Reviewer: Tim Sheridan
Story Title: Extremis: Part 1
Written by: Warren Ellis
Art by: Adi Granov
Lettered by: Randy Gentile
Assistant Editors: Schmidy, Wiley, and Lazer
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics
The Internet has been buzzing about this book for the past week, and with good reason. This could be the best Iron Man has been in a long time (some say ever!), or it could be the worst in recent memory.
I happen to think that this is a great book. I’ve said before that I’ve never really been a fan of Iron Man. I’ve always sort of wandered into his book every once in a while. And while the concept of a man wearing an armor outfit was inherently cool to me, I never really got on board monthly with him. But hey, it’s a new #1 (which doesn’t bother me nearly as much as it bothers some) so of course I’ll at least give it a shot. Adding to that, Warren Ellis is writing, and everything he does is at least interesting.
So what we have here is pretty much a new take on the character. Iron man is still Tony Stark, but other than that, there is no real mention of any other comic stories here. It’s not like Ellis is negating 40 years worth of Iron Man stories. He’s just not saying anything about them. Which for the purposes of this issue, is just fine with me. A lot of continuity fiends are upset about this. But because it’s a first issue, I don’t mind no mention of what has come before. Ellis wants to create a fresh start, and he absolutly does that. I can understand people getting upset about that, but I can’t for some reason. And why? Because the issue at hand is so damn good.
In the beginning we get some weird X-Files type scene where someone is injected with a virus or some such vile thing. And we come to find out it’s the extremis. Now, I don’t know what is it yet, but it’s a six-part story, and I’m sure I’ll find out eventually.
Anyways, most of this issue is a conversation between Stark and a documentary filmmaker. Said filmaker comes across as a Michael Moore type, without being a parody or a mockery. But we basically see where Warren Ellis stands on him. So Stark is being interviewed for a film and through his dialogue we see the supposed new origin of Iron Man. It has all sorts of Gulf War ties that work very well. I suppose it doesn’t really go along with anything that’s come before, but once again…it works. It makes what Iron Man has done and is doing more topical.
Anyways, Stark basically sticks it to this filmmaker when he attacks what Stark and Iron Man stand for. And because of this, and a few other moments in the issue, we get a really well rounded view of Tony Stark’s character. Personally, I feel I know him better than I have ever before, so it’s a great testament to the writing.
Oh, and about the art? I, like many others were concerned that Granov’s painted work was going to come off as stiff. Well that is certainly not the case. I suppose it helped that there weren’t too many action sequences, but the art didn’t feel stiff at all and in some cases was quite beautiful. I can’t wait to see what it would like like when and if Granov gets to do an Iron Man redesign. The scenes where Iron Man was flying were particulary striking.
Overall, this was a great first issue. The continuity fans may seem to think this issue belonged more in the Ultimate universe, but to me, a good issue is good no matter where it is found.
I hope that Ellis and Granov get to have a long run on this book, because as long as they are on it, I will be too.
