Vol. 4. Issue 3: (March 2005) "Extremis, part 3."
Cover art: Adi Granov.
Script: Warren Ellis. Art: Adi Granov.
From one Extremis to the other. The first two issues of Ellis' run were all talk and little action; here, it's no talk and ALL action! Maya Hansen gives Tony the whole poop on how Extremis works (it essentially rewrites a body's blueprint, making a super-soldier), and then Tone is quickly off to nab and stop the dude who took the super drug. It's finally IRON MAN time, folks! Granov's CG art is superb, giving the IM armor the sheen and hi-tech look it rightfully deserves. One thing that disappoints, however: why are the interior helmet graphics so lame? Kaminski-era Iron Man's said graphics were vastly superior! At any rate, the Extremis dude, aka "Mr. Mallen," looks to be a survivor of a Ruby Ridge type of shootout, where the feds took out a group of rightist survivalists. IM stops the van transporting Mallen, and the duo quickly begin to go at it. Mallen's strength and speed are incredible, with IM's repulsors initially having little to no effect. Mallen then temporarily crashes IM's systems, but it's nothing that a quick reboot can't handle (after being thrown several hundred yards, that is!). Shellhead's next effort are sonics and then explosive BBs -- all to little effect! Mallen crushes one of IM's gauntlets, and then punches a hole in IM's chestplate!! Next, he grabs a still-occupied car, gets ready to toss it at IM .... but we gotta wait for next ish! Yeah, wait -- and hopefully it won't be into 2006 before it comes out, like what it seemed it took for this ish to hit the stands! SHEESH.
Hube's Recommendation: 3 repulsors!
Fan Reaction: Hube: Superb review. I only wish that this worthless, phoned-in, issue was as good as you make it out to be. Guess how many panel we devoid of text? Awww, that would be telling! Extreme-mess. $3 down the whole. Just another reason why we love our Michelinie/Layton back-issues SO much. And, yeah, I STILL get the feeling that Warren Ellis is laughing his ass off at all of us Iron Fans. -- Mike Kalibabky
Fan Reaction 2: Finally. Issue three is out. The artwork by Granov is brilliant as always. There's finally a fight scene between Shellhead and Extremis where at the end reminds me of the bus scene from Superman Two. I was surprised that Extremis' origin came from the fact that his parents were militia and killed by Federal agents. But it's no excuse by the creative team and Marvel to take three to four months for this issue to come out. Personally, I think Ellis and Granov should be fired and as far as I know, there's been no explanation from Marvel about what happened and I like to know why. -- Fast Mike
Fan Reaction 3: I guess the old saying "you dont know what you have until it's gone" holds true as far as Iron Man is concerned. What I would not give to have this title back on a monthly basis, with a great (or even halfway decent story) with continuity and a supporting cast (Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts, Rhodey, Mrs Arbogast) that we have grown to love throughout the years. I now hear the next issue will be out in July '05. Thank you so much Marvel, for taking away something that was special not only to myself, but I'm sure to many long time readers. They could have done all this crap in the new Ultimate Iron Man book. Why couldn't they have left good enough alone. Until they fix this mess, I'm a DC man. -- adm712@msn.com
