Name: Metal Men
Universe: Earth-1
First Appearance: Showcase #37

History:
The Metal Men were created by Dr. Will Magnus, a young, highly successful inventive genius. By the time of the Metal Men’s creation, Magnus had already made millions of dollars off patent royalties, money he turned back into his research. The result of one of those projects was a robot made of platinum in female form, nick-named Tina by her inventor.

Unlike conventional robots limited to certain preprogrammed tasks, Tina was powered by a responsometer, a nuclear-powered microscopic activator. Not only did this device animate her body, but it endowed the robot with distinct and decidedly human intelligence and personality. It was due to the latter trait that Magnus decided to place Tina in the Science Museum; his activator was too perfect and Tina, to his mind, too much of an annoyance.

Before Doc Magnus could attend to that chore, he was alerted to the menace of a monstrous prehistoric winged creation recently released from its glacial resting place. To combat this radioactive menace, Magnus created an entire team of responsometer powered robots, each forged from a different metal, each with its own unique strengths. These five robots he dubbed his Metal Men.

Like Tina before them, each of the new robots possesses very individual personality traits. Intelligent, analytic Gold is the group’s acknowledged leader. His golden form has all the physical properties of the metal from which he has been forged: he can stretch into a thin wire miles long, or flatten into a sheet 4 millionths of an inch thick.

Lead is rather slow, but big-hearted and dependable, his ability to shield against harmful rays and radiation a frequent and useful asset to the team.

The Metal Men’s strongman is Iron. Good-natured and friendly, Iron is the group’s powerhouse, able to be shaped and formed into an infinite variety of objects to assist on their missions.

Mercury is proud, egotistical, and quite fond of telling anyone who will listen that he is the only metal that’s liquid at room temperature.

Tin is the smallest and, quantitatively, the weakest of the Metal Men, though the member with the bravest soul, always willing to risk his own existence to aid anyone in danger. As a result of his feelings of inadequacy, Tin stutters, an impediment that often vanishes in the heat of battle.

A seventh and unofficial member of the team was Nameless, a tin robot built by Tin. Shy and withdrawn, Nameless was Tin’s "girlfriend" until her destruction in battle, and her loss is still mourned by her surviving teammates.

In the course of their career, the Metal Men have fought a variety of foes, most of them robots created for evil. Perhaps their most unusual and deadliest foe is Chemo, a walking stew of chemical waste in a gigantic humanoid container, mindless and bent on destruction. Among their other foes are the Missile Men, the Gas Gang, B.O.L.T.S., Dr. Yes, and the Plastic Perils.

Their exploits have brought the Metal Men world-wide attention and acclaim. Doc Magnus was constantly struggling with his desire to be rid of these human-like robots and their annoying squabbles and the world’s need for their unique abilities. He watched as they were repeatedly destroyed and then brought them back to life, only to "die" again and again in battle. Magnus eventually retreated into his vast, fully automated research facility and immersed himself in his work. The strain, however, proved to be too much for the young scientist, and he finally suffered a nervous breakdown.

During Magnus’ convalescence, the Metal Men continued their activities, facing a growing awareness of their approaching obsolescence in the increasingly complex world of robotics.

Soon after his recovery, but before his return to the Metal Men, Doc Magnus was responsible for rebuilding the body of Robotman, sole survivor of the destroyed Doom Patrol.

Most recently, the Metal Men pitted their abilities against a host of technologically superior robots in a battle against a terrorist army and Chemo.