Michael Steel

Michael 'Mike' Steel was a rocket scientist and skilled pilot who designed and personally piloted an experimental spacecraft into a cosmic radiation field, deliberately replicating the accident that empowered the Fantastic Four. The exposure transformed him into Ironclad, granting him superhuman abilities, and he became a founding member of the U-Foes.

Bronze Age Marvel has no shortage of memorable creations, and Michael Steel — born into the pages of The Incredible Hulk #254 in 1980 under the hands of Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema — is one worth seeking out. A figure with remarkable staying power, he's racked up appearances across more than four decades, surfacing in titles from She-Hulk to Avengers: The Initiative, and his resume of team affiliations is genuinely eclectic: the U-Foes, the Defenders, the Avengers, and even the Fantastic Four. Four of his appearances carry key-issue status for collectors, and he's kept some vivid company along the way — sharing pages with the likes of Vector, X-Ray, Spider-Man, and Simon Utrecht. If you love the layered, morally complicated corner of the Marvel Universe that the Bronze Age did so well, Michael Steel is a character whose 63-issue trail is well worth following.