Natasha Irons

Natasha Irons
Natasha as Vaporlock. Art by Pete Woods.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	as Natasha Irons: Steel (vol. 2) #1 (February 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
Alter ego	Natasha Jasmine Irons
Team affiliations	Infinity Inc. Team Superman
Notable aliases	Steel, Starlight, Vaporlock, Jenny Blake
Abilities	As Steel Superhuman Strength (via armor) Flight (via armor) Size-shifting As Starlight Superhuman strength Durability Flight Solid light constructs As Vaporlock Transformation into living mist Flight

Natasha Irons is a fictional character, a superhero in the DC Universe and the niece of John Henry Irons (the superhero Steel). Natasha first appears in Steel (vol. 2) #1 (February 1994). She becomes the fifth superhero to use the name Steel when her uncle is injured. In the 2006 limited series 52, Natasha gains superpowers and uses the codename Starlight. When her powers change, allowing her to become a being of living mist she assumes the codename Vaporlock.

Natasha Irons is the daughter of John Henry's brother, Clay, and Clay's wife Blondel. She is introduced in the first issue of Steel's solo series, where she is initially portrayed as being 13. Like the rest of her family, she knew about Steel's secret identity all along. Contrasting sharply with her brother Jemahl, Natasha is shown to be very level headed and practical. By issue #14, she is shown to be working (presumably as an intern) for a U.S. Senator. She appears to have aged forward to be about 16 somehow. Nat is a supporting character throughout Louise Simonson's run on the series. She is kidnapped by Hazard and Steel has to rescue her. She also uses the drug Tar to help fight at her uncle's side briefly. She is later kidnapped by the villain Plasmus and apparently kills him by shattering once Steel froze the villain (although he later turns up alive). Natasha was devastated at the loss of her beloved great-grandmother, Bess Irons, but is the only one of her family who stays with Steel when he moves to Jersey City (see the Steel entry for more details of the Irons family).

With Christopher Priest at the helm of Steel starting with #34, Nat was radically altered. She was transformed into a more stereotypical modern teenager with a flippant attitude. All trace of her previous work for a U.S. Senator was never referenced. During this time she also meets and befriends a teen named Paul, whom she dubs "Boris". Her father also makes a return as the villain Crash. When an assassin named Skorpio poisons Nat, Crash has to turn himself in so that he can give a blood transfusion and save his daughter. He is never seen nor heard from again.

Nat later goes with Steel to Metropolis when he opens up Steelworks there. She becomes his assistant, even reprogramming Superman's Kryptonian robot Kelex to speak hip hop slang. For a time she is dating a local boy, Boris.