by Drew Baumgartner and Michael DeLaney
This article contains SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the issue yet, proceed at your own risk!
Riri, why did you become Ironheart?
xavier king
Drawing: My favorite scene from Eve Ewing, Kevin Libranda and Luciano Vecchio. iron heart 1 It takes up most of the third act. Riri, exhausted from a day of inventions, superheroes, and unexpected tour guides, is rudely awakened by her phone. The call is from Riri’s old neighbor, Xavier, whose unexpected call makes her suspicious. Sure enough, the call was Riri’s mother’s idea: exactly the kind of thoughtful intrusion that a teenager would resent. Despite this, the two find common ground with their shared enthusiasm for science fiction and hip-hop. But then the other shoe drops and Xavier blurts out the breathless question quoted above. In many ways, Xavier articulates the central question of this series: Why is Riri Williams Ironheart?
The superheroine is full of motivations, some more inspiring than others. Many are driven by pain, others by the responsibilities their powers give them, and still others are motivated by a combination of both. Riri certainly seemed to fit that mold: she built her first suit after the deaths of her stepfather and best friend. and She is a brilliant scientist who managed to reverse engineer Iron Man’s suit at the age of 13, so she may have a duty to help humanity. So she offers the same when Xavier asks, suggesting she did it because she “could,” but that doesn’t satisfy him. There are countless ways his brilliant mind could help end gang violence, so why did he choose such an unusual and dangerous one?
Riri then offers a more satisfying answer in the form of a quote from her grandmother (via her father): “Those who move with courage make the way for those who live in fear.” The date itself doesn’t necessarily justify Riri’s choice of dress, but his relationship with her certainly does; she is doing this because It scares her. Sure, writing public policy or eradicating the black gun market in Chicago might be causes she believes in, but they don’t require the kind of courage she values: she literally needs to put herself in harm’s way so others don’t have to. That’s a motivation I can get behind, especially since Ewing seems willing to complicate it in future issues.
And honestly, for me that is the only essential part of this topic. Riri’s other conflicts (first with her MIT dean and then with a supervillain) are fine, but they lack the emotional resonance that makes her conversation with Xavier so compelling. Still, Ewing has a fascinating approach to Riri’s suit, allowing her to come up with novel solutions to common superhero problems.
However, basically every sequence, even the most action-packed ones, is bogged down with too much text. It’s a pretty common problem for writers who come from a medium outside of comics, and I’m confident Ewing will master it sooner rather than later, but he kind of stomped on the art throughout the entire issue.
Maybe that’s why I’m so in love with that conversation sequence. A phone conversation doesn’t need much room for complicated blocking, which gives Ewing’s words the space they need to feel right. He has a great command of Riri and Xavier’s voices (they definitely sound like real teenagers) and I suspect that relationship will be central to this series. I’d love to read a series of Riri’s non-superhero adventures as a teenager navigating her own social gracelessness. But I’m confident this series will find a balance as Ewing becomes more comfortable writing comics.
Michael, I’m historically pretty bad at evaluating early numbers, but I take it as a good sign that I didn’t hate this. There are some intriguing pieces here, and I’m comfortable dismissing the weaker parts as first-time jitters. Am I being too charitable?
Miguel: Drew, I don’t think you’re being overly charitable. I think they are right about the dialogue. That last series of panels is heavy on dialogue (well, technically monologue) as Riri talks out loud trying to find a scientific way out of her dilemma with Clash. This isn’t a new concept by any means, superheroes often talk to themselves during their fights, especially kid wizards like Ironheart and Spider-Man.
Ewing sets a precedent by seeing Riri talking to herself outside of the Ironheart suit at the beginning of the issue while at MIT. This got me thinking about the nature of superhero monologue in general. Unless they are part of a team, superheroes are usually alone, so the writer must move the story forward by A) an internal monologue or B) having the hero literally talk to himself.
The thought bubble is practically a thing of the past in the comics realm, and Ironheart is a modern-day hero. I’ll also echo what Drew said about the authenticity of Riri and Xavier’s voices. Riri Wiliams was created by Brian Michael Bendis, and while I haven’t read much of his work on the character, I have to imagine that Eve Ewing, a younger woman of color, would handle the social brunettes of teenagers like Riri and Xavier better than Bendis. (Love you Bendis, keep up the good work on Superman!)
Much like Bendis, Ewing gives Riri a sharp wit and a deep understanding of pop culture. As long as they don’t take up too many pages, I enjoy conversations like this from time to time:
By the way, DS9 is overrated. This was a big back-and-forth that these two accidentally stumbled upon: what started as a courtesy call from Xavier actually turned into a delightful back-and-forth. Then, of course, he ruined it by asking her that question. Men!
Finally I want to touch on Clash’s lingering effect on Riri. Disclaimer: I love the tired trope of a villain saying something like “you and I aren’t that different.” But the way Ewing introduces Riri at the beginning and end of iron heart 1 gives more credence to Clash’s similarity claims.
I think we can all relate to feeling invisible in one way or another, but I think this is particularly true for artists, whatever the art. I’ve been an improviser in Chicago for a few years, but I still get those uncles and aunts asking me “when will we see you?” Saturday night live?” It’s hard when you’re trying to express yourself and your talents, but the people around you aren’t receiving the right message you’re trying to send. Everyone sees Riri for the genius she is, but doesn’t see her as much more than a tool for a larger machine.
For a full list of what we’re reading, head to our Pull List page. Whenever possible, buy your comics from your local family comic book store. If you want to enjoy digital copies, head over to Comixology and download the issues there. No need to hack, right?