gantry-ironarm-fullish"IRONARM" GANTRY

Real Name: Gantry (first name unrevealed)

Identity/Class: Human; advanced technology-user

Occupation: Actor, construction worker

Group Membership: Globelock, Inc.

Affiliations: Globelock Inc.;
    formerly Gantry's Gang

Enemies: Star Key (All-Purpose Power Tool, Shari Barrett, Flynn Ryan, Dr. Sartorius, Patrick "Steelgrip" Starkey)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    formerly mobile across various continents;
    formerly an oil rig in the Texas coast of the Gulf of Mexicogantry-ironarm-face

First Appearance: Steelgrip Starkey#5 (January, 1987)

Powers/Abilities: "Ironarm" Gantry had great strength, especially in his arms. He was highly experienced in construction and had some experience as an actor.

    He was experienced in operating the immense Worldbeater machine

    However, he was somewhat unstable, and being defeated and/or losing face in front of others made him willing to cheat or even kill others, as well as to turn on his own co-workers.

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 6'3")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 235 lbs.)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Dark brown

History:

(Steelgrip Starkey#5 (fb) - BTS) - Between acting jobs, "Ironarm" Gantry worked in construction on an oil rig in the Texas Gulf.

(Steelgrip Starkey#5 (fb) - BTS) - Seeking to compete with Star Key and the All-Purpose Power Tool, Globelock Inc. designed the immense Worldbeater machine and recruited Ironarm to contend with Steelgrip, both in terms of skill and as a front man. Gantry hoped to replace Steelgrip in the media's eye.

(Steelgrip Starkey#5 (fb)) - Steelgrip Starkey and his Star Key teammates Shari and Ryan agreed to compete in an historic 'Round the World construction race, zig-zagging from continent to continent and pitting them (with Steelgrip using the All-Purpose Power Tool, APPT) against Globelock Inc's "Ironarm" Gantry, Gantry's Gang and Globelock's Worldbeater machine.
    Presumably rightly fearing that if he lost, he would have to go back to working on the oil rig, Gantry treated the race like a religious quest.

(Steelgrip Starkey#5) - At the start of the Around the World Super Construction race in Washington, D.C., Ironarm and Steelgrip shook hands, locking in a handclasp "no normal man could endure." Ironarm taunted and tried to psych-out Steelgrip, who merely smiled and wished him good luck.gantry-ironarm-face-angry

(Steelgrip Starkey#5) - At the end of the race's first day, Steelgrip and the APPT had built an auxiliary dam in Tennessee, while, farther north, Gantry and the Worldbeater matched them, completing a sub-lake tunnel.

(Steelgrip Starkey#5 (fb) - BTS) - Gantry's team continued to match the work of the Star Key team on days 2 and 3.

(Steelgrip Starkey#5) - By the dawn of the fourth day, Gantry's team constructed a mountain lake bridge in Columbia. However, due to minor delays and malfunctions, Globelock's entry began to trail Star Key's crew.

(Steelgrip Starkey#5) - During the fifth day, in Uruguay, a reporter interviewed Ironarm, noting that he and the Worldbeater were leaving debris and damage the area in which they worked, and Gantry furiously noted that the APPT worked on technalchemy, "some kind of devil machine." He further ranted that the magical power on which the Worldbeater ran was money and that if he "had a magic tool <he would> show that pansy in the red shirt how to..."

(Steelgrip Starkey#5 - BTS) - Observing Gantry's rant, Dr. Sartorius (Star Key's psychiatrist) determined that he had a truly unbalanced psyche.

    On Day 5, as Steelgrip put the finishing touches on a vast irrigation project, Dr. Sartorius shared his concerns about Gantry with the rest of the Star Key group. Steelgrip argued that while Ironarm was an over-macho poser and an obnoxious loudmouth, he was not out of control. Sartorius reiterated his concerns that Gantry might use violence against them.

(Steelgrip Starkey#5 (fb) - BTS) - On the eighth day, via a couple of "lucky breaks," Ironarm's team caught up to Steelgrip's, and they took a day to relax and recover in the hospitality of the People's Republic of China. The weary competitors slept until late afternoon.gantry-ironarm-kick

(Steelgrip Starkey#5 (fb) - BTS) - Ironarm plotted to take out each of the Star Key crew, drugging Steelgrip, his seducing Shari, and his gang beating up Ryan.

(Steelgrip Starkey#5) - That evening, Ironarm listened as Ryan mocked the Worldbeater as a tinker toy compared to the APPT and Ironarm as a big doorstop, considering that after his "Stall Starkey" plan, Ryan would be lucky to be talking at all. He then observed that his man, "Mohawk" had gotten to Starkey's drink and that it contained "Gantry's special mix," which would make him too hungover to work tomorrow.

    Ironarm then confronted Shari -- Star Key's "technotary" -- in private, hoping to shake her loyalties. He stepped in her path, telling her "Ain't you the cute little dragon lady!" (she was Filipino, but there were a lot of Asian ethnic slurs for other nations expressed by ignorant people in this series). He told her that he had noticed that she and Starkey didn't have anything going on between them and that he figured that Steelgrip was just not man enough for a "smart little gal" like her. He suggested they could be quite the team, and when she told him she already had a team, he pulled her in closely and squeezed her strongly, thinking to impress her. Using akido, which she had learned in New York City, she threw him off of her into a door.

(Steelgrip Starkey#5 - BTS) - Four of Gantry's gang subsequently confronted Ryan, but Sartorius had been waiting in anticipation of this, and they took out Gantry's gang.

    The next morning, while Starkey was still under Gantry's drug's influence, Shari woke him enough so that he could handle the APPT, the energies of which fully revitalized him.

(Steelgrip Starkey#5) - On Day 10 of the race, after Gantry and the Worldbeater had completed an irrigation project to equal Star Key's Australian effort when a short-circuit sparked an electrical fire, leading to an explosion. No one was seriously injured, but Ironarm became increasingly infuriated.gantry-ironarm-elbowss

(Steelgrip Starkey#5) - After Star Key triumphed on Day 11 by completely relocating an ancient German forest to avoid industrial pollutants and acid raid, Ironarm broke into a sweat from his frustration, determined to beat "that red-headed geek."

(Steelgrip Starkey#5) - With the Worldbeater outmatched by the APPT, Gantry used his skill, ingenuity and downright tenacity to achieve successes.

(Steelgrip Starkey#5) - On Day 12, in the Swiss Alps, an avalanche buried a portion of the Worldbeater. Ironarm called a helicopter and, after confirming that everyone was alright, ordered his gang to start digging them out. However, his insults and abuse began to cause his own gang to lose respect for him. Seeing his chances of lasting fame fading, Ironarm became progressively more unhinged.gantry-ironarm-chaincatch

(Steelgrip Starkey#5) - On Day 13, as the Globelock team was in Egypt for some large scale archeology, Gantry became frustrated by mechanical failures and delays, kicking one of his own men in the face and causing him to quit. Ironarm figured him easily replaced, but when he called Globelock, he met with excuses and evasions, and it became apparent to both him and the media that Globelock was backing off, cutting costs and trying to present the image of a proud and graceful loser.

(Steelgrip Starkey#5) - The race paused once more on the white cliffs of Dover, England. Although Steelgrip continued to praise Ironarm as a skilled, hard worker and tough competitor, Ironarm angrily considered that it was easy to be humble while winning and that the press hardly saw him anymore.

gantry-ironarm-wbcrash    Desperate to take down Steelgrip, Gantry watched as Starkey set down the APPT, and he drove the Worldbeater to run it over, shouting that it would soon be the "No Purpose No Power Tool," at which he laughed manically. Steelgrip rushed to recover the tool, but Ryan, realizing he wouldn't make it, tackled Starkey to safety. Although the Worldbeater ran over the APPT, its durable casing protected it, and it was just driven into the ground.

    Realizing his first effort had failed, Ironarm turned the Worldbeater around and drove toward Starkey and Ryan, considering that at least they were not indestructible. The two men dodged, and Steelgrip, appreciating that Gantry had cracked completely and could injure the spectators, jumped up on the Worldbeater and climbed to the control center. Starkey futilely tried to convince Gantry to see what he was doing and that he needed help, after which he grabbed the controls. The men's strength was evenly matched, but Steelgrip's determination to protect the innocent allowed him to steer away from the crowd and toward the cliff's edge.

    Ironarm then smashed an elbow into Steelgrip's face, mocking him as a hero as he fell out of the ground and rolled to safety. Realizing at the last second that the Worldbeater was already over the cliff's edge, Ironarm attempted to leap to safety, but his thick neck chain caught on a pipe at the side of the control center, and he was pulled down with the Worldbeater as it fell into and the waters far below.

    Ryan considered this instant karma and told Steelgrip not to shed a tear for Ironarm, as he was a glory hog, but Starkey replied that Gantry had just been a hard-working man who had lost his sense of perspective, and he wished that they could have saved him.

Comments: Created by Alan Weiss under the Epic imprint.

    The Steelgrip Starkey series is creator-owned and would seem to not take place on Earth-616 on initial inspection, as there are no superhuman beings referenced or other known characters unique to Earth-616. None of the characters from the series are referenced in other -616 comics.
    However, lack of confirmation is not the same as refutation. I don't see any reason why the series could have taken place at the time of publication in the year 1987 A.D. That would be after the First Line had faded out and long before the start of the "Modern era" with the Fantastic Four's empowering-flight, which is part of the sliding timescale and takes place no more than 12-15 years before the current year (so 2011-2014 A.D. as of the time of this profile's publication). That would put the Steelgrip Starkey story as at least 24-27 years before the modern era.
    With the apparent destruction of the All-Purpose Power Tool, there's no reason to think that it would have changed the world. The biggest things that might argue against it being -616 to me would be the existence of the nations of Baziland in East Africa and Kuhlavi in the Middle East, but there are so many fictional nations on Earth-616, and these nations could have been relatively short-lived. Changing of nations is not that uncommon in parts of Africa, and presumably the Middle East.
    So, while I am cannot confirm this story to be -616, I do not think it is clearly excluded, and I am certainly not going to give it an alternate reality designation until/unless something definitive proves otherwise.
    I'd like to see Steelgrip show up in some modern story, and while he would be a few decades older, his vitality may have been enhanced by his repeated exposure to the All-Purpose Power Tool...

    The Steelgrip Starkey series kind of reminds me of U.S.One, but instead of truckers, its more about construction workers.
    Maybe Ironarm would have been friends with Iron Mike, King of the Bike? Probably not...

    Assuming he didn't break his neck while jumping and having his chain catch, he probably broke it or was otherwise crushed on impact with the water, and if not, he presumably was at least knocked out and drowned.
    But, this is a comic book, and he could have somehow survived...planning vengeance as Ironlung Gantry...yeah, iron lungs are archaic, but it sounds better than Iron Ventilator...

   This profile was completed 12/07/2024, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary 's celebratory event to represent Steelgrip Starkey.
    Thanks to Loki for cleaning up the full body and face images.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
"Ironarm" Gantry should be distinguished from:

images: (without ads)
Steelgrip Starkey#5, pg. 5, panel 1 (full-ish);
       pg. 13, panel 5 (face);
       pg. 22, panel 2 (enraged face);
       pg. 23, panel 2 (kicking one of his gang);
       pg. 30, panel 1 (elbowing Steelgrip);
          panel 5 (catching his chain on a post);
       pg. 31 (Worldbeater crashing)
Appearances:
Steelgrip Starkey#5 (January, 1987) - Alan Weiss (creator/writer), Val Mayerik (penciler), Sam DeLaRosa (inker), Daniel Chichester (assistant editor), Margaret Clark (associate editor) Archie Goodwin (editor)

First posted: 09/10/2026
Last updated: 04/29/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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