Throughout comic history, many heroes and villains alike have passed down the mantle of their character to a younger model. For one such hero, he decided to keep things in the family. Since 1978, the Steel family has been an allusive yet important part of the comic world. But just how much do you know about the start of this super family?

The first Steel, created by Gerry Conway and Don Heck, made his grand appearance in Steel, The Indestructible Man #1. Henry Heywood as he was originally known, was enlisted in the United States Marine Corps before the start of WWII. Sadly, Heywood never got to serve due to injuries sustained when saboteurs attacked his base. Before he enlisted, Heywood was a biology student under the tutelage of Dr. Gilbert Giles.

In order to save his life, Dr. Giles performed a number of extensive surgeries on Heywood, enchanting his body with mechanical steel devices. This upgrade granted Heywood superhuman strength, speed, and durability, as well as limited invulnerability and superspeed. Giles advised Heywood to keep his newfound abilities a secret and so he returned to service in a desk position.

Frustrated at his lack of direct helpfulness, Heywood adopted the masked-hero persona of Steel. After stopping fifth columnist saboteurs who broke into his base, Heywood began a career fighting foreign threats and other criminals as Steel. When America went to war, Heywood entered directly as a secret weapon. Later on, Heywood was commissioned Commander Steel by Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Years later, as a wealthy industrialist, Heywood supposedly incorporated the same mechanical upgrades into his grandson. However, the relaunched Justice League of America introduced a different Heywood grandson, Nate Heywood. Following his grandfather’s footsteps, Nate would later go on to become Citizen Steel.

Both Commander Steel and Citizen Steel will be appearing in the new season of Legends of Tomorrow, portrayed by Matthew MacCaull and Nick Zano, respectively.