For those who haven't heard of Iron Man: Extremis, it is a short series of comics written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Adi Granov, a comic book artist with a very realistic art style that looks like high-quality paintings, rather than quickly drawn comic book images. Originally, he mainly did comic book covers. For the Extremis project, however, he did all of the art in the six comic books in this highly stylized artistic style. Marvel Knights brings Iron Man: Extremis to life in this motion comic with a combination of the original artwork with pans, some carefully matched CG artwork and a good bit of meticulous post-processing. The end result is nothing short of stunning, providing a wonderland of eye-candy that does an excellent job of presenting the story while keeping the look and feel of the original artistry of the graphic novels.
The story itself is not an origin story, but is, nevertheless, a re-imagining of Iron Man. In this story, a prototype unproven super soldier serum is stolen and a violent, maladjusted individual uses it to boost his way up the F.B.I.'s Most Wanted List in a hurry. His new powers put the public at risk, but prove to be more than Iron Man can handle. As flashbacks will help illustrate, Tony Stark finds himself in another do-or-die situation, where he must quickly build better Iron Man technology or die trying. His only chance is to modify and utilize the last dose of the experimental serum to save his life - the very same serum that created the very menace that nearly took his life.
Iron Man: Extremis seeks to bring the Iron Man armor and, for that matter, the "Super Soldier Serum" concept, both up to date by introducing the concept of nano machines into the mix. Ellis also throws in some twists to the new suit that not only enhance its speed and agility, but also pull some power stunts, doing some interesting things with carefully placed micro-repulsor adjustments to, shall we say, simplify the process of getting into the suit, as well as endowing him with mind-level access to Stark Industries' array of satellites and making computer access a thought away.
For those who, like me, know the different versions of the suit from over the years, or for those who are just curious as to what they missed, the History of the Character art gallery shows a nice selection of suits-gone-by. The interviews and making-of featurettes are really nice, as well; it's amazing to see just how well the motion comic replicates the look and feel of the original graphic novels.
I highly recommend Iron Man: Extremis to fans of Iron Man, Adi Granov, Warren Ellis or Marvel Knights' other motion comics. There is some beautiful imagery here, as well as an entertaining story.
