Vengeance is a horrid trap … especially when the innocent are involved.
Creative Staff:
Story: Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco, Dave Franchini, David Wohl & Chas! Pangburn
Writer: Chas! Pangburn
Artwork: Renato Rei
Colors: Robby Bevard
Letters: Chas! Pangburn
What They Say:
When criminal defense attorney Peyton Parks must defend an obviously guilty client, it unknowingly puts her on the radar of the vengeance-seeking Iron Maiden. Forced to defend the life of this known criminal, The Black Knight intervenes to stop, at all costs, the vigilante justice that Iron Maiden seeks to mete out. But can she stop the unstoppable?
Content (please note that portions of review may contain spoilers):
Her story began many years ago in a small city of Greece, after soldiers had set the town ablaze, these disgusting men began to satisfy their barbaric desires for blood by slaughtering anyone unlucky enough to cross their path for denying Roman rule, but as one attempted to rise his gladius against a helpless woman protecting her child, he was surprised when the blade was stopped by magic and his jaw shattered by a mace. However, as his angry compatriots attempted to avenge their fallen ally, they soon learned this bold woman was more than a challenge for a few men, but as the number of injured began to rise, the troops took advantage of their company and quickly surrounded the offender, pacifying then locking her in manacles. This once formidable defender was now a slave, seen as nothing more than a weak woman, and while they did everything possible to physically and mentally break her, but they could not, and yet when she meets the senator, everything changed for the better, until his wife found out about their affair. She was a jealous woman who felt she could do anything to her as did her spouse, and while she did have a temper which turned her final punishment into bloody violence, so too did this former protector seek retribution for being locked within the deadly cage called an iron maiden, placing a curse upon anyone who would dare to use the foul torture device, for they too would suffer its consequences.
With the passage of time this vengeful spirit found itself reborn within a young woman named Valda, and while it used her to seek justice against those it saw as unclean, so too did it visit upon her unsettling nightmares of a troubling past and the frightful incident which caused the two individuals to merge into one, never allowing the poor teenager a restful night of sleep. But as she wearily made her way downstairs and was greeted by her concerned father as they prepared to eat breakfast, the unpleasant dreams became the topic of conversation, with the jovial man attempting to make light of her suffering even as her mother joined in with the light hearted joking, and while the affectionate couple teased each other’s childish pranks, it was then when the tired girl noticed the shocking headline of the newspaper, noting how a psychologist used his position to molest children. The nauseating article made Val lose her temper, and with a powerful aura surrounding once shaky hands, it allowed the aroused adolescent to easily crush her eating utensils, though upon seeing the troubling sight, the worried girl excused herself and headed back upstairs to lay back down, only to find her slumber once again taken over by a vindictive champion.
In Summary:
While I was compellingly enticed to pursue a new story concerning the vindictive anti-hero Iron Maiden, it is surprising the tedious journey which new Zenescope writer Chas! Pangburn takes for such an engaging fanatic, especially when story creators Joe Brusha, Ralph Tedesco, Dave Franchini, David Wohl and Chas! Pangburn add their influences to the narrative itself, with skillful scribe Brusha the one behind such an iconic character from Robyn Hood Iron Maiden. To witness a plodding retelling of this poor woman’s dilemma genuinely serves no functional purpose within the opening pages, particularly when the original story was released only about a year ago, making those who were fascinated by the prior series question the need to minimally expand upon Lyra’s painful life, aside from establishing her generous nature to protect the weak and admirable tenacity to never surrender to those who attempt to break her determined psyche, even if these noble traits were hinted in the aforementioned title between thrilling bouts of violence.
And yet when we become intentionally captivated by the intense chase of a new vile predator, even this stimulating pursuit seems familiar, since the Iron Maiden is a sadistic avenger of few words, allowing her brutal actions to speak for themselves, essentially repeating what we saw in the original series, if not for a change in locations within New York City and similar circumstances, which brings a different vigilante in the form of the Black Knight to oppose this forceful woman’s form of twisted justice. Although Peyton does make some limited progress in dulling her fury, strangely it is the desires of impulsive teenager Val which negotiates an oddly hurried peace with her fearsome implanted persona, making her own sense of individuality a priority over the vengeful malice of Lyra, but at the same time, this quick result makes readers wonder how such an understandable rage can be so easily quelled within a few seconds. While this does grant the anxious audience a chance to witness a new heroine join the never-ending fight to save the innocent, it is the meandering path which makes the adventure monotonous from the start, even as we are mildly satisfied with the unspoken need to see a cowardly pedophile served a modicum of painful yet deserving justice.
For all of the formulaic story elements within this special, one cannot deny it is the engrossing illustrative talent of Renato Rei which causes the audience to become lost within this visual splendor, with heavily delineated images made sharper due to the clarity of terrified expressions, with each smoothly transitioned moment producing an ominous build-up of tension that mercilessly grasps the audience from the start and does not let go, made more pretentious due to Robby Bevard’s alarming palette, creating an emotional impact due to heavily stressed somberness of darker colors against vivid bursts of brighter tones such as energetic magic and striking fires which signal a moment of hope. However, as we begin to descend deeper into defiant suffering within Lyra’s life, the synergistic effect of striking linework and almost smothering shadows ruthlessly communicates the twisted turn which her existence takes, sealed within the namesake torture device and pronouncement of her determined curse, and yet it is within the foreboding metamorphosis from which Rei’s gripping depictions project an uncomfortable inappropriateness when we first witness our unsettled heroine struggling in her bed. While all of the characters within this book are adults, we have to remember this young girl is still a teenager, considering the sickening preferences of those who enticed her into this world revolved around victims around fourteen or fifteen years old, and though we may not know how much time has passed since the last series, Valda is still an underage child being shown with the same allure as other women within the Grimm Universe. Keeping these thoughts in mind, to see the struggling adolescent being tormented by jarring nightmares may cause the reader to sympathize with her, but to then watch her walk around with shapely legs, a tight-fitting teddy bear t-shirt and clinging shorts gives the wrong impression to the audience, quickly making us forget the age of this young protagonist, and indirectly adding to the traumatizing undertones of the story. It is only once she transforms into her captivating adult form as the Iron Maiden and faces off an equally appealing Black Knight can we temporarily forget about this glaring faux pas and begin to enjoy the extravagant violence of the special, watching with perverse pleasure as her newest victim is given a fitting punishment, only to have our memories curiously reset once Val returns to her juvenile form and we remember the suffering which has set her upon this questionable quest for justice.
Grimm Spotlight: Iron Maiden may have been based upon a dynamic foundation, but this expansive sequel consistently falls short due to a disappointing narrative which sadly relies upon pre-established events to create a new focus for the audience, and while the uninitiated may find this story strangely satisfying due to fitting punishments, for those experienced readers who remember the prior moving series, we are disappointingly given a curious sense of déjà vu as we stumble through familiar situations against a new defensive protagonist. And while the fantastic artwork and somber color selection does fabricate an immersive environment for the tense special, it is the inappropriate sensual depiction of our under-age heroine which may make some uncomfortable to witness Valda utilized in this fashion, particularly when she must deal with sexual predators and she is strangely depicted as tantalizing bait for those same perverse deviants. But as the hopeful story comes to an oddly swift close, with the young girl finally able to come to terms with her violent persona, it makes one wonder if the future will be hopeful for the Iron Maiden, or will we witness another recycled story against some random sickening foe, allowing for more primal pleasure even as the promise of a new heroine is swept aside due to hasty decisions.
Grade: B+
Rating: T (Teen)
Released By: Zenescope
Release Date: August 03, 2022
MSRP: $5.99
