Ironwolf is a fictional character who appeared in the last three issues of Weird Worlds, a comics anthology series published by American company DC Comics from 1972 to 1974.[1]
Ironwolf was created by Howard Chaykin,[2] with Dennis O'Neil and Walt Simonson serving as writer and letterer for his stories. Ironwolf has no powers, but is an extraordinary hand-to-hand combat fighter. He is a master swordsman and highly skilled with the guns of his era. He sometimes uses antique 20th-century weapons like a .357 Magnum.
Ironwolf was influenced by the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robin Hood, and the 1948 film The Three Musketeers.[3]
Lord Ironwolf is an officer from the interstellar Galaktika Empire in the 61st century. On his homeworld of Illium, he owns millions of trees with "anti-gravity wood" that is used to make starships. He renounces his position in opposition to Empress Erika Klein-Hernandez's cruelty and rebels against her, fearing that her alien allies will build a fleet to attack the Empire.
The Weird Worlds stories were reprinted in an Ironwolf one-shot in March 1987.[4] Chaykin returned to the Ironwolf character in 1992, co-writing Ironwolf: Fires of the Revolution with frequent collaborator John Francis Moore. This graphic novel was penciled by Mike Mignola and inked by P. Craig Russell.[5] Some of the events of the Weird World stories are recapitulated here but it also brings the story to something of a close.