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Iron Man Extremis is available from Amazon.com

As a huge fan of the first Iron Man movie with Robert Downey Jr, I was excited to learn more about the superhero. I continued to read a couple other comics with Iron Man and was definitely impressed. What I liked the most about Iron Man, was that the character, Tony Stark has a believable attitude when one takes into account his skills and intelligence. I especially enjoyed the comic I read on Iron Man and the Avengers where, Stark mentions with a grin that he owned a fully functional spaceship. Tony Stark always seems a bit older than the rest of the characters and even though he is quite conflicted, he speaks from a place of authority. Yet, instead of being derived from his financial or technical resources,  his authority comes from his life experiences. Iron Man is a survivor, who is in the process of reforming himself on multiple levels. So when I read, Iron Man: Extremis, I was pleasantly surprised to find these issues and themes, among many others, explored quite thoroughly in the graphic novel.

The quality of art in this graphic novel is so superb, that it isn’t even worth mentioning. Every page is literally a work of art that if on a framed canvas,  it could stand on its own in a modern art collection or museum. The depiction of Tony Stark is crisp and his physique makes sense for what one would imagine him to look like. The Iron Man suit itself looks awesome and the Heads Up Display (HUD) images are depicted with flawless accuracy. We truly get to see through Iron Man’s optics. The shading and shadow-work give ambiance and clarity to the milieu that is a pure pleasure to the reader.

For someone who is relatively new to the Iron Man series, I had no confusion at all. And I’ve only really read a couple comics and seen the two movies. The discrepancies between the movies and the comic were negligible and I had no trouble figuring out what was going on.

When the villain of the story was introduced, he enters into this strange cocoon-like state. It is impressive beyond words. The guy looks so messed up that the imagination just runs wild with how powerful or strange the character will become.

The story itself, is slightly controversial. The villain has a backstory that is based on a politically sensitive subject. And also, when Iron Man and his colleague visit a somewhat psychedelic shaman of a scientist, the discussion gets esoteric bordering on material that should be restrained to university courses. So you can probably tell, that those parts were my favorite. You never know what modern gems are available for purchase with wood pulp.

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Iron Man: Extremis contains the perfect blend of plot development, character arc, and action. My evaluation of the story is that the villain is simply a foil for Tony Stark, instead of being a fully functional co-star. So, it is difficult to emphasize with him. But I bet that the people who do emphasize with the villain will have their eyes opened, when they watch what happens to a character with such unrelenting anger and rage.

The arc that Iron Man goes through in the graphic novel has multiple aspects. First, there is an emotional/psychological arc that exemplifies Stark’s self-evaluation. Second, his actual technology undergoes significant change throughout the book.  And the final arc is a sort of transcendence that is required for him to achieve his goals. By the end of the book, the reader is highly satisfied that Iron Man well-earned his victory.

-Tyler