| Natasha Irons | |
|---|---|
 Natasha Irons. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | as Natasha Irons: Steel (vol. 2) #1 (January 1994) as Steel: Action Comics #806 (October 2003) as Starlight:52 #21 (September 27, 2006) as Vaporlock:Infinity Inc. (vol. 2) #8 (June 2008) |
| Created by | Louise Simonson Chris Batista |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Natasha Jasmine Irons |
| Species | Human Metahuman(temporarily) |
| Place of origin | Metropolis Washington D.C. Jersey City |
| Team affiliations | Infinity Inc. Team Superman Titans Justice League Justice League Queer Steelworks |
| Partnerships | Traci Thirteen Steel (John Henry Irons) Superwoman (Lana Lang) Power Girl Omen |
| Notable aliases | Steel, Starlight, Vaporlock, Jenny Blake |
| Abilities |
As Steel
As Starlight
As Vaporlock
|
Natasha Irons is asuperhero inAmerican comic books published byDC Comics. The character was created by Louise Simonson and Chris Bastista, first appearing inSteel (vol. 2) #1 (February 1994).[1] Since the character's creation, Natasha has since become a reoccurring supporting character of both Superman and theoriginal version of Steel within their respective comic book series.
The character is recurringly portrayed as a super-genius and the niece ofJohn Henry Irons, a fellow genius within the Irons family. Although both mainstream continuities feature different backgrounds, both includes her as the daughter of the criminalCrash (John Henry's brother), whom is depicted as either acrime boss or criminal weapons dealer in advance technology. She works as an assistant alongside her uncle for Steelworks, a technology company based inMetropolis, and operates as the secondSteel.[2][3][4] She is often also depicted as a public superhero and a member ofTeam Superman while having served in several superhero-based teams. At times, Natasha has also adopted different codenames; following her transition into an artificial metahuman fromLex Luthor'sEveryman Project, she originally used theStarlight codename but following a change in power set, she instead assumed the nameVaporlock.
The character has made several appearance in media, includingSuperman: The Animated Series where she is voiced byCree Summer and is portrayed by Tayler Buck in the television seriesSuperman & Lois, where she is renamedNatalie Lane Irons and is made the daughter of John and Lois Lane from an alternate universe.
Natasha Irons debuted inSteel (Vol. 2) #1 (January 1994).[3]
The daughter of Clay Irons and Blondel as well as the sister to Jemahl, she is a member of the Irons family and initially has a vested interest in both dancing and medicine.[4]
In her earlier appearances in the secondSteel series written by Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove, she is aware of her uncle's identity as Steel and supports him and becomes involved in numerous conflicts in relation to gang and drug-related conflict surrounding the Irons family as well as the re-emergence of John's former employers, Amertek Industries, who is revealed to manipulate both Jemahl and having sold John's past inventions to the gangs.
DuringChristopher Priest's tenure as writer of the secondSteel series, Natasha is portrayed more stereotypical modern teenager with a flippant attitude. During this time, she meets and befriends a teen named Paul Tomlinson, her father becomes the villain Crash, and a series of tragedies follow the Irons family when John's identity as Steel becomes public, wherein rivals and past adversaries targets the family and leads to the death of Natasha's grandmother and the family faces harassment despite several attempts to relocate. While her relationship with John is tested in wake of their grandmother's death, they reconcile.
Nat later travels with Steel toMetropolis when he establishes Steelworks. She becomes his assistant and succeeds him as the superhero Steel after he is injured in battle. Although reluctant, he allows her to operate under the codename and gifts her with an even more advanced set of armor.[5][6] One of her earlier adventures as Steel includes a team-up with Cir-El and Traci 13 to battle Japanese vigilante Byakko and protectSuperman from her mystical-based abilities when he is injured.[7]
During the events of52, Natasha's relationship with John is tested once more due to his disapproval of her activities both personal and as a superhero, cumulating to his inferencing costing her an opportunity to join theTeen Titans and having been made to attend summer school instead of a science colloquium due to having a poor grades in one subject despite passing all others. She eventually joins Lex Luthor's Everyman Project, gaining super-powers and joining a new version ofInfinity Inc asStarlight in opposition to her uncle, following learning of undergoing the treatment (unaware it was done without John's consent) despite his negative views of the superhero community and denounced him as a hypocrite. She becomes a double agent within Luthor's organization before he discovers and ousts her.[8]
InWorld War III, Natasha creates a nanotech missile to attackBlack Adam.[9]Infinity, Inc. reveals that the Everyman Project gave Natasha the ability to transform into living gas.[10] Following this, she becomesVaporlock and helps Steel rescue civilians inReign of Doomsday.[11]
In the years following the New 52 which retroactively rebooted the mainstream universe and during the DC Rebirth initiative, Natasha's background and history undergoes significant changes with some similarities to the past continuity.
In this continuity, Natasha is also cast as the eldest daughter of Clay Irons and a scientific genius who has a close relationship with her uncle John and his girlfriend,Lana Lang, whom she views as an aunt. The pair often looked after Natasha and young Ezekiel in their father's stead, all disapproving of his criminal career as "Crash". When her father scams Skyhook, Metropolis's demonicboogeyman, to fund Natasha's scientific endeavors, Ezekiel is kidnapped and her father is arrested and sent to prison. Skyhook remained at large and her brother's missing case remains unsolved, with no details known of what happen to him afterwards.[12] At some point, she also attended college at a young age, dated sorceress Traci 13, and began assisting John and Lana in their superhero personas as Steel andSuperwoman.[13]
During theSuperwoman series, Natasha develops a new suit to assist Lana's newfound powers following absorbing strange energies from a deceased version of Superman (seemingly the New 52 Superman) upon his death and assists both Superwoman and Steel while being reacquainted with former girlfriend Traci 13 and adopts the Steel codename.[13] Natasha and John later hunts Skyhook when her father escapes from prison and begins hunting him himself. As the Irons family are drawn to the conflict for revenge, Lana's relation with them is tested when she works to uphold their moral stance against killing.[12]
She later joins theTitans and meets her great-great-uncle,John Henry Jr.[14][15]
In her initial portrayal in the 1994Steel series, Natasha is the eldest daughter ofCrash, a crime boss who first began as a gang member and mob enforcer. Her younger brother is Jemahl.[16][17] She is described as a high-school student with an interest in arts and medicine, being a caregiver, ambitious and clever.[16][17] Over time, the character's intelligence was heighten to be similar to her John Henry's and eventually made a hero.[5][6][7] The character was changed to be a super-genius since a young age.[12] Later cited as being one of the smartest people on Earth,[18] Natasha is the eldest daughter of the criminalCrash, a weapons dealer whose actions caused the disappearance of her younger brother (renamed Ezekiel) causes complications and allows for John Henry andLana Lang to be her surrogate parents.[12] She often acts as assistant for her uncle's company, Steelworks and concurrently as the second Steel.[19] She is depicted as older, having graduated from college at a young age.[12] One source placed her age at around nineteen.[20]
Initially, the character washeterosexual and had several male love interests, includingConner Kent and the secondSkyman.[16][21] Following DC Rebirth, the character was madehomosexual and had several female love interests, most prominently withTraci 13.[13]
Natasha was originally a student who held an interest inmedicine,dance,[17] andpolitics.[16] Later, she is instead cast as agenius knowledgeable in several scientific fields although she specializes inengineering andcomputer science, using her expertise to fashion high-powered powered armor that grants her super powers.[22][3][2]
Natasha's character also has had super-powers several times; she was granted superhuman strength due to the drug known as "tar" for a short time although it would make her have fits of rage.[16][17] For a time, Natasha also developed super-powers due to her participation in Lex Luthor's Everyman Project to become an artificialmetahuman. Her initial powers granted her superhuman strength and endurance, flight, and the power to control light and solar energies.[1] Later developments following Luthor's deactivation of the treatment instead granted her new powers as a side-effect, allowing her her to shift into a gaseous form at will.[1]
An assistant of her uncle at Steelworks, Natasha also has access to advanced technology:[19]
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Armors | |
| MK IV Armor | Armor gifted by John Henry which includes protective measures and ability to change siz and shape at will.[7] |
| Chrome Armor | A semi-sentient flexible metal and can change configurations. The suit can also grant superhuman strength, durability, and flight as well as rocket boots.[2][3] |
| Other configurations also include attachments more apt in dealing with metahumans whom possess superhuman strength.[18] | |
| Other technologies | |
| Chrome | A semi-sentient metal developed by Natasha for various uses and applications.[23] |
| The metal can compress things into a "quantum package" for mobile transport.[23] | |
| Kinetic Hammer | A hammer powered by kinetic energy and configured with theEarth's magnetic field, disallowing use beyond members of the Irons family.[2] Numerous versions and designs vary in size and shape.[19] |
| Boom Room | A mobile lab and base of operations capable of teleportation using technology derived fromNew God's boom tubes technology. It once served as the Titan's mobile headquarters.[23] |
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