Steelworker Tony Woodward caused a riot at a steel plant after he assaulted a female employee. Angry coworkers threw Tony into a vat of molten steel. The liquid steel included recycled scraps from experiments performed by S.T.A.R. Labs. These scraps somehow turned Tony's body into living metal, which has incredible resistance from harm and grants him superhuman strength. The major drawback was that the steel body began to rust when exposed to oxygen. He was eventually arrested for robbery and sent to Iron Heights. After escaping Iron Heights, he joined up with Blacksmith and her Rogues to take over Keystone City and Central City. While a member of her Rogues, Magenta used her powers to keep Girder from rusting and Girder, having an "attraction," made unwanted advances towards her. After making another crude pass, Magenta ripped Girder in half. His body was welded back together and Girder was taken back to Iron Heights. During the Infinite Crisis, Girder was part of the Secret Society of Super Villains led by Alexander Luthor, Jr.. One Year Later, Girder was seen fighting the Teen Titans, but was defeated. He was later seen in Salvation Run. In the DC Special: Cyborg mini-series, Girder has joined The Cyborg Revenge Squad. Girder was among the villains in the ambush of the Justice Society of America led by Tapeworm. While Girder is in custody at Iron Heights Penitentiary, he is broken out by Captain Boomerang to distract the guards so Captain Boomerang can sneak in to meet with Professor Zoom.
Powers and abilities
Girder has superhuman strength and endurance. His body is made from a nearly indestructible steel that provides a high degree of protection from physical and energy attacks.
In other media
Television
Girder appears in The Flash episode "The Flash is Born", portrayed by Greg Finley. This version is a metahuman with the ability to turn his skin into steel after falling into a vat of molten steel when the S.T.A.R. Labs particle accelerator exploded. He bullied Barry Allen and Iris West when they were children. He goes after Iris so that she can blog about him defeating Flash. When Flash catches up to him, he manages to defeat Girder using a combination of Mach 1 speed and one of his punches. In the episode "Power Outage," Girder is released so he take on Farooq Gibran / Blackout, during Barry's temporary power loss, only to be killed. In the episode "The Runaway Dinosaur," Harrison Wells' particle-accelerator explodes, returning Barry's speed while also affecting Woodward, who returns as a reanimated corpse targeting Iris. Girder is defeated again by the Flash and is finally put to rest.
Girder has appeared in Justice League Unlimited No. 16. In the issue, he escaped Iron Heights to visit his family during Christmas, but was stopped by the Justice League; especially Atom Smasher. Eventually, after discovering why Girder broke out, Atom Smasher arranged to have his family come and visit him in prison.
