Review: Iron Heart #3

Gwen Dylan Stacy

6 years ago

The third issue of Iron Heart opens up to typical graduate celebratory rituals. Riri and her mother both seem content enough to bask in the few moments of normal life that they get. There’s an underlying tension to this, evident even in Riri’s interaction with an estranged classmate that sets the tone for the rest of the issue. Something isn’t right here. We’re not quite sure what exactly that’s throwing everything off kilter, but it’s definitely there, working its fingers fingers under the skin to wriggle its way to the heart of this content.

Diving deeper into the pages, we learn that interaction itself is merely a call back and that the pertinence of the previous introduction to Daija is with purpose. A string of mysterious disappearances has placed Riri’s classmate in the middle of something, perhaps, far bigger than a simple student abduction. Riri desperately struggles to find – not only a connection – but a balance between her work as a superheroine and her life as a student at M.I.T. The latter of which she is currently all too happy to half flub her way through and take shortcuts where she can to allow herself the ability to fully devote her time to uncovering the pattern hidden in these disappearances.

After a surprising revelation about one of the victim’s whereabouts, the dialog swifly changes to something that oftentimes is echoed in the media. Blame. Where does it fall? Can we really believe the wild stories from alleged victims, or are some of these stories just fabricated to keep the mass consumer safe from the nefarious underlying factors that really are at work? It’s this exact state of mind that drives Riri to seek out her own truth and, in doing so, we come face to face with a new threat. A decisive meeting that causes Riri to make decisions that ultimately might bite her in the long run.

The realistic dialog and ability to openly address the trauma sustained by our protagonist in this issue really are what shines in this issue. It’s isolative nature ultimately leaves us hoping that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for those who might feel the same even in real life. I really enjoyed the mix of true to life reactions that Eve L. Ewing writes, along with the wonderful art by Luciano Vecchio. Even the colors by Matt Milla are appreciated, as a lot of the palette in this title reflect the flagship yellow and red that we’ve come to love in Stark Tech itself. I rate this issue a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars and look forward to seeing how our hero works out all her issues to become a more complete version of herself.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

(W) Eve Ewing (A) Luciano Vecchio, Beaulieu Geoffrey (CA) Amy Reeder