The Untold Truth Of DC's Metal Men

Growing up, you may have imagined your toys and dolls having lives of their own, like in the famed "Toy Story" movies. But what about metals? That's the premise behind DC Comics' Metal Men, a group of super-hero metals that Doctor Will Magnus, their creator, brings to life with special devices called "Responsometers." Able to morph themselves into just about any shape, the Metal Men have been a DC mainstay for nearly 60 years, proving they're as adaptable and robust as the real metals themselves, even if they don't show up as often as mainstays like Wonder Woman and Superman.

That could be set to change in the very near future, however. According to the Hollywood Reporter, a new animated movie starring the malleable Metal Men is on its way, with the potential to introduce a brand new audience to Doc Magnus and his metallic creations. If you're a more casual DC fan and haven't heard of the Metal Men, that's not too surprising: though they have been around a while and have appeared in many a comic book crossover, they haven't had too many ongoing comic series or appearances outside of other media. So if you're relatively new to the Metal Men, or just need a refresher, then pick up a Responsometer or six as Looper delves into facts you might not have known about the original "smart metals."

What originally makes the Metal Men unique compared to other robots is that their personalities reflect the element they're made of. Mercury, for example, has a mercurial personality and therefore can be snarky, quick-tempered and self-centered... not to mention more than a little full of himself. Similarly, Tin thinks lowly of himself because he's an often underestimated metal, while Gold is noble to a fault ... or, depending on the writer, extremely narcissistic (sometimes even both).

Thanks to the magic of retcons, the explanation for the Metal Men's dispositions has changed a lot over time. In the beginning, it's said that their unique personalities are brought on by the effect auroral activity has on their original bodies, explaining why they lack those behavioral traits when Magnus sticks Responsometers in new versions of their bodies in "Showcase" #38. Over time, however, the explanation is massaged so that it's the Responsometers that give the Metal Men life which also "awaken" their inner personalities. An alternate explanation in the 1993 "Metal Men" limited series claims the robots' personalities come from humans whose psyches are accidentally transferred into the Metal Men's Responsometers, but that's since has been retconned. The 2019 "Metal Men" ongoing, however, challenges the team's central concept again by having Doc Magnus reveal the Metal Men are merely imitating aspects of his behavior. Their innate personalities are eventually awakened, however, thanks to the Nth Metal Man.

Learning the names of the Metal Men is pretty simple enough, as they're all named after their metals. Yet what if there are, say, two robots made out of tin? That's the conundrum Tin faces in "Metal Man" #13, where he creates a friend out of the same metal to feel less lonely. When his creation asks Tin what her name is, however, Tin struggles for an answer. While the Metal Men at first decide to let readers name the new tin robot, she officially becomes "Nameless" in "Metal Man" #15," as staying unnamed suits her fine.

Nameless becomes a regular member of the team, and begins a relationship with Tin. By "Metal Man" #33, however, the character is dropped during the "New, Hunted Metal Men" revamp (in which her teammates become fugitives) without explanation. She finally reappears in "The Brave and the Bold" #187, which reveals the Platinum Man's been holding her captive. Her reunion with the team doesn't last, however, as her body's reduced to nothing while rescuing the Metal Men, Doc Magnus, and Batman from a detonating Missile Man.

Since then, Nameless' appearances have been fairly scarce. She finally resurfaced in 2019's "Metal Men" #1 as an inactive robot Will treats as a confidante, though Tin expresses interest in activating her in #12. Interestingly, two Metal Men antagonists use her name during her long absence, namely the Calculator and an ancient, pyramid-headed menace obsessed with obtaining the "Wheel of the World."

Several early Metal Men stories have Magnus temporarily turn into a robot, but usually only for short periods. Decades later, however, Magnus actually becomes an official Metal Men when he links his psyche to a body made out of a metal ore called veridium. As Magnus' new body is almost unbreakable, he quickly turns the tide of battle against the Metal Men's old enemies the Missile Men, and defeats their leader, Z-1, with his new capabilities. Shockingly, Magnus then incinerates his comatose human body, claiming "Doctor William Magnus was dead a long time ago — it was only a matter of time before his body caught up with him!"

From there, Magnus continues to lead the Metal Men in his new robot body, adopting "Veridium" (sometimes "Viridium") as his superhero name. The change lasts for well over a decade, but by the 2006 series "52," Will is back in his human body. While his time as Veridium isn't directly referenced, his reveal in #22 that he once mistakenly believed himself a robot seems to retcon his Veridium transformation into a figment of his imagination. The change may also be due to cosmic shenanigans, as certain events in the DC Universe's history are changed shortly before "52" in the massive event series "Infinite Crisis." Funnily enough, Doc's veridium body gets retconned in 2019's "Metal Men" #1, where it's seen among several deactivated versions of the team.

While the "core" team of Metal Men tend to be the original six members, every once in a while they get a seventh member, like Nameless and Veridium. One seventh Metal Man, however, seems to have fallen through the cracks: Copper. While a male version of the character cameos briefly in the "Metal Facts and Fancies" section of "Metal Man #1, the better-known female version is introduced in the same segment in "Metal Man" #9: her appearance isn't meant to be canon, however, as she appears merely to show readers that she and Tin can be combined into the metal bronze. She makes her in-continuity debut in "Superman/Batman" #34-36, which alters history by having Magnus claim that Copper has actually been among the team since its earliest days, built not long after the others. Issue #8 of the 2007 "Metal Men" miniseries clarifies further, showing that Copper is originally created to replace Gold when he's destroyed in battle by the Gogoloth.

There's no denying Copper is a bit of a continuity insert, which is played for laughs in the "Metal Men" backup stories in the 2009 "Doom Patrol" series, where her teammates often call her the "new kid" and no one can seem to remember that she's been with the team longer than they all realize. She's also portrayed as eager to please so she can gain some much-deserved recognition. Sadly, her efforts are in vain, as she eventually vanishes from the roster, revealed to have been decommissioned in the 2019 "Metal Men" limited series. Another version of Copper appears in the 2016 "Legends of Tomorrow"comic series, however. While this incarnation is created by Dr. Chantilly Lace, she also joins Magnus' Metal Men for a brief period.

What if the Metal Men had nothing to do with robots whatsoever? In the Tangent Universe, the team is a six-person detachment of the Special Forces that exists during the Vietnam War, made up entirely of normal humans with familiar code names like "Hawkman" and "Lobo," despite having no similarities to those characters' usual depictions. The name "Metal Men," in their case, is inspired by their perfect win record, as well as the metal plate in their commanding officer Marcus Moore's head. Their spotless career abruptly ends in 1968, however, while on a mission to retrieve one of the Soviet Union's Red Tornado chemical warheads from Prague. Tensions flare over just how to deal with the bomb, as Moore reveals he plans to program the missile to launch at Moscow and kill most of its population. 

While the detachment bickers, the group is attacked by Soviet troops, who manage to wound all the Metal Men except Moore and Lieutenant Sam Schwartz before being gunned down. Their enemies defeated, Moore and Schwartz continue bickering over the bomb and Moore is about to shoot Schwartz before he's seemingly killed by Raven, the Metal Men's contact in the Czech resistance. Decades later, Schwartz becomes president and weds Raven, while his fellow Metal Man John Holliday, a.k.a. "Hawkman," becomes his chief of staff. The three keep Moore's thwarted plan a secret, claiming he'd died heroically trying to carry out orders... unaware that Moore's survived, and is secretly monitoring them.

As Doc Magnus' Responsometers can give life to just about any metal, it's probably unsurprising to hear plenty of others have gotten the "Metal Men treatment," despite not being part of the team. In 1963's "Metal Men" #2, for example, a robot version of Doc Magnus created by Platinum inadvertently turns evil and animates six metals to replace the original Metal Men: Barium, Aluminum, Calcium, Zirconium, Sodium and the especially dangerous Plutonium. None of them have the same vibrant personalities of the original Metal Men, however, as they're solely programmed to obey the Magnus robot duplicate. Later on, the real Doc Magnus creates an entire substitute team of Metal Men with metals like Silver and Gallium, though they're destroyed when they're taken over by Darzz the Dictator. Also of note are Dr. Chantilly Lace's previously-mentioned Metal Men, whose ranks include Magnesium, Lithium and Silicon, and the Playground of Terror, an alien amusement park whose evil rides are operated by Responsometers.

As it turns out, Responsometers don't just animate metal, either. In "Metal Men" #6, Magnus, briefly turned into an evil robot by cosmic rays, transforms Oxygen, Helium, Chloroform, Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide into his Gas Gang; essentially villainous predecessors to Magnus' more heroic gas team, the Metal Mammals. Furthermore, Professor Miklos Rumpus, a wannabe rival to Magnus, creates Responsometers that bring to life a group of mannequins that collectively call themselves the Clique.