Ironheart #2: Review

Jan 2019

Eve L Ewing, Luciano Vecchio

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Ironheart #2 Review by Rob Johnson (January 18, 2019)

Alchemax was 1st seen in the Spider-Man 2099 series. But it was retro-fitted into current continuity in the Superior Spider-Man series. This version is a merger of Allan Chemical, Oscorp and Horizon Labs which is run by Peter Parker's old friend Liz Allan.

We're supposed to suspect that the boss of the kid gang is Thomas Birch who's making political capital out of opposing them. Let's see if the cliché pans out.

From Our Blog:

Gwen Stacy, beauty queen of Standard High School, was Peter Parker's (alias Spider-Man) first great love.

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Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Ironheart #2 Synopsis by Rob Johnson

We begin with a flashback to 5 years ago when extra-bright Riri Williams has started High School in Chicago several years early. 1 morning she finds her locker won't open to let her get her books out and now she's late for class. An unusually friendly older girl named Daija Hamilton stops to help and tells her someone's blocked the lock with gum. She takes Riri to to the security desk to get them to deal with it and give her a lateness pass.

Now in Boston a hooded gang demand extra money from a shop over and above their regular 'insurance' payment. Riri happens to be there and drives the gang off as Ironheart. But they return in a car and start shooting at her. Ironheart tries to shield civilians but is frozen by the memory of her stepfather and her friend Natalie being killed in a drive by shooting. Until her Natalie-based AI shocks her back into action and she blasts the car over on to its side.

Then Ironheart quickly flies off because parts of her armour are damaged. Including it turns out her boot jets so she has to land and continue the journey by subway. On the way she obsesses about what needs repairing while Natalie AI (Neuro-Autonomous Technical Assistant & Laboratory Intelligence Entity) urges her to seek help dealing with her traumatic memories.

Riri returns to MIT where she's again enrolled years earlier than normal. And is the only undergraduate who's been given her own lab. And like last issue she finds Dean Bryant showing folks around the lab unannounced. This time it's men from Alchemax who might be willing to sponsor her work. But when they leave the Natalie hologram says they were using Riri's wifi so the AI had been able to hack into their phones and delete the pictures they'd taken.

When Riri calms down she finds that the armour is easy to fix. But then Natalie flags up a news report that says Daija Hamilton is missing. So Riri immediately heads home to Chicago.

There she searches the Internet for more details of the case, while her friend Xavier King eats popcorn and watches a movie. Her mother joins them with some soda as news comes on the TV about an outbreak of electronics robberies by teens and children. Followed by a message from would-be governor Thomas Birch who promises to deal with such things when elected. Xavier says he learned in Civics class that someone leaked private info about Birch's rival Jim Clark. Riri's (still nameless) mom tells them that Daija was an intern working for Birch, which is Riri's 1st real lead.

Assuming everything in that paragraph is linked she suits up and goes to Daley Plaza where she spots a kid stealing a mobile phone. She tries to intercept the thief but the phone is tossed from hand to hand among a small gang who melt into the crowd. With help from Natalie Ironheart is able to track the youth who ended up with the phone. But when she catches him he turns out to be just 10. He hands the mobile back and runs off saying he was forced to do it and he's going to be in big trouble now.

Riri is prevented from following him by 2 ninjas(?) spouting slogans about the Wellspring Of Power and the Circle. When she bests them they disappear, appearing to burst into flame. So she just returns the phone to its owner. (There's a running gag in this issue where the people she helps get her super-name wrong, Little Iron or Iron Chick.)

We finish with the kid gang reporting their failure to their boss who threatens them with punishment. And nearby we see unconscious Daija.

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