Riri Williams Soars In Ironheart #1
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
Ironheart still can’t believe she is a superhero; the fact amazes her as she soars through the clouds. She also has a lab at MIT now. However, when she returns to the lab, she finds that the dean is taking 12 UN delegates on a tour of her projects. This becomes more of a problem when one of her devices malfunctions to dangerous effects. Riri is wringed out for it, and she gets back to work. Later, she is interrupted by a growing crisis at MIT campus. The delegates have been taken hostage, and an invisible barrier is surrounding the scene of the crime. This looks like a job for Ironheart.
Riri Williams has her own title once again with Ironheart #1, which shows the further adventures of the hero divorced from the legacy of Tony Stark and Iron Man.
This first issue is extra-sized and sets the stage quite well for what Ironheart will likely be: superheroism, engineering, and battling isolation.
If there is a drawback, it’s that this is a very wordy issue. It’s somewhat understandable, as the comic has a lot to explain to the reader. A lot of it could have been shown instead of told, though, and not everything told was even necessarily needed.
That aside, it is a very enjoyable issue, and Riri chats with an old friend in the back half, and their chemistry is incredibly endearing.
Kevin Libranda and Luciano Vecchio team up for the artwork on this opening issue, and both do excellent work. The art is sleek, appealing, energetic, and detailed. No page is left underserved or empty. Matt Milla backs it up with vibrant color art that draws the eye to the page with ease.
Ironheart #1 is a little slow in parts and wordier than it needs to be, but the final product is still an endearing and energetic first step for the Riri Williams solo title. It was a good read and worth a recommendation. Check it out.
Ironheart #1 comes to us from writer Eve L. Ewing, artists Kevin Libranda and Luciano Vecchio, additional layouts from Geoffo, color artist Matt Milla, letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles, cover artist Amy Reeder, and variant cover artists Jen Bartel, Stephanie Hans, Jamal Campbell, Humberto Ramos with Edgar Delgado, Luciano Vecchio, and Skottie Young.
