(Oct. 2005)  "Extremis, part 4."  Cover art: Adi Granov. Script: Warren Ellis. Art: Adi Granov.  The battle between Mallen and Iron Man continues, with Shellhead blasting Mallen with his "chest beamer" (otherwise known as his "unibeam"), but then his suit's power level suddenly drains! Mallen cannot finish off IM as he's surrounded by police (army?) helicopters. He takes off, and IM utilizes his thermocouple (a nice homage to times past) to get at least a little juice. IM is taken back to Maya Hansen, and Stark gets an idea: use Extremis to "repair" his body!  Next, here's where Ellis gets on my friggin' nerves: He spends over two pages "treating" us to a soliloquy on how inherently corrupt and bad America is, when Mallen encounters a young teenage girl on his journey to Washington DC. Do us all a favor, Warren: Spare us your leftist rantings and f***ing write superhero comics, will 'ya?

Hube's Recommendation:  repulsors!

Fan Reaction:  Why does this story take so long between months?  Does anybody know?  The artwork is great as usual.  Tony revealing his identity to Maya Hansen makes sense plotwise. My biggest concern is the graphic death of the runaway Extremis kills.  I'm not a fan of the graphic violence that's in today's mainstream comics. Tony fighting fire with fire by becoming an Extremis himself could be an interesting direction in the series. -- FastMike