John Irons was a brilliant scientist in the field of bionics. He was researching a way to enhance crippled limbs to make them back to the level they were. He was also Superman's biggest fan before the formation of the Justice Lords. After the formation of the Justice Lords he decided that Superman and the rest of them had gone nuts. He used his knowledge of Bionics to create him a suit that enhanced his normal strength and gave him the ability to fly. After he joined the Rebels Batman and a few of the other technical minded Rebels worked to enhance the suit to give him the powers of his hero Superman. His suit now makes him a match for Superman. Since it is powered by Kryptonite and has a retractable lead shield he dose not have to worry about Superman ripping his suit open. With the fact that Batman knew the location of the Luther's secret stash of Kryptonite he never has to worry about running out of a power source.