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DC's 52 series is really great fun for Mark Waid and Grant Morrison. They get to pull out all their arcane DC trivia from the past 50 years and try to make it work within the current DC Universe. In issue 22 they correct one of the greatest blunders DC ever made: the Metal Men limited series from 1993! It was written by Mike Carlin and drawn by Dan Jurgens. Carlin went down the wrong path of trying reality-warp the Metal Men's origin-instead of artificially intelligent robots, they were really outsourced humans who been friends of Doc Magnus! 
Platinum, Gold, and Mercury were fellow scientists working in the same lab that created the Metal Men. Tin was a meek janitor, while Lead turned out to be a pizza delivery guy who stopped by on the wrong day. They all got hit by "deprivation rays" which sucked their minds into Responsometers (the software unit that operates each Metal Man). Unfortunately, their bodies lapsed into a coma and were eventually destroyed. While Doc felt just terrible about this, he wiped out their memories to allow them to function. At the conclusion of the mini series, Magnus becomes a Metal Man (Veridium) after his body is destroyed, and he finally has an intimate relationship with Tina (Platinum).
The 52 writers have explained away this event as a fantasy that Magnus had during one of his mental breakdowns. Even better, they refer to my favorite Metal Men story by Steve Gerber and Walt Simonson, the Plutonium Man! That's one for the old timers; I don't see how anyone but a die-hard DC fan can get all these references. I love it! 52 has justified itself for me with this one little retcon.
Also in this issue, we see the return of a really obscure character called Super Chief. I remember seeing this character's origin in Superman #245 (100 page Super Spectacular) with terrific artwork by Carmine Infantino. Set in North America during the 1400s, a Native American called Flying Stag inherited super powers from a meteorite that crashed on Earth. He quickly becomes a Superman among his Indian tribe, wearing a buffalo mask that hides his real identity. He even has the Clark Kent dilemma when his favorite squaw is overly obsessed with Super Chief instead of his normal Flying Stag identity. Super Chief appeared in three stories by Gardner Fox and Infantino, and later appeared in guest starring roles, especially during Crisis on Infinite Earths. The moment that I saw Jon Standing Bear punch that guy out of the bus in 52, I had a feeling he would become Super Chief. It is a bit disturbing to see him suffocate his grandfather-that's not too heroic, is it? Nuff said.
"Super-Chief" is undoubtedly one of the lamest, most pathetic stereotypes of a hero since "Apache Chief". Actually, Apache Chief at least spoke Apache, unlike Super-Chief who is either spouting gibberish or Algonquin. And, uh, just so you know: "squaw" is an INCREDIBLY offensive word, synonomous with "whore."
Hey, thanks for tellin' us that info about squaw, Hale! Now I know why Mrs. Lightdeer at the Thunder Valley Indian Casino always flinches when I say she's my favorite squaw! Guess we just saw too many durn John Wayne movies! Oh well, now ya know why I hate to drive my truck through Berkeley!
I don't drive my truck thru Berkley, either. Never even been there. And I'm not sure I understand the "some of my best friends are NDNs" reference. If one NDN doesn't find the word offensive, then no NDN should? At any rate, my comment wasn't intended as an attack or an insult; many people genuinely do not know how offensive that term is to some, just like some people honestly don't understand what's wrong with the term "redskin"