Meet the New Girl in Town
Written By: Brian Michael Bendis Art By: Stefano Caselli, Marte Gracia
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 9, 2016
Publisher: Marvel
Review by: Christian Faulds
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So Tony Stark is gone because of something in Civil War 2. Now there are two people now taking the name of Iron Man, Dr. Victor Von Doom and Riri Williams. This issue has Riri Williams who if the cover isn’t lying has taken the name Ironheart. We shall see how this goes…
We start off in Chicago ten years ago from the current time. Riri’s parents are in a psychologist’s office trying to figure out what is wrong with their daughter. That is just it though. There is nothing wrong with her in fact she is a, and I’ll use the technical term the good doctor uses, SUPER GENIUS. She is bored with everything and that is why she has been acting out. Her mom’s reaction to this news is really weird, she says “How was I to know?” like some lifetime actress in a movie about suicide. The doctor then gives them the advice that not only do they need to keep her stimulated but also make sure she experiences life and doesn’t retreat inside her mine. You know so she doesn’t become a super villain. We then see her recording a video diary about her becoming the new Iron Man.
She says Tony Stark is gone and that is all the info we get. Even though he didn’t die in Civil War 2 issue six or the last Invincible Iron Man so this makes me angry that we don’t find out what happened to him. This leads to her in her new armor stopping a monster coming out of a hospital in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She catches it in a zero-point energy bubble. She then remarks that it is weird to see a monster and then a bunch of monsters come out and a woman also comes out yelling “You hypocrites were going to put me in the loony bin. She yells. She reveals her name. It is ANIMAX! Animax then says she will tear down the crap hole they live in. Riri asks her computer to show her everything on Animax. As it says “searching” Riri comments that she needs a real AI. Animax gets really upset because why is there a armor person in Wyoming?
Animax then summons a huge monster to attack Riri. We then go back five years and Riri’s mom is upset that Riri is spending all her time in a garage tinkering. She tells her mom just let her finish this and she will go to the park. Then a neighbor girl on a bike comes up and asks what she is doing. They end up working on this gadget together. They bond and Rir’s mom looks in and looks all happy. The neighbor girl’s name is revealed, it is Natalie. Back to the monster beat down. The armor computer gives the background on Animax. Riri fights this monster and honestly why does she need AI? The on board computer tells her to dodge and gives info what else do you need? Seems perfectly functional.
We go to Marquette PArk in Chicago two years ago. Riri and Natalie are having fun at a picnic. Riri’s dad tell Riri it is a nice day. Riri gets irritated and tells Natalie about the psychiatrist and that she heard everything he had said. Natalie tries to get Riri to see the good side of it, that her stepdad cares and that is better than no dad. In the background we see a car with a bunch of people around it. Those guys start running and gunshots go off. Riri’s mom screams and her step dad grabs her and Natalie and gets them out of the way. The car leaves and Riri gets up and see’s Natalie is shot. She hears her mom scream and see her step dad is shot as well. Both die in front of her.
Back to the fight her computer her shows Riri how the champions defeated Animax. They took her out and the monster go away. So Riri is very technical smart but she has very little intuition. Which is a thing. Though most engineers and designers have a good intuition because you have to problem solving skills so this makes no sense. Anyway, Riri then uses a new tech on her armor to take Animax out, probably the most dangerous thing a armor rider can do. Her gauntlets fly off and punch Animax, however that leaves her arms fully exposed. This is cool looking but tactically useless and she should get rid of that feature. Animax punched out the monsters leave and the cops come in. They then shoot at her, because reasons.
Honestly, no reason for them to shoot. She takes their guns then flys off. She is back in her garage tinkering, she tells her mom she needs a real AI. Then a government agent comes in and delivers a box. Riri opens the box and inside there is another box. It is a matryoshka box! It has a button that says “Push me”. She pushes it, i would to curiosity is the worst. Turns out this is what Riri needs, it is a AI! Not just any AI, Tony Stark as an AI.
Bits and Pieces:
This issue was pretty good. We got some backstory on Riri, we got to see her fight. Riri seems like she could be a interesting character but there are some problems in the writing that makes me upset and could tank her. There have been new characters before and they are either embraced or derided based on the writing. Right now there are problems but not enough that I can see that would warrant derision. I hope that the few problems I do have with this get better so this character is better for it. There is a old saying show don’t tell, so show us that she is an intuitive smart engineer and can be a hero.
7/10
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