Tony Stark is not a happy camper. Sure, he's a handsome multi-billionaire CEO with a super-genius off-the-charts IQ who heads one of the world's largest companies, hangs out with captains of industry and heads of nations and brilliant scientists and engineers, dates megastars and supermodels, and creates the products that people never even knew they wanted. But there's gotta be more to life, right?

Now it's not like he doesn't give back to the world. Yes, he got his start as a weapons designer for the US Military, and his weapons have seen some heavy battlefield use. But Stark Industries also creates ultra-advanced mobile phones, nanotech-based medicines, labour-saving factory robots. And ever since a life-altering incident years ago, involving a landmine, a kidnapping, and an attempt to force him to build a weapon for some really bad guys, he's secretly fought to make the world a better place as everyone's favourite armoured Avenger, the invincible Iron Man! Piloting the most advanced suit of armour - and possibly the most powerful weapon - the world has ever known, and pretending to be his own bodyguard, Tony has fended off alien invasions, stopped industrial saboteurs, beat up supervillains, and done the usual superhero stuff.  He's a good man. Really he is. So why can't he even look himself in the mirror these days?

Luckily there's always some distraction from his self-loathing. This time it's a distress call from his old friend (and fellow genius) Maya Hansen. She's been working on a project that could change the world, that could revolutionize medicine. But to do that, she needed money, and to get that money, she had to develop a little something for the military: a super-soldier treatment that makes Captain America's look like cheap steroids, creating an unstoppable ultimate warrior. And it's just been stolen. By a domestic terrorist who really, really hates the government, and will do whatever it takes to bring it down, no matter how many folks he has to kill along the way.

Only one man can stop him. Well, okay, there are dozens of superheroes that could probably do it. But Maya's his pal, so it's time for Tony to man up and bring down the bad guy. Or die trying.


Iron Man: Extremis is a hardcover volume that collects the six-issue story arc of the same name that launched the third (I think - comic book numbering is weird) volume of the Iron Man series, way back in 2005. Written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Adi Granov, this was a whole new Iron Man.


What's it like then?
It's not the usual superhero action-packed stuff, that's for sure. There's lots and lots of talking – characters standing around discussing their histories, their motivations, their feelings; what they intend to do with their lives or their government grants; how they've failed, how other people have failed; what it really means to change the world; monologues and dialogues and internal monologues and so on. This is actually the most interesting part of the book, providing a fascinating glimpse into what makes Tony Stark tick, and what the rest of the world - or, at least, the fellow super-brains he hung out with back in the day - thinks about him.

Warren Ellis makes a big deal about Tony's role as a futurist – he's not a regular hero, who only cares about fighting crime and hurting bad guys; he's a visionary, who wants to guide humanity to a glorious future. But he's also a guy who's caused a lot of misery all around the world, especially in some of its poorest, already most miserable environments, and that's something he's never really come to terms with. He's still haunted by his past. Ellis is a great writer (as seen especially on the incredible Planetary series), and something of a futurist himself. So it's no surprise that he manages to turn in some really interesting work here.

The main purpose of this story is to update Iron Man for the twenty-first century: new armour, new outlook, new (or at least slightly altered - this one features terrorists in Afghanistan, not the evil Asian communists that were all the rage in the sixties), and even a new body (complete with new powers). Heck, Ellis says he intentionally only read the oldest Iron Man comics as preparation, from four decades before, so he wouldn't be influenced by dozens of other writers and storylines. And for the most part, he succeeds, giving us an Iron Man that is much more interesting and technologically cutting-edge than he'd been for a while.

But here's the thing about Iron Man: the more "realistic" you try to make him, the more annoying it becomes. "Man in super-advanced armour that can do impossible vaguely technical things" is fine with me. But "man who stores his armour in his bones using nanotechnology, has rapid healing because of a jacked-up “healing centre” in the brain, and has tiny microchip implants that allow him to control any electronic device with his thoughts via satellite" is pushing the bounds of credibility (because it raises questions about how he manages to store the extra weight without increasing the pressure he exerts on the floor, how exactly his brain is meant to store and process the information about the current and ideal condition of each cell in his body, and why every electronic device in the world responds to these implants when it's tough enough trying to get PCs to run Mac programs, and vice versa). When it comes to science-based superheroes, sometimes less is more, Mister Ellis.

Also, the threat level of the villain seems a bit out of proportion. Alone and with his fellow superheroes, Iron Man has faced opponents who can travel through time, punch through mountains, control minds, or eat entire planets. Some dude who's hopped up on Extremis shouldn't even be worth breaking a sweat (in addition to mild superstrength, superspeed, and enhanced healing, Extremis apparently provides the ability to breathe fire and shoot electricity out of one's hands, because why not, that's why). Especially not for a supposed super-genius.

Oh, and by the way, Tony, I got love for you, but you really are an arrogant self-centred megalomaniac douchebag. See, when you get clobbered by a dangerous murderous superpowered nutbag terrorist type and will need to spend at least a couple days recovering before you can hunt him down, maybe you should swallow your pride and, I don't know, alert the Avengers or the Fantastic Four or the Silver Surfer or something? Sure, we get it, you want to see if you can improve your tech so you can take him down yourself and learn a valuable lesson along the way and become a better man. But people are dying, and he's on his way to Washington to overthrow the government, which would be a bit of a mess, and oh yeah, did I mention that people are dying? It's not all about you, you know. Jerk.


On the picture front, Adi Granov's art is amazing. Combining regular pencils and inks with a CGI feel and muted, “real-life” colours, he delivers visuals that are photorealistic, utterly believable (in the sense that the best sci-fi movies are, not in the sense that you'll actually believe a man can fly in a suit of armour) and simply gorgeous to look at. His people look like real people, and they adopt real people posture, and (mostly) have real people expressions. Like I said, amazing art. Unfortunately, it's also totally flat and lifeless. There's no real sense of motion anywhere, and it all feels posed and false – even the (still gorgeous) fight scenes don't seem all that exciting or dynamic. Also, sometimes expressions are just plain weird, and nobody ever seems to open their mouths to speak. I wish I could do that. ..


In a Nutshell
Extremis is a great introduction to the complexities of Tony Stark, a billionaire boozehound douchebag who spends a lot of his time inside a weapon capable of taking down most small nations, and  also happens to be one of the world's greatest superheroes. Could've been better, though.


This has been my very first entry into Elvisdo's excellent 2012 Funny Pages  W/O. Join in the fun, folks!


Shoutout: Much love, as ever, to pestyside for adding this one to the database.

Recommended: Yes