Ironheart is one of the new generation of Marvel Comics superheroes, making her first appearance in 2016 in the page of Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3). Created by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato, Ironheart is Riri Williams, a genius who had big dreams to invent her own Iron Man armor and become a hero. However, she had no money and didn’t have the tech needed, so she “borrowed” it from the M.I.T. University Science Center, which caught the attention of Iron Man himself. He offered to sponsor her to become a new hero, and she eventually became part of the team of teenage heroes known as The Champions.
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Riri Williams also made her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, where she helped out Shuri, who had taken up the mantle of the Black Panther, in her battle with Namor. Now, Ironheart has her own Disney+ series, and it might be time to catch up on her best comic book appearances to understand why Ironheart is such a special Marvel hero.
1) Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 3) #12
This was the comic book where Iron Man met Ironheart for the first time. It was all accidental. Riri Williams made her armor and stopped a prison breakout, but damaged it. She faced arrest for stealing the equipment needed to work on it from M.I.T., and Iron Man heard about it when he was visiting and set out to find Riri and see what she was up to. He arrived at her home and demanded that she show him and her mother what she was working on. Riri Williams was 15, and Tony Stark was impressed. This was where he gave Ironheart his blessing, and she set out to become a hero.
2) Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 4) #1
The main Iron Man series ended just two issues after he met Riri Williams, and then Tony Stark ended up in a coma after the events of Civil War II. This led to the next series, which was still called Invincible Iron Man, but it now had Ironheart as the comic’s main hero. This is an important issue as it reveals Riri Williams’ backstory and the death of her stepfather and her best friend Natalie by a drive-by shooter while a 12-year-old Riri watched in horror. The first issue also has Tony’s final gift before his coma — an A.I. to help Riri with her armor.
3) Invincible Iron Man (Vol. 4) #9-10
Ironheart became a major hero thanks to her role in freeing Latveria from the rule of dictator Lucia Von Bardas. She went to Latveria to attack after SHIELD asked her to and declared herself the country’s new monarch. When SHIELD showed up, Riri brokered a peace treaty between Latveria’s armed forces and SHIELD, ensuring the country could have its first free elections. This was the moment Riri showed her brain was just as important a weapon as any armor she created. Humorously, Riri noted this was just her fifth fight.
4) Champions (Vol. 2) #19
Ironheart joined her first team during the Secret Empire event series when Captain America revealed he was with Hydra and overthrew the American government. Riri worked with The Champions and the Underground, attempting to fight back against Hydra. After that ended and the country began to return to normal, Ironheart officially joined The Champions. She joined along with the new Wasp. This was a huge moment since it was the first time that Ironheart felt she had a superhero family where she belonged.
5) Ironheart #9
MCU fans have got to see the great teaming of Ironheart and Shuri, and that happened in the comics first when Riri Williams went to Wakanda on a mission and met Shuri for the first time. This was an interesting meeting as well, since Riri was in a hurry to get help and was frustrated that it seemed Shuri didn’t understand the urgency, and Riri was quite rude. However, the two heroes finally get on the same page and develop a great relationship that allows them to fight Shadow Monsters together and become a fun pairing.
6) Champions (Vol. 4) #5
Ironheart was a big part of the Outlawed storyline. This series introduced a law banning underage superheroes from operating without an adult hero sponsor. Any hero caught was arrested by a group called CRADLE (headed up by Dum Dum Duggan.) However, the entire law was created by the evil Roxxon Corporation and their main goal was to shut down the Champions. Riri immediately quit and put her armor away since her identity was public knowledge. However, all it took was CRADLE to attack her friends to bring her back into the fight, and Champions (Vol. 4) #5 was where the team, with Ironheart by their side, finally stopped Roxxon and got the law repealed.
7) Iron Man (Vol. 7) #4-5
To catch up on what Ironheart is doing as she gets older and more secure in her place in the Marvel Universe, the two-part team-up in Iron Man (Vol. 7) #4-5 shows how much of a hero she has become. Iron Man needs help, and none of his armors are working anymore. He has an old model that isn’t very protective, and he calls in Ironheart to help him. She finds herself fighting an old enemy in Lucia von Bardas and has to fight to defend the people of Chicago, and it is Ironheart — not Iron Man — who saves the day.
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