 His first appearance was in "Army War Heroes" #22 in 1967.The stories, all written by Willi Franz and drawn by Sam Glanzman (except one story penciled and inked by Charles Nicholas and by Vince Alascia), revolved around Ian Heath, an American corporal fighting with the Australian army in the Southwest Pacific during World War II.The Iron Corporal's back story includes having his ribs augmented with an iron-steel bracing manufactured by his steel industrialist father.