Ironheart #2 Review

Writer: Eve L. Ewing / Artist: Luciano Vecchio, Matt Milla / Marvel Ironheart #2 is about building family. It may not be overt, but check it. We start with a flashback of pre-teen Riri Williams in a high school situation that she is intellectually able to handle but in no way socially prepared for. Enter Daija, a beautiful, thicc, real, young woman who is keepin’ an eye out for our girl ‘til she learns how to do it for herself. Elsewhere in the Storyline Back in the present it is becoming clear that self-care is a thing Riri still hasn’t mastered. I appreciate the reality of the emotional labor Ewing pens into the script. In this issue we see the internal struggles Riri has as herself and as Ironheart: a Venn diagram that is getting closer and closer to a perfect circle. We see her fighting to protect all of the places she calls home and dealing with the fact that one person – even a genius – just simply can’t. Her anger at that realization is slow-burning and something that I think will continue to haunt her throughout the run. It also serves as a way to outline the people and places who are essential to who Riri is as a person and a superhero.

We have the neighborhood store that is a quintessential part of the culture. (Bodegas and mom-and-pops all the way.) The possibly, maybe, new best friend that you say you don’t want but knows you to an annoying extent. (Shout out to friends who text when you don’t text back and bring you food cuz they know you forget how time works.)…