapons.
• Butter Irons: John Henry's grandfather, known affectionately as "Pops" by John Henry. Butter was an easy going, very laid back elderly man. His role was minor compared to that of his wife. When Hardwire attacked the family at their home, Butter was the most seriously injured, but he survived. Shortly thereafter, Bess was killed by Dr. Polaris, which devastated Butter. He quietly agreed to go into hiding along with the rest of the family. When Natasha goes to see him about a year later, Butter is shown to be completely senile. He lives in terror that his family is going to be found and murdered and babbles witlessly when his granddaughter arrives.
• Bess Irons: the matriarch of the Irons clan, Bess was the driving force in the family. She did not put up with any nonsense from her grandchildren and supported John Henry in all things, her faith in him never wavering. She was typically portrayed in a strong, grandmotherly sort of way (equally capable of cooking up dinner for the whole family or tossing Steel a frying pan to take down some bad guys). Bess was murdered by Dr. Polaris while trying to help Steel after his identity was exposed and the supervillain showed up at her doorstep. Her wedding ring was stolen off her body and pawned, but Steel managed to track it down, putting her ghost to rest. Her loss devastated the whole family, but none were hit as badly as John Henry or Natasha.
• Clay Irons (a.k.a Crash): John Henry's brother (although originally it was hinted at that he was his uncle) and the husband of Blondel and father of Natasha, Jemahl, and Paco. Clay was a low level thug who had a hit put out on him, causing him to fake his own death and go into hiding. When his past caught up with him even in hiding, he returned as the hitman Crash, operating his organization out of Jersey City (where Steel and Nat had just moved to). Crash murders a police officer who beat up John Henry and recovers a pair of flight boots stolen by the cop. Crash builds many copies of them, enough to outfit a small army. He eventually confronts Steel directly, after an assassin named Skorpio poisoned Natasha. Since the only way she would survive is with a blood transfusion and he was the best candidate, Crash turned himself in to save his daughter's life.
• Blondel: John Henry's sister-in-law, the wife of Clay. Her role in the series was minor, often being overshadowed by the more outspoken Bess. She was a stern but loving mother who initially is shown to not put up with any nonsense from her children, especially Jemahl. After her family went into hiding, Blondel was portrayed as a broken woman, suffering from depression and bullied by her oldest son.
• Jemahl: Blondel and Clay's older son. Jemahl became involved in a street gang run by "the Cowboy" in D.C., a gang that used toastmasters and battled a rival gang that used the drug Tar. Jemahl began to question his loyalty to the gang, however, when they handed him over to be killed to the villain Amalgam when they believed Jemahl had betrayed the gang to Steel (he had been framed by a fellow gangster named Spiral, who was subsequently exposed and killed by Amalgam). Jemahl stayed in the gang for a while, but more and more began to question his loyalty to them. Cowboy was used by Amalgam to get at Steel by attacking his family—thus, Cowboy betrayed Jemahl again, beating up Blondel in a mugging and shooting Jemahl's foster brother, Tyke. When Jemahl learns the truth, he attacks Cowboy after taking the enhanced Tar drug, S-Tar. Steel stops him from killing Cowboy and gets the kid to the hospital for treatment. Jemahl's role, very prominent in the first few issues, begins to give way to Nat and Tyke. After the family goes into hiding, Jemahl's final appearance has him fallen a long way. He is shown to be a drunken bully to mistreats his mother and grandfather. He also goes by "Jem-al", saying he's "righteous now."
• Paco: Blondel and Clay's younger son, Paco was a small child who emulated Jemahl and Tyke, wanting to be just like them. His part was extremely minor and he did not appear again after the family went into hiding.
• Darlene: a foster child under Blondel's care, Darlene was a sweet young girl about the age of seven. After Steel's identity was exposed and his family was attacked at home, Child Protective Services took the girl from the family, claiming they were no longer safe. Darlene was dragged off in tears, screaming she hated John Henry for what had happened. She was not seen again.
• Tyke: Tyke was a foster child, younger than Jemahl, taken in by the Irons family. He wished to be just like his foster brother and planned on entering a gang when he was older. He was gunned down by a bullet meant for Jemahl, leaving him paralyzed below the waist. A villain named Hazard kidnapped Tyke to get at John Henry. He turned Tyke against his uncle by promising him the ability to walk again. Once rescued, Tyke hated John Henry for what he saw as ruining his chance. He later betrayed the family by exposing Steel's identity to two government agents working with Hazard, resulting in the attack on his family and the public exposure of Steel's identity. With the family attacked, Child Protective Services reclaimed Tyke, stating the family was too dangerous to live with. Tyke was shown to be delivered into the custody of none other than Hazard (his civilian identity at least) and has not been seen again.