Time

First of all I can not be expected to believe that the battle between Iron and Petunia actually lasted five hours. I mean...c'mon, isn't that a bit of an exaggeration? I don't care how doped up they are on R0id somebody in that fight must have gotten a little bit tired! Notice how in the front page you have a clock in Central Station and the face clearly shows 12 noon. So give or take the battle must have taken place in the afternoon while the sun was still up and okay as you flip through the pages you can see where the shadow positioning changes (Kudos to the attention to detail) so you know that the time is passing them by while they fight but later you see Angel on the roof with Drop Dead Mike and the moon is high up in the sky, glowing in the darkness of the city (bad attention to detail the stars...impossible for a city with that many bright lights that the stars would not be outshined) meaning that the fight continued way into the night. That's....really unbelieveable.

History

I believe Jeph Loeb once said that in comics you can't go wrong with a pretty girl, monsters and flying cars. Well...may be he has yet to read Iron and the Maiden. Iron and the Maiden seem to take their cue from StarWars and Fray (both excellent works) in combining the classics of history with the dream of future. But the key to this is combinging the best of the past with the faults of the future not the other way around. You can't combine the mistakes of the past with the coolness of the future. I mean that's why the mistakes of the past ususally stay in the past...because by now we have learned from them and moved on.
I mean, look they have flying cars but they still used railroad trains? And the clothes! maybe it's the girl in me but I think some female perspective is definitely necessasry in the comic book world. The clothes!! I mean you don't see us doing a come back to the one sided scrunchie pony tail look they had in the 80's do you? Of course not! Of course we see a hint of the past fashions coming back like bootleg pants and platform shoes but that's all they are! hints! there is no way the future want to walk around in a toga anymore (with not accessories *gasp*). C'mon! it's the future and we're still sporting suspenders? Guys take a cue from batman beyond...new world, new fashion sense.

Dialogue

Speaking of what else is new, new dialogue! I noticed  the dialogue is in a so much larger font than other comics. I mean...that's kind of a like an "I don't want to put more effort in the dialogue" paper you write for school...yeah I know for a fact teachers hate those. Well, I don't like it either! C'mon I don't want empty headed characters I want them pretty AND smart!

Cursing

"The Chase Whore"?!? Say that one more time and I'll smack you!! Geez! people curse at a lady one in a while but when you do it to much it loses it's impact and just boomerangs to how much you look like a loser. Everyone kept calling Angel "The Chase Whore" it was almost like her nickname heck! I'm suprised it hasn't become one of her aliases!. I'm sorry but that part REALLY got annoying. Like what I said in fashion the same applies in curses.

In Batman Beyond: Shway = cool
In Melaka Fray: a spin = a lie
                            toy = bad
                            spled = good 
                            lurk= vampire
                           rocketship =cool
Firefly: Gorram = God Damn
             Rutting = Fucking

Ahem...well you get the picture...

This issue just felt really sloppy and I was really looking forward to itbecause I really enjoyed the first issue, so it's kind of a let down.

Much as I love Michael Turner and Aspen comics it would seem they would care more to quantity rather than quality when it comes to the pages within their books. I mean I love pin-up and free pages traight from the sketch book and I don't mind the occasional advertisment here and there but there seems to be more of all theses than the actual story. But what little I was able to read of Iron and the Maiden...I loved!
The assassination sequence was beautiful. They sent nothing but a "brose" (a rose with a "b" in it) that would endanger the life of Mr. Johnson. Did Big Daddy know about Mr. Fong? Who cares? He sent Michael Irons to do the job and he could trust that Michael Irons did the job. I love it! I love how Master Fong simply went on his merry way after his debt was paid. I love how Mr. Johnson who was so smug and irritatingly cocky at first got what was coming to him.
Course it doesn't hurt that Michael Irons and Angel Chase are both easy on the eyes and this particular comic book enthusiast has a weakness for pretty characters...What doesn irriate me is how short the story was, how fast it all went and how THIS IS THE ONLY AVAILABLE ISSUE IN MY COUNTRY AND I HAVE NO WAY OF GETTNG THE NEXT ISSUES!!
*sighs* well, it was good while it lasted and for all those out there who do have access to this comic I recommend it.

I was really worried about this latest issue. I mean what else it there to do? Who else can they battle? Where on earth can a bunch of kids who are new to the hero villian scene find their own arch nemesis? SUPRISE! An awesome concept from the start! Karolina's being blamed for the destruction of her homeoworld! Now we all know Karolina shouldn't be held responsible for what happened at her wedding but that's what makes the concept so perfect! Irrational villians who think they're on the right side of the chess board!
I'm a little dissapointed with how Old Lace isn't seen as much. I was upset with Whedon's version when Old Lace was barely seen at all but I excused it because true enough her place in the past would have attracted far too much attention but now they're back in the modern world where weird is slightly more acceptable and she still isn't seen as much! She's the last link the readers have with Gert Yorke (may she rest in peace).
I'm sick of everyone complaining about the art. If ya'll think you can do better then go offer your services to the creator's no need to bash the artist (though polite crtiique is always welcome).
And Klara! I'm sorry if you think she's an uptight bitch but seriously? She's 12! and she was forced to marry and have sex with a really old guy who beat her when he was drunk. I think she's allowed to be a little bit messed. I personally think she'd make a good addition to the team. Now we have...
The funny guy = Chase
The nice guy = Victor
The serious and can be harsh...person =Xavin (Who I thought decided to be a girl now!! sheesh make up your mind)
The leader and...ahem...person who slutty tendencies =Nico
The nice girl = Karolina
The baby = Molly

and now Klara who can be the resident shy girl!
I like it! and I can't wait to see her character develope a little more, the way Xavin's did.

I was expecting Raven's popularity to really take flight, so to speak in her own mini series. When the cover first came out it seemed a little strange that Raven who's usually dark and gloomy to have such a colorful cover art. The expected dark shades of blue, black and gray certainly not the hot pink background with our dark bird smack dab in the middle sticking out like a sore thumb. With all due respect to Mr. Scott he does have his own unique and valuable style but it is better for the likes of Robin or Big Barda, characters with the multi-colored costumes. As I flipped through the first few pages I was suprised to find the ensemble they had put raven in. The quiet, conservative Titan was now sporting a red mid riff, a small leather mini skirt with high slits and high socks over fishnet stockings! adrastic fashion change after we last saw her sporting sweat shirts and baggy jeans. The story line was also confusing as it involved a young girl in a coma and the need to restore her "emotions" in order for her to heal her own body...

As Spike would say "Bloody Brilliant" this is by far the best issue this series has offered. It's comes together so beautifully as we see the painful life the slayers still have to live. There is a lot of philosophy within this issue that actually help inspire me to write a certain thesis paper that impressed my professor. The best issue and it actually stands on its own. It does not need the past issues to explain what's going on. At first it had me confused especially with the demon declaring that Buffy Summers is once again dead. That part had me rolling my eyes and thinking "What? again? whatever" but realizing that it was in fact a decoy Buffy herself mentioned in the first issue of Season 8 then things started to fall into place. This unknown girl who just went into the slayerhood so willingly despite her fear and uncertainty was deeply moving. Her last sentence telling the readers how insignificant it is to her that she be recognized as someone other than Buffy's decoy was near tear jerking as a fellow clasmate simply said "Wow, that's a really sad story". Even as I write I know I can't write a good enough review that will capture how much I love this particular issue in the Buffy series.