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[mslead]

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

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!!!

[mslead]

Detective Comics cover art by Evan Cagle

[mslead]

Wayne Manor is quiet when he gets home.

Alfred says something in passing, a reminder about the meeting with Lucius, a comment about patrol routes, but Bruce barely registers it. He climbs the stairs without answering, shedding the suit jacket as he goes, loosens the cuffs and washes his hands.

He looks in the mirror, his own face stares back. Calm and controlled.

But the storm is underneath.

That man. Clark Kent. He shouldn't matter, but Bruce can't stop hearing his voice, the quiet, cracked way he said "Its' surreal"

The way his eyes followed Bruce like they'd done it a thousand times before.

Bruce goes to bed without turning the lights on, he tells himself it's exhaustion, nothing more.

But when he closes his eyes, he falls too quickly.

-----

He dreams of fire.

Not Gotham, not anything familiar. The sky is wrong, vast and bruised with crimson clouds, the earth is cracked, smoking. Ash drifting like snow.

And there's a man lying in his arms.

Heavy. Dying.

Not Clark, but...Clark. Different. Golden armor cracked, a cape torn, eyes desperate with something deeper than pain.

"Please..." the man whispers "Please don’t leave me"

Bruce is kneeling in the dirt, his hands are covered in blood that isn't his. He wants to speak but no sound comes, his throat aches, his chest burns like he's been ripped open.

"You promised" the dying man says "You said: every life. You'd find me"

And Bruce finally speaks.

"Who are you?" he breathes "I don't—I don't know your name.”

The man smiles, not sad, Just tired.

"You will"

-----

Bruce wakes with a sharp inhale.

The ceiling is dark, his sheets are tangled, his body is damp with sweat and cold with something worse, something he doesn't have a name for.

He sits up slowly, his heart pounding and hands trembling.

And without thinking, he whispers it aloud:

"Clark"

He doesn't know why he says the name, he doesn't know why it hurts.

But something inside him is screaming, a part of him that's older than he understands.

And downstairs, somewhere in the silence of the manor, the grandfather clock ticks like a countdown.

(This took me more time than what I expected 😭)

[mslead]

Another world, the same story

—

The AU where Kon falls into a fantasy universe, hides his alien heritage, pretends to be a bard with his ttk and mediocre-to-average guitar playing skills as he tries to get home. All while fighting some uncomfortable realizations about this alternate Robin, and by extension, his own.

[mslead]

Another world, the same story

—

The AU where Kon falls into a fantasy universe, hides his alien heritage, pretends to be a bard with his ttk and mediocre-to-average guitar playing skills as he tries to get home. All while fighting some uncomfortable realizations about this alternate Robin, and by extension, his own.

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i went to brat tour and all i got was this stupid everything is romantic drawing idea

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Love is Blind

—

Some things got a little out of hand during the sketching phase and now we’re here… anyway this is the fault of @authenticaussie for writing a truly incredible snippet of Kon!Eros and Tim!Psyche

[mslead]

Love is Blind

—

Some things got a little out of hand during the sketching phase and now we’re here… anyway this is the fault of @authenticaussie for writing a truly incredible snippet of Kon!Eros and Tim!Psyche

[mslead]

Gotham’s Most Wanted

DC has got me in a chokehold

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Gotham’s Most Wanted

DC has got me in a chokehold

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Superboy et Spider punk

Anecdote : J'ai fait un cosplay de superboy et un jour on m'a appelé "spiderman" , j'ai ris

c'est avec cette pensé que j'ai fait ce dessin et à tout les fois où les gens croyait que je faisait un cosplay de " Superman-Punk " ( qui est ce foutu personnage ?!? )

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Cherry Cheesecake Cookies

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happy superman day!! i don't have anything specifically for today but here's some kissing practice turned painting practice that i (predictably) got carried away with

[mslead]

🥤🏜️🪲🌸 for the ask game 🥺

�� ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

this fic abt tim with temporary amnesia seeing kon and going "holy shit thats the most beautiful man ive ever seen" is forever a delight to me. tim being Besotted is important

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

liveblogs and essays :) please tell me u noticed my details and my word choices and my symbolism and my motifs and my themes and

🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here

The ground vanishes beneath his feet, and gravity goes so topsy-turvy that he doesn’t know if he’s flying or falling, his stomach lurching precariously as his TTK tries to grasp onto something, anything, only to find nothing there.

Pop!

And then Kon is definitely falling, wind rushing past his ears and whipping through his hair. He flails, disoriented, and—

“Whoa!”

“Gotcha!”

🌸 ⇢ do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them

i don't like to publicly post pictures from irl but u have seen him on discord <3 but yes i do have a dog he's a very polite 100lb baby man who is full of love and also treats.

[mslead]

In this house, we believe in gay Leo supremacy. Also, I know a large part of the fandom hate on Leo being gay with Yuichi, so I doodled this. 💕

[mslead]

been reading world's finest comics and fell in love with superbat co-parenting robin dynamic. that's litcherally their son