Helmut Gruler, the first Iron Cross, was a German champion, but not a Nazi, during World War Two. Later in the war, the Nazi Oskar Mors took to wearing the armor, presumably because Gruler had fallen out of favor. Regaining the armor after the war, Gruler joined the Penance Council of the V-Battalion and assisted in hunting down Nazi war criminals.
Creation
Iron Cross was created by Roy Thomas, Alan Kupperberg and Don Heck in 1978 and first appeared in The Invaders # 35.