Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Ironheart, Vol. 2: Ten Rings (2020)

Another great volume. This story brings Riri into contact with plenty of other Marvel heroes, takes her to new places, and shakes up her world in a major way. Really liking it.

When a baddie starts a zombie invasion in Chicago, Riri starts to realize that this new villain on the scene has a lot in common with Midnight’s Fire, who she tangled with in the last volume. The common thread is the Ten Rings, and Riri’s quest to learn more about the mysterious organization takes her first across the country and then across the world. But even as she investigates and works to bring the bad guys to justice, what she really craves is to know why the Ten Rings take such an interest in her.

While I think the comic was initially a little clunky in how it portrayed the social isolation that goes hand in hand with Riri’s genius, it’s getting into a better groove with it. Much more so than seeing Riri work alone in her lab while her mom frets about her not spending time with friends, it’s more interesting to see Riri struggle to navigate social situations: not awkward or cold but on a different wavelength than most people, losing herself in her inventions and needing her friends to pull her back. And along with that comes this tug and pull with the Ten Rings, Riri’s conviction that the organization is up to no good and her fears that their interest in her means they recognize a darkness in her that she’s afraid to acknowledge. This portrayal has gotten deeper and more nuanced as the story has gone on, and I’m into it. Also, I won’t get into spoilers, but there are some major developments going on here, and the climactic showdown has huge implications for Riri.

While this arc features appearances from some of the Ironheart characters we’ve come to know, like Xavier, the volume is packed with great Marvel appearances. We’re introduced to a new friendship between Riri and Nadia van Dyne, which I’m assuming is probably something that started in Riri’s appearances with the Champions. I’m not familiar with the character, but I know her name, and as the apparent current legacy of the Wasp, I know her moniker and her abilities well. Doctor Strange shows up too (I feel like he’s the comic character who, to me, bears the closest resemblance to his MCU counterpart – I look at the images of him on the page, and all I see is Benedict Cumberbatch.)

But best of all, Riri’s hunt for the Ten Rings takes her to Wakanda! I love everything about it, from her reaction to the country, to Xavier’s excited/jealous questions, to her interactions with the Wakandan characters. There’s some really good stuff here, and the animation is gorgeous. And for real, why does the MCU not do this? Why do we not get to see Sam or Rhodey’s reaction to being in Wakanda in Infinity War? I would’ve loved that.

Between this volume and the last one, I have a bit of a primer now on what the Ten Rings are and why they’re such a big deal. I’m not sure how helpful that information will be when Shang-Chi finally comes around, but reading this story still gives me a fresh flutter of excitement at the thought of seeing Wenwu wielding the Rings’ power onscreen. Bring me Shang-Chi!

 

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