Who's Who in the Superman Comics
The Metal Men
One of the most uncanny crimefighting units, The Metal Men is a super squad of robotic combatants, ready to defend humanity and themselves from the forces of evil. Created by Dr. Will Magnus, a dapper, pipe-smoking scientist, The Metal Men throughout the years, has featured six individuals, all made of a different metal, and distinguished by color and body type. The Metal Men are:
Platinum, also called Tina. She is the lone active female of the group. Tina is shapely in appearance, and playful in nature. Her alluring manner has even worked its way with Dr. Magnus himself.
Gold, the established leader of the team. He could stretch himself into a thin wire, or flatten his form into a sheet 4 millionths of an inch thick. Gold was extremely analytical, and for many years he served as the front man for his team.
Lead, like his name and metal implies is slow-witted, but goodhearted and reliable. One of the team's big bruisers, he can shield himself and others from harmful rays and radiation.
Iron, the second bruiser of The Metal Men, is the strongest member. Blue/black in hue, he is also a gentleman and valiant defender of good.
Mercury, the egotistical overly proud blowhard of the team, is red in color. He is the only member who can turn himself into a liquid form.
Tin is the smallest and weakest teammate. However, he is a brave soul, and always rises to the occasion, no matter how fearful he is. Like Platinum, he is of a silverish hue.
For much of their existence, this was the makeup of The Metal Men. With Dr. Magnus in the background, The Metal Men teamed with Superman several times, defending Metropolis and the world from numerous evils. All the while, it was always assumed that they were advanced robots, activated by way of responsometers--small spheres which guided their "artificial intelligence" and personalities. However, it was recently revealed that The Metal Men were at one time real human beings. Their life forces were absorbed by the responsometers. In fact, Gold was the brother of Will Magnus. In a major assault by the Missile Men, Gold's body was destroyed, and his responsometer was demolished. Z-1, the leader of The Missile Men, created a Veridium body, complete with its own responsometer. Combined with other alloys, the Veridium Metal Man was to be the strongest of its kind, and with Z-1 controlling it, he would have supreme power over The Metal Men. Fortunately, Dr. Magnus sacrificed his own human form, and transferred his essence into Veridium. Now the new leader of The Metal Men, the team defeated the Missile Men, and has resumed its heroic agenda.
One of the trademarks of The Metal Men is their ability to stretch and transform themselves into any number of shapes and sizes. During several confrontations they have combined to form into a gigantic entity, with one Metal Men forming a limb, a fifth forming the torso, and Veridium/Gold becoming the head.
The Metal Men are usually found between New York City and Metropolis, and as such, continue to team with Superman quite frequently.
Who's Who in the Superman Comics
Introduction
This is a listing of many of the notable characters and a few places that have appeared in the
Superman comics from the 1986 revamp up until around 2008.
NOTE: A new, and more current version of the Who's Who is currently being worked on and can be accessed by clicking here.
Although Superman often appears in other DC Comics, this text's information is limited mainly to what has occurred in the regular Superman comics.
Many thanks to Scotty V, Derrick Lyle Coleman, Dean Vanek, Genevieve Clemens and Benjamin Grose who all helped out at one time or another with writing and updating these Who's Who descriptions.
The listings are displayed as follows:
- Surname, Firstname - Text describing the character, place, object, etc...
Relevant issues of the Superman comics are listed as such:
- SUP = Superman
- MOS = Man of Steel
- AOS = Adventures of Superman
- ACT = Action Comics
- MOT = Man of Tomorrow
The Issue Number for each of these titles is written in this manner: “#000”. (e.g.
SUP #123)
“First Appearance” refers to the issue since 1986 unless otherwise noted.
