The girl can't help it. Natasha Irons, perpetual teenager, has become the Jimmy Olsen of the post-Crisis DC Universe. Irons is the niece of John Henry Irons, aka Steel, who built a suit of armor after the death of Superman back in 1993. Shortly after her creation in 1994, skinny Natasha downed a vial of "tar", a super-strength drug that made her pro-bodybuilder size for about five pages. Then she went back to normal.
In recent years, Natasha designed a variant on her uncle's armor and went out into the field as Steel (II), but recently John Henry wasn't thrilled with either the risks she was taking or Natasha's cavalier attitude, so he took back the armor. Natasha was pissed, and signed up for Lex Luthor's DNA-augmentation program, to get superpowers. Luthor was delighted to oblige her. (Because he's evil!)
So at the end of 52 Week Eight, we see little Natasha strapped into some painful-looking device, panic on her face. Luthor tells the technician to give her everything - basically to make her into a superhuman's superhuman.
Naturally Natasha shows up again in 52 Week Nine...
[Spoiler Warning]
...But she's not so little anymore - it looks like she's gained around six inches in height and put on a substantial amount of muscle, too. Also, she has serious superpowers. When her uncle comes looking for her she kicks his ass all over Metropolis, which is just what Luthor wanted all along. (Because he's evil!)
52 Week Nine also features the first appearance of the new Batwoman.
