IRON MAN versus TERRORISTS
Extremis: Five of Six (Marvel)
Where: Iron Man #5 When: March 2006
Why: Warren Ellis How: Adi Granov

The Story So Far...
A top secret process designed to reprogram genetic coding of human DNA has been stolen by American terrorists. Hell bent on exacting revenge for familial deaths and perceived wrongs by federal authorities; a young man named Mallen undergoes the Extremis process to turn himself into a living bio-tech weapon.

In an effort to fight fire with fire; Tony Stark submits himself to his own genetic reprogramming. The process cocoons Stark, forcing his mind into a dream state that recalls resonances with his original rebirth from industrialist, into the golden avenger: Iron Man.

Long ago technologies protected him from a potentially lethal piece of shrapnel working it's way toward his heart. As attonement for his life as a decadent weapons manufacturer, Stark continued to use his armor for the greater good, becoming a cold vision of justice. This time, however, the pursuit of justice will sacrifice Tony Stark's humanity as he emerges more machine than man...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Iron Man 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Iron Man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Iron Man 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Iron Man 6 (Generator)
Agility: Iron Man 2 (Average)
Fighting Ability: Iron Man 4 (Trained)
Energy Power: Iron Man 5 (Lasers)


- While on a field tour to observe the effects of weaponry designed by his corporation for the United States military; billionaire industrialist, Tony Stark, soon finds himself face-to-face with the bold consequences of his actions.
Caught in a rebel booby trap, Stark suffers a near fatal wound that lodges a piece of shrapnel inches from his heart. The rebels take Stark hostage to demand he apply his genius to the design and construction of weapons built from their limited resources. In doing so, they provide Stark the means to construct a suit of armor that preserves his heart, and turns him into an invincible Iron Man!

Stark's mastery over technology allows him to bring his designs home, where the availability of rapidly upgrading technologies allow him to continue to refine the build to become increasingly mobile and efficient. Stark soon dons the Iron Man armor on a regular basis, not only as insurance against his life threatening injuries, but as an opportunity to atone for the wanton destruction delt by his weapons of death. Stark protects his secrets through the duality of a secret identity, projecting to the world the image of Iron Man as a hi-tech bodyguard.

Advancements in Stark's arsenal have advanced to a point where he has now undergone cybernetic synthesis on a genetic level. The armor now not only provides him with superhuman strength and an array of offensive weapons, but also gives Stark full wireless control over the armor and other peripheral devices, as well as access to information databases, including SHIELD resources under his control as Director of SHIELD. Iron Man remains a staple of the Avengers roster.

- In the 1963 origin for Tony Stark's Iron Man; the industrialist found himself the guest of Vietnamese communists. Stark was tasked with the objective of designing weapons from scrap salvaged by the enemy. Instead he was able to save himself from a fatal wound, while also fashioning a powerful suit of armor with the use of his patented micro transitor technology.

Flash forward to 2006 where Warren Ellis introduces one of many spins on the original Larry Lieber/Stan Lee origin. This time drawing upon contemporary conflicts in Afghanistan, Stark's kidnappers become faceless Afghani terrorists. Otherwise; Stark's relationship with fellow hostage, Yin Sen, and the sentiments of the nationalistic march of violence through the enemy remains the same.

The Math: Iron Man Ranking: Iron Man (#4)

What Went Down...
Having survived the donning of his crude magnetized armor; industrial futurist, Tony Stark, applies the remaining shield of his metallic new skin. The bulky, gun-metal grey armor is the product of Stark's genius, for which he was kidnapped. Though a resourceful lot, the terrorist kidnappers were foolish to leave him with tools and salvaged scrap.

The Iron Man emerges from his den, expressionless but vocal in his march.
The terrorists, armed with their weapons, turn on this bizarre automaton, seeking reprieve from it's lumbering wrath. Their bullets are meaningless to a golem of war. Their shower, ungrateful for the beast they have sponsored into being.

Run, scream, and die, do these once brave warriors.
The Iron Man fires beans of destruction from his fingertips -- the very micromuntions the terrorists had demanded. Still more hopelessly flood to claim victory over the monster of their own making. Still more die for their assault.

The Iron Man proves unappeased by the blood of his attackers.
Vengeful is this shining knight who marches through the terrorist camp, exacting his revenge with the bathing warmth of a flame thrower. He is merciless in bringing destruction to those who would purvey such acts on others.

Iron Man's ironic stampede is paused momentarily by rounds fired from a jeep, powerful enough to dent his impressive exterior. Feeling the heat, Iron Man unleashes his secret weapon, a powerful beam from his chest battery that tosses the jeep like a toy into a magnificent explosion.

Iron Man stands triumphant.
Dead, the people he was supposed to save.

The Hammer...
So marks a rather dramatic start to our overdue coverage of Iron Man!
If you're just joining us you might like to remember that the month started with the blockbuster release of Iron Man: the movie in cinemas worldwide. The film has already gone on to gross several hundred million dollars, and continues to receive acclaim that puts it in the esteem of the respected, Batman Begins.

Iron mongers might like to scroll back through Invincible Iron Month to find a peppered release of materials, including our catalogue highlights of villainous battles and Avengers commitments in the Cover to Cover; as well as the newly initiated Smash Hits, featuring music from Black Sabbath.

Fans of the film will probably find this entry fairly familiar. Despite openly drawing on influences of popular casting calls of the time, (Tom Cruise), Adi Granov digitally paints a revised origin that seems more like a storyboard for trailers, than an issue of the forty year old comic (as of this month!).

Movie makers openly acknowledge the influence of this new origin, with Adi Granov close the project contributing production artwork and design.

Warren Ellis, notorious for questionable work ethic on commision projects, puts in a solid showing on Iron Man. While the title doesn't quite devolve into rambling techno-babble, it does boast a hi-tech revamp that remains with the character today. Extremis; the name of a nano-technological bio virus designed to use the healing centres of the human body to reprogram and rebuild, and the title of the storyarc; serves a conventional six-issue arc that pits Iron Man against a new type of terrorist -- one from within!

The metaphorical struggle not only presents a less prominent face of terrorism - that of disgruntled Americans - but also sees the enemy borne from technology developed on Stark's dollar. The sum of these parts make for a thoroughly compelling and modern approach to superheroics and "the golden avenger."

It's no small wonder that Jon Favreau and the men behind the Iron Man feature film would draw upon this savvy modern story. It merges the requisite fantasy of the superhero genre with socio-economic and ethical concerns that are very relevant to today's state of affairs, touching upon not only the politics of war, but the ever-related subject of futurism and environment.

Iron Man has polarized fans over the past few years as a result of his political campaign against the notion of the masked mysterman. Tony Stark's Superhero Registration Act saw the character rise to Director of SHIELD in the absence of a rebel Nick Fury, while also positioning him as antagonist in the Civil War struggle with his freedom-touting rival, Captain America.

A background commentary on the ideals of American society subtly pitted America's dreams (Captain America), against the reality of their hopes (Iron Man), in what was an undeniably compelling concept, in spite of execution.

Tony Stark's complexities as a self-made hero and icon of the establishment makes him one of the most compelling heroes in the Marvel pantheon. Robert Downey Jr sinks neatly into a representing role that demands as much of character as it does the physical trials of being a superhero. These qualities, though resting dependently on America's military-industrial complex, and the self-serving swagger of a decadent playboy, make Iron Man an appealing character to readers/viewers worldwide.

The film, and Extremis, both do well to encapsulate elements of the realism and intrigue of the character. Like a Batman, or Spider-man; Iron Man possesses a versatility of concept that opens up connotations of these super-serious contemporary struggles, while also lending the notion to laser-firing toys, action adventures, espionage tales, and the wacked out world of the cyberpunk genre.
It's with regret, then, that we actually stop to think about the Iron Man catalogue, and the range of nemesis no doubt being considered for sequels.

We already know of potential crossovers with old sparring partner, the Hulk, as well as the concept of an Avengers megamix, but what of stories closer to Iron Man's core? Sadly, on paper iconic villains like the Mandarin, Fin Fang Foom, Titanium Man, Crimson Dynamo, Whirlwind, and the Living Laser just don't ring true for modern, film-going audiences.

Sure, just as Iron Monger was able to rise to the challenge of big screen arch-nemesis, most of these concepts have more than enough moxxy to be developed into something salvagable. Favreau himself discussed potential to develop the Mandarin into a corporate foil, drawing inspiration from the early 1990's era, but still, the concepts seem to demand so much more tweaking than rivals.

It's probably this divide that's held Iron Man from the upper crust of superhero iconography as long as it has. It seems the future of the character comes from internal struggles, as well as the modern-cues of SHIELD's counter-terrorism role, among other comparable concepts (Hydra? AIM? HATE?).

It seems tragic, yet ironic, that this titan of superhero industry would be so incapable of producing sufficient enough change that his villains would provide a big screen vehicle as obvious as Ra's Al Ghul, Joker, Green Goblin, or Magneto.

I leave you with just one previously discussed solution, and hope you've enjoyed this look at the most recent success of Iron Man. With any luck we'll be taking a look back to much earlier in the shellhead's career soon, but in the mean time, look forward to another thematic inclusion in the Iron Month Smash Hits! You almost certainly won't see this one coming, but it's food for thought!

The Fight: 4 The Issue: 6

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FANTASTIC FOUR versus DR. DOOM

Doom: Part 6 (Marvel comics)

Where: Ultimate Fantastic Four #12 When: December 2004 Why: Warren Ellis How: Stuart Immonen

The story so far...

Selected for a government funded think-tank, child prodigy Reed Richards is united with some of the most brilliant young minds in the United States. Forming a friendship with project director Storm's children, Susan and Johnny, the underpinnings of the Fantastic Four are born.

Experimenting with his theories of teleportation, the young Reed Richards prepares an attempt to teleport an apple, not knowing of the unsolicited intervention of his stubborn Latverian rival, Victor Van Damme, who is under the belief Richards' calculations require slight correction.

 The change results in an unexpected trip through the mysterious sub-dimension of the N-Zone, which leaves the quintet, including Richards' high-school buddy Ben Grimm, mutated in five individual ways. Spiteful, Van Damme uses his new found powers to pursue a hidden agenda of world domination, purveyed by a secret European organization, and begins by leading his tiny home nation to prosperity as the villainous Dr. Doom.

Previous Form:
Fantastic Four [#2]: Nearly unbeatable as a team, their only recorded loss coming from a future without Mr. Fantastic, against a transformed Death's Head II.
Dr. Doom (#118): The subject of Mondays in October, he suffered a quick fix defeat in the Monthly Punch-Up, facing up against Thor, norse god of thunder.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Thing 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Genius)
Speed: Human Torch 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Dr. Doom 6 (Generator)
Agility: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Rubber)
Fighting Ability: Invisible Woman 4 (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Human Torch 7 (Solar Power)

- The Fantastic Four possess much the same abilities in the Ultimate series as their standardized predecessors. Mr. Fantastic becomes an elasticated super-morph; Susan Storm gains the ability of pseudo-kinesis and invisibility; Johnny Storm becomes a man on fire as the Human Torch; and Ben Grimm's bulk is turned to stone, making him the man-mountain called the Thing.

- Their think-tank origins redefine the members of the Fantastic Four as all having particularly keen intellects, with the exception of Ben Grimm, who loses his career as a test pilot and completed college education.

- Dr. Doom undergoes the most dramatic transformation, his armored visage now organic in nature, and part of his body. Likewise, his physiology is initially altered to give him hooves instead of feet, spiney projectiles at his fists, and toxic organs, giving him the ability to breath noxious gas.

- As with the traditional Doom, Victor Van Damme eventually comes into possession of various magics through exploration into Atlantis, and also plunders advanced technologies, adding to his own considerable arsenal of invention.

The Math: Dr. Doom (Average) Fantastic Four (Total) The Pick: Fantastic Four

What went down...
Having crash landed in Latveria and already faced Van Damme's wrath, Reed Richards stands alone amidst the rubble of Latverian squabble.

Doom, arrogantly assuming Richards to be powerless, lordes his mutation as a gift from the cosmos that recognised his destiny for greatness. Richards heckles Van Damme's notions of a warrior's upbringing, referring to his monarch father's disdain. The quip finds a soft spot on the armored Doom, who charges at the young Richards with a berzerker snarl.

Mr. Fantastic reveals himself to his deranged rival, entangling him in the elasticated contortion of his rubber body.

Wrapped around Doom like a viper, Richards snags one of his goat-like legs and hurls him across the battlefield.

Doom screeches to a halt as his metallic body leaves a path of sparks along the stone of the Latverian cobble street. He lets loose a familiar growl of his rival's surname, bitterly denying demands for the faulty input that changed them each.

Continuing to flaunt his inflated ego, Doom verbally spits in Mr. Fantastic's face, declaring himself something magnificent, while Richards is but a rubber-bodied freak.

A focused burst of flame rains down upon the defiant Doom, heading his metallic body to smouldering. Richards orders his fellow, the Human Torch, to keep his super-heated assault to a minimum.

The Invisible Woman looks to get a little bit for herself aswell, encasing Doom's head in an invisible force field as reprieve for his previous death-breath indescretions.

Doom brings his taloned fingers to the field, clawing desperately enough to send a reverberation back to Invisible Woman herself. Struggling under the strain, she calls upon the aid of the strongman of the Fantastic Four -- the Thing!

A hapless victim in the transformation process, it is Thing who perhaps has the most malice to bare against Doom, trapped in an unfeeling body of stone and rock.

Coming to Susan's aid, Thing snatches Doom in the palm of his giant rocky hand, and brings him crashing down with force, smooshed into the ground.

"I only met you like twice. And I hate you already."

Just then an alarm triggered by electromagnetic activity sounds on Mr. Fantastic's wrist gauntlet.

Set-up to detect wireless control of robots, Richards quickly realises the threat is much less disposable.

Rising from his crater in the street, Doom again professes his power as a king, revealing his 'loyal' subjects, each equipped with a nano-tech tattoo of a dragon on their necks, that bites deep to take control of them.

Doom rises to an endless echo of approval. Like a herd of zombies, the Latverian people all gladly pledge their love for Victor Van Damme, willing to kill the Fantastic Four for defying him.

Surrounded by innocent pawns in Doom's game, the Fantastic Four struggle to combat the rampaging hordes without causing them harm. Richards, knowledgable in Van Damme's techniques, asks his team to buy time to negate the mind-controlling influences of Doctor Doom's technology.

The Thing barrels his way through the crowd, while Human Torch offers threats of flame. New to his powers, and perhaps underestimating of the crowd's mindless bloodlust, the Torch ignites some of the citizens by accident.

The Invisible Woman throws up a forcefield to protect the beseiged team, while Richards works on a solution to the problem. The strain eventually proves too great for the youngster and her new powers, the attacking mob pushing her to unconsciousness.

With Dr. Doom violently reciting the chain of Latverian royalty, the Fantastic Four find themselves overcome by the controlled mobs until -- shots fire from the sky and the sound of choppers washes over the small Latverian square.

The US military fires without the concern of the heroic FF, killing the controlled, much to Doom's distain. Troops emerge from the copters revealing orders to bring Van Damme into custody, but before the situation can escalate, Danish tanks roll into the square, ordering the US to pull out of their witch hunt.

Believing he has had the last laugh, Doom is shocked when he belt explodes, signifying the success of Richards' intentions to end his radio control over the human shield of Latverian peasants. Finding solace in the control of the data that could reverse the FF's mutations, Doom provokes a final assault.

Spotting one of Doom's own spikey projectiles in the sand, Richards snatches it up and whips his elastic arm to Doom. The metal of Doom's own make-up proves capable of slicing his face in a way that prevents it immediately healing.

Doom is left alone with his curse, defeated but free to fight another day.

The hammer... With a little help from the murderous US military, the Fantastic Four walk away with the win on points, if not decisive result!

As with any capialist business venture, you're always going to have much better odds of introducing new elements of change to a system if you've got some previous success. The contemporary comics industry couldn't be truer, with submissions at the major two comics companies all but shut off. In that respect, the Image concept closed one door while opening another.

Those not familiar with the second Ultimate Fantastic Four storyarc might recognise the team of Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen from their geek-chic revamp maxi-series that followed; Nextwave: Agents of HATE.

Even big name writers and artists have roadblocks like editorial and marketing to contend with, and given the departure of Nextwave, I'd like to hazard a guess that UFF comes out of Ellis and Immonen earning a little bit of credibility (and cash) at Marvel Comics, because it certainly reads like that.

When you talk about the contemporary sci-fi setting of UFF and put Warren Ellis' name next to it, the imagination can go wild. One starts to imagine all manner of tech-savvy science fiction, and far-out distortions of what's become expected in a Fantastic Four comic. Alas; this portion of Ellis' Ultimate work tends to read much more like a mean-spirited Adventures title, putting very little into the single issue in favour of a very light superhero read. Immonen's pencils, fantastic as they are, add to this quality that far better serves a stylistic, tongue-in-cheek superhero romp like Nextwave, than what you'd expect from FF.

Not that Ellis and Immonen didn't have some obstacles working against them.

The Ultimate revamp saw to distance itself admirably from the original Four, but at the cost of many of the things considered great about the Fantastic Four.

Included in the origin to the point of being responsible for their creation, the goat-legged transformed Dr. Doom bares only superficial resemblance to what many regard as the greatest villain in comics history. His visage aside, this Doom possesses much less of the redeeming qualities of the familiar character, making him a much simpler, overtly evil opponent.

Likewise, as Dr. Doom loses a degree of pathos, so too do the Fantastic Four.

Doom's intervention in the experiment that resulted in their creation strips Reed Richards of the responsibility that made him the target of Ben Grimm's aggressions many times through history. Depression over his condition remains in the Grimm character, but without the justified internal conflict of both he, and his dear friend Richards, who constantly fails to turn his super science to reversing the effects of the cosmic radiation.

Likely due to the chagrin of many fans, Doom has since taken on a much more familiar appearance, and Mark Millar's return to the title included a story dedicated to preventing the accident to save Ben Grimm mental anguish, delivered without concern for the stripped weight of the story's drama in this world.

Which brings us to a much needed positive. It certainly isn't all bad!

Though not quite as mature and considered as Ultimate X-Men and The Ultimates, UFF found a solid run with Millar's solo return. A steady contrast to his creating collaboration with Brian "Convert for the gags*" Bendis, who wrote trademark meandering scripts based on Millar's conceptuals.

Millar not only redefined the UFF on terms more familiar to what made the original so legendary, but he also managed to expand on the mythos of the Ultimate Skrulls, and left an undying legacy of the Marvel Zombies. Granted, that last part might actually be a negative, given the nauseating over exposure of the Marvel Zombies brand since expanding out of the UFF storyarc. Look for a slew of irrelevant zombie variant covers on major Marvel titles through October. Oh, to turn against hallowe'en.

That's probably all the hating we have time for today, but join us next week as we continue a full month of DOOM in the name of the Marvel Ultimate Alliance Mondays initiative. We promise not to excede the agreed designation of this theme, which will last only for the duration of October.

The Fight: 5 The Issue: 4.5

[Adding to the absurdly named Victor Van Damme's backstory, Ellis includes direct lineage from Vlad Tepes, the Wallachian king known for his love of impaling. Tepes is widely regarded as the inspiration for Bram Stoker's famous literary account of the vampire, Count Dracula.]

THE THUNDERBOLTS versus JACK FLAG
Faith In Monsters Part 2 (Marvel comics)
Where: Thunderbolts #111 When: April 2007
Why: Warren Ellis How: Mike Deodato Jr.

The story so far...
Under the direction of Norman Osborn, the Thunderbolts have been completely overhauled in the wake of the Civil War. Incorporating existing members of the super-team and former criminals recruited to hunt rogue heroes, the new team is a volatile and untested mess.

Placing Moonstone in the position of leader, Osborn sends the team out on their first mission: Defeat and detain the rogue protégé of Captain America; Jack Flag.

With the press watching will this soft-target be the undoing of a team of reformed and manipulated villains. Or will they unravel live on the air?

Previous Form:
The Thunderbolts [#14]: Moonstone and Songbird were defeated by the Hulk as part of the classic Thunderbolts.
Venom (#63): Venom has a lethal victory over the Space Phantom.
Bullseye (#77): Bullseye has a victory against Daredevil, for two defeats.
Radioactive Man (#110): Radioactive Man was among the team assembled to take down the Anti-Registration Avengers.
Swordsman, Penance: Neither of these characters have been featured previously on the site.
Jack Flag: Jack Flag has not yet been featured on the site.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Moonstone 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Radioactive Man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Speedball/Penance 5 (Super Speed)
Stamina: Moonstone 6 (Generator)
Agility: Speedball/Penance 4 (Gymnast)
Fighting Ability: Jack Flag 4 (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Radioactive Man 6 (Mass Destruction)

So, as we continue Marvel Ultimate Alliance Mondays, this is supposed to be the Radioactive Man representitive entry. Confession time: Radioactive Man is a pretty insignificant cog in this entry, but I'm not a huge fan of the character, so it's about as good as it gets.

As a character in this situation Radioactive Man is probably more of a second-tier performer, but he brings a great deal to the team. Strength, intelligence and radioactive power being his trifecta of terror.

There seems to have been some confusion about the origins of the Jack Flag character. He's only been on the job since the early nineties, and initially brought very little to the game as an admirer of Captain America.
His skills developed with intensive training and clearly he picked up some points from the Captain himself. It's difficult to tell to what degree it has been retained, but he also gained super human strength after a tussle with Mr. Hyde.

It seems Flag has maybe been scaled down a little from that level, bringing him back to more of a 'roid raging 4 on our stat tape.

Guys like Venom, Radioactive Man and Moonstone all excede his strength level, and Moonstone, Venom and even Songbird have the skills to potentially outmaneuver the earth-bound Flag.

The key to victory for Flag would have to be using the inexperience of some of the characters, and exploiting the lack of preperation they've had as a team. Certainly the volatile nature of many of the characters only stirs the chemicals of dissent and distrust. That said, it's a big ask!

The Math: The Thunderbolts
The Pick: The Thunderbolts

What went down...
The Thunderbolts catch up with Jack Flag in Ohio, where he's been breaking up various criminal activities in defiance of the superhero registration act. Delivering justice without a paycheque or equipment and health benefits... Actually, why wouldn't a two-bit schmuck like Flag be signing up?!

In a scene that would send a film soundtrack platinum, the team struts in unison from their space age plane vehicle. If it were a Mattel the individual credits would go in an order along the lines of; sweet ass Songbird, marvellous Moonstone, radical Radioactive Man, peripherally challenged Penance, voulptuous Venom and the swinging Swordsman!

So, anyway, Moonstone goes about fullfilling her roll as new 'team leader' by orchestrating from the sidelines. With Jack Flag standing tall in the middle of a parking lot, Moonstone orders Radioactive Man to blow the gas tanks, making it appear to the on-looking press as though Flag had rigged the explosions himself.

The explosions put Flag on the back foot, as Moonstone sends in Swordsman and Venom to do the work of soldiers. Unfortunately she doesn't count on the strength and determination of the flag-clad hero, who shatters Swordsman's sword as it hovers above him.

Flag rolls back, booting the airborne sword end into Venom's chest, whilst using the follow throw to knock Swordsman for six.

Though the sword tip doesn't do any permanent damage to the symbiote-clad Mac Gargan, it does send him into a berzerker rage. As Flag stomps on Swordsman's helmet, Venom doubles in size and becomes a veiny mess... Hello!

Flag feels the sting of Venom's taloned fingertips, and finds himself in the grip of a creature that's pretty intent on eating his head. A prospect that would produce a win for the Thunderbolts, to be sure, but probably isn't the kind of press you want on the six O'clock news.

Moonstone plays moderator, calling for the activation of an implant that subdues Venom with an electrical charge. They'll pass it off as a hand-held weapon concealed in Jack Flag's gloves later. Oh, they're sly!

Songbird heads to the sky, but the smoke cover caused by the exploded cars proves to make her influence moot. Flag, freed of Venom's grip, goes about taking possession of something that may or may not be a misproportioned wheel mag.

Recalling the advice of his now deceased mentor, Captain America, he whips the cylindrical shrapnel into the air, ricocheting it off a street sign and lamp post, to strike Songbird directly in the throat. The jolt to her vocals quells her sound-based energy powers, and brings her into a heavy descent atop one of the surviving stationary vehicles.

Moonstone denies Radioactive Man opportunity to step in, instead seeing the opportunity to showcase the newest face on the team - Penance. Formerly Speedball, the massochistic turn he's taken, donning an iron maidenesque outfit, allows him to turn his kinetic powers outward.

With blood trickling from his suit, Penance brims with energy and hurls it into the lot. It stirs already twisted metal into the air, but ultimately finds it's target.

Though he's struck in the back, Flag is able to not only survive the onslaught, but turn it to his advantage as he attempts to make an escape down an alley.

The police cut off his backdoor, and he proves unwilling to fight the drones of the law. Perhaps a misguided mark of respect for the men in uniform and their distance from the 'Civil War', or perhaps the true sign of a hero.

Either way he switches strategy, kicking his way into the lower levels of one of the surrounding buildings. A chance to create a distraction and find his way to his goals. Unfortunately, there was one contingent he didn't count on.
There was one last trump the team didn't display in front of the cameras and the action figure buying children, and that was the scariest one of them all. The one scarier than the alien costume that eats brains, or the bulky Chinese guy who glows green.

Flag feels it before he knows what's happened -- a sai burying deep into his spinal column. The sting of the man called Bullseye, lurking in the shadows to clean up the mess before it spilled completely out of control.
He never misses his target. Flag's cauda equina is the victim, and he will never walk again. All in a day's work for the might Thunderbolts.

The hammer...
Well, with the assist going to the rest of the team, Bullseye scores the victory for the Thunderbolts. Go team!

Y'know, there's a certain level of excitement that occurs when a person says "Warren Ellis" and "Thunderbolts" in the same sentence. Especially when that prospect is said to entail a complete overhaul of the B-list team. Which is a fact that only becomes even more exciting when names like Green Goblin, Venom and Bullseye are getting thrown around!

Unfortunately, the imagination tends to run a little wild with those ingredients, and what actually rests in one's hands is of a flavour more pedestrian, perhaps.
Actually, that accurately describes the tone of the book, as Ellis panders to the 'real world' repercussions of a world where the superheroes have been dubbed outlaws.

There are a handfull of criticisms coming the way of this, and none is more sound than the theory that Bullseye and Mac Gargan could be sold to the public as the good guys. Bullseye, a character we featured just recently, wherein he was dubbed number four on America's Most Wanted list, a hero? [Daredevil #49]

Fair enough, he seems to be lurking shackled to the shadows with armed guards, but Venom is among the public face of the team. His raging "kill!" screaming outburst is dismissed by Moonstone as she fronts the press after the assault, as she assures them Venom is quite incapable of killing, despite a long history of being a known killer and menace in public. Something that dates back even to the days of Eddie Brock [a 'lethal protector'], should there be illusions about who is wearing the symbiote.
Of course, Gargan is the Venom that only a couple of years ago tore buildings down in the streets of New York in an effort to gain the advantage over Spider-man.

I digress, there are some issues to be taken with the details.
What was perhaps most disappointing to me was the subdued nature of the book, and the shadowy psuedo-realistic artwork by Deodato Jr, someone who seems to be being pushed in this sort of street realism capacity; presumably for his photo referenced pencil work.

I think what I hoped for was something a little less covert, exhibiting the unbridled enthusiasm of a Nextwave, or something akin to it. Not necessarily so over-the-top or tongue-in-cheek, but more vibrant, and action packed, and free flowing.

Remove those expectations and there is a good read to be found here.
Some of the conventions and tools are a little obvious, but the first three issues approach facets of the concept with purpose. The first issue reveals the new team, the second issue puts them into action and exposes some problems, and the third issue explains and faces some of the changes, including superficial qualities like Radioactive Man's new suit, or the dramatic changes.

Love it or hate it, it's a decent read, and though seemingly slow paced, as an opening arc it seems to be taking very sure steps forward. Things should hopefully pick up by the second, as team dynamics begin to settle, motivations become clearer, and problems escalate outside of the parade of Z-list heroes.

One can't help but anticipate the in-house problems that will arise with guys like Bullseye on the team. A character who couldn't possibly remain on the team for much longer than a few years, guaranteed.

As for Jack Flag, it's a shame they crippled him. He actually seemed to have come out the end of a revamp looking like a strong prospect for a hero in the post-Captain America world. Maybe that's a little too Death of Superman for some, but I think it might have been nice.

Norman Osborn is looking better than he has in a while too. Hilarious ending!
Songbird apparently got herself a character too, which helps. Albeit, she stole it from Dr. Cameron from TV's House MD, but fair enough...

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 5.5

NEXT WEEK: Fin Fang Foom!

IRONMAN versus MALLEN
Extremis: Three of Six (Marvel comics)
Where: Iron Man #3 When: March, 2005
Why: Warren Ellis How: Adi Granov

The story so far...
Extremis: the latest in super-soldier initiatives.
Using the cutting edge in nano-technologies, an injection of "nanotubes suspended in a carrier fluid" attacks the brain's 'repair' functions, reprogramming the subject's DNA from scratch to force organic transformation through healing.

When this process is stolen from an old friend of Tony Stark's, and an uncontained subject is found to have survived, you can bet your Stark Industrial stock on Iron Man showing up.

With a vendetta against federal authorities that shot his criminal parents, the Extremis survivor is hell bent on raising chaos, and has all the strength and ability in the super-world to do it.

Recommended reading:
Iron Man #1-#6: The Extremis storyline in it's entirety.
Tales of Suspense #39: Iron Man's origin as it was originally presented, in his first appearance.
Iron Man #159: Iron Man battles Diablo.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Extremis 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Iron Man 5 (Professor)
Speed: Iron Man 3 (Trained Athlete)
Stamina: Iron Man 6 (Generator)
Agility: Extremis 2 (Average)
Fighting Ability: Iron Man 4 (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Iron Man 4 (Lasers)

Do not let the mugshot fool you. Iron Man is not fighting David Mack.
That's Mallen: the bogan bad boy with a chip on his shoulder so big, you'd cut child obesity numbers in half just by killin' him -- and killin' him maye just be necessary.

While Iron Man has a convincing statistical advantage based on the tape stats, these do not fully express just how close a fight this is.
It's by the wax coat on his armor that Iron Man takes the strength and energy stakes. This isn't your father's super soldier! It isn't even your great grandfather's!

Surviving the Extremis process was amazing enough, but Mallen's abilities far exceed anything you see in a Captain America, or Nuke variety super-soldier. The strength levels exhibited by Mallen put him easily in the lower end of the 6 field, and if reports are anything to go by - it gets a whole lot worse.

In the greater spectrum Iron Man has a broad arsenal, and the white hat in the situation, which suggestions the war will ultimately be his - but since this fight is only half way through the series, there's a good chance of an underdog set-up.
Break kayfabe may be cheating just a little. Tale of the tape is about who should win, not who will.

For that reason, I have to give it to Iron Man.
Despite the makings of an impressive opponent, Mallen is inexperienced, head strong, and existing as an unknown quantity in regards to the consumption of the Extremis drug. Eliminating the x-factors, Iron Man still has the great scope of experience and arsenal.

What went down...
Moving on the highway, Iron Man and those wonderful toys of his get a lock on the desired target: Mallen - surviving Extremis user/domestic terrorist.

Using his repulsor rays, Iron Man performs his first trick, slicing the getaway van down the middle - leaving the occupants in both the driver's cab and cargo areas unharmed.
It isn't mentioned, but I'm sure we all know in our hearts Stark is twirling his moustache tips while his assistant shows off his handiwork.

Mallen emerges from the tumbling carriage a little less than pleased.

Iron Man offers the youngster an easy procedural way out of the situation, but the embittered Mallen feels inclined to retaliate.
This course of action invites a sting of repulsor rays, which have little to no effect. Stark moves with the situation increasing intensity to 80%, still achieving little more than a slowing effect.

Mallen goes on the weave, avoiding the attack to launch his own.
Along with impressive resistence and speed, the thug shows off his Extremis-granted ability to breathe flames, and after having his mouth held shut, reveals retractable pegs in his fingertips -- with electrifying results.

The electrical pulse leaves shellhead staggering helpless, with systems failing.
Mallen moves in for the kill, grappling with the Iron Man armor before sending it hurtling through the air without a paddle.

In free fall and heading fast for the freeway below, Stark manages to reboot the armor, but it's too little too late.

The armor crushes the bonnet of an expensive looking car, and creates a multi-car pile up. Cars literally get airborn, creating all manner of chaos on the freeway for Neo... er... Iron man.

With cars exploding, Mallen moves into the action, running straight into a four second sonic burst. The deafening sound appears to have a stunning effect, but Mallen is still able to catch the swinging gauntlet of the golden Avenger.
With his augmented strength, Mallen crushes the glove, ripping through the armor like it were made of paper cups.

At close quarters, the desperation move sees IM fire off a barrage of charges.
Relatively unphased, Mallen returns with a stiff kick to the calf, further mangling the IM armor, and prompting another unrestrained attack in the form of a point blank repulsor blast to the face.

With little more than a few scars and chipped teeth to show for the attack, Mallen drives his fist into the chest section of the Iron man armor.
Blood spatters on Tony's visual screens. "Torso Unit Breach."

In a whole world of trouble, Stark stumbles as Mallen takes a tight grip on a passing Porsche, and with little regard for the passengers inside, hoists the vehicle above his head, as the issue comes to a close.

The hammer...
Well, I feel like I haven't said it enough, but although the fight ends inconclusively, in the interest of public record I declare Mallen the victor in Iron Man #3.

Flicking back through the issues, I didn't find a first name, but if anyone can fill me in on a handle, the WWD might be a little less laborious next time (but that's not a guarantee).

The Extremis storyline really was a breath of fresh air to the Iron Man title.
I've always considered myself an Iron Man fan, even though I haven't always been an avid reader. Part of this is clearly attributed to the stagnant treatment of the character, an element I've discussed in regards to the Hulk in recent entries.

Like many other characters, Iron Man went through a shakey patch of ups and downs through the nineties. IM probably held far greater heights than the Hulk through his era de bland, but from the mid nineties to this fourth volume of the series I had not stayed with the book more than five issues.

The five issue record was achievable thanks to Heroes Reborn [which I probably would have continued to read if the fates had made it more accessable], but was contrasted by the disappointing launch of the Heroes Return Iron Man.
While it did the service of reverting the character back to his origins, having been turned into a teenager by previous storylines, it still managed to feel well short of a contemporary vision of the character.

Honestly, Ellis does very little to alter the character in Extremis.
The success of the presentation is probably in the finer details. Adi Granov's photo realistic CG artwork helps sell many of the ground-level facets of the storyline, lending credibility then to the impressive renders of the IM armor.
It's when in the armor that Granov truly shines, and could be forgiven for indulging in a script that calls for an excessive amount of pages dealing with Iron Man and blue sky.

With this in mind, it's easy to see how Ellis does not deliver the greatest of single issues.
Although not to the degree of his work on Ultimate Fantastic Four, which was paced to the point of boredom; Ellis paces the story with a respect for the non-space and more natural moments of being.
While 'writing for trade' and 'padding' may be occurring here, Extremis seems to exhibit a greater degree of interest than much of Ellis' other recent mainstream work.

Beneath the new story lies a secondary level easily overlooked -- a revamped origin for the Vietnam-era character.
While the nature of the origin remains much the same, it receives a breath of contemporary air, with elements refined and technologies updated relatively to allude to the eventual upgrades.
This really is a truly worthy revamp for a modern audience, even if it isn't as inspired as a Warren Ellis techno-character could have been.

As mentioned, Granov truly shines drawing the Iron Man armor.
The cold metal serves to both highlight Granov's strengths and weaknesses.

At times scenes can look uncomforably still, and characters absent and lacking the warmth of life. It's no small wonder that Granov previously worked on the Silver Surfer - a character that greatly benefits from the eerie still of Granov's characters.

This distanced glaze of photo realism clearly presents the Iron Man armor in all it's glory, and adds a credibility to the scenes that other artists struggle with.
Dealing with the frozen expression of the helmet is a piece of cake for Granov, and while animation is generally lacking with human characters, he still manages to deliver high action scenes. The first issue highlights this superbly.

With intelligent editorial scheduling and management, the slow working Granov, whose art justifies the means with the ends, could without a doubt be a powerhouse talent for Marvel. I hope to see a lot more!

The Fight: 5 The Issue: 6

NEXT: Justice is blind, but is she more compassionate than the military? Rargh! Hulk smash puny Murdock!

NEXTWAVE versus FIN FANG FOOM
(Marvel Comics)
Where: Nextwave #2 When: April 2006
Why: Warren Ellis How: Stuart Immonen

The story so far...
It's like Shakespeare, but with lots more punching.
It's like Goethe, but with lots more crunching.
Like Titanic, but the boat's still floating.
No it's not! The mother-f***ing boat is exploding!

NEXTWAVE! NEXTWAVE!

Dirk Anger is one crazy mamajama. He leads H.A.T.E. sitting around in his pretty pink pajamas.
H.A.T.E. was formed by the Beyond Corporation. Purposely to bring about catastrophic devestation!

NEXTWAVE! Oh, NEXTWAVE!

Do you want a haircut? The Beyond Corporation's gonna help you out.
Do you need a toothbrush? The Beyond Corporation's got an extra one.
Do you have a step-son? The Beyond Corporation's gonna run him off.

Do you see a monster? Or a pirate? Electric Emu? A giant sky rat? A midget Hitler?! Or Pontius Pilate? Don't call your mum or your doctor, just pick up the phone and call... NEXTWAVE!

Whoa-oh-oh, NEXTWAVE!

Give us a Nextwave rollcall!
Monica! Is gonna microwave your ****!
Tabby! Is gonna steal all your stuff!
Aaron! Is going to organize your sock drawer.
Elsa! Is gonna speak with an accent!
The Captain! HIS NAME IS THE CAPTAIN!

NEXTWAVE! Whoa-whoa-oh-oh-oh, NEXTWAVE!
Wooooo-oo-oo-oo, NEXTWAVE!
Oooh, somebody please call up NEXTWAVE!
For God's sake, somebody call... Nextwave...*

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Fin Fang Foom 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Machine Man 4 (Tactician)
Speed: Photon 5 (Super Speed)
Stamina: Fin Fang Foom 6 (Generator)
Agility: Photon 3 (Acrobat)
Fighting Ability: Photon 4 (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Photon 6 (Mass Destruction)

Y'know, for such a third-stringer, Captain Marvel [aka; Photon, aka; Monica Rambeau] is a pretty high rating hero. Oh, and if you didn't know, she once ran the Avengers. Hah-cha-cha-cha-cha.

Still, microwave special beam cannons and SHIELD regulation callisthenics aren't really all that much next to a giant dragon. A giant alien dragon who wears purple trunks, as it were.
As you can see, there are some of those vulnerabilities in the Haseloff system. I never could have accounted for purple underpants. Truly a formidable power (as we shall see).

Stats that include impressive strength levels on the side of Elsa Bloodstone and the Captain, as well as the multitude of abilities possessed by the gadget, geared up Machine Man, while impressive, aren't enough.
Even the dodgy record Fin Fang Foom has against superhero types isn't enough to render him a likely loser in this situation. Not on paper, according to statistics, at least.

Arguably a Nextwave should have far more chance of dealing with the alien dragon than a lone Iron Man, but that probably speaks more to the unfortunate writing of history.
Fin Fang Foom is a poor Iron Man villain choice, and should be granted higher status, dealt with by the likes of the Fantastic Four, or other.

What went down...
The second issue of Nextwave resumes very much where the end of the first left off. As the Nextwave arrives on the scene, Fin Fang Foom, having just been awoken and freed from his mountain prison, is f**king sh*t up!

Former X-Forcer, Tabby "Boom Boom" Smith, swoops in wearing an anti-gravity harness, to give the Fin-man an eyefull of plasma blast fit for 'shake, shaking' the room.
This plan, however, backfires...

Fin Fang Foom is swift enough to catch the little Boomer in-hand, and announces the offensive strategy of intending to place her in his pants. Not a very pretty plan, but effective in concept, none the less.
At least until an airborne Captain hurtles toward the situation.

The f**king absurdly strong action hero grapples with a giant green finger, peeling back until finally... He snaps the finger clean off Fin Fang Foom's hand.
"AAAAOOOOOOOOOO," indeed.

FFF waves his agonized hand around a bit, sending The Captain [and Tabitha Smith] hurtling once more, this time into a nearby apartment building.
Fortunatley, The Captain's absurdly powerful body was able to protect his Nextwave compadre from mortal injury.

Meanwhile, while Machine Man parks the Shockwave Rider, Photon leaps into action. Using her fantastic Photon-y powers, she converts her body into a flying deadly, flying exawatt gamma-ray laser beam! Which results in... her bouncing off FFF's big green chest...

Apparently unable to even damage the creature's toenails with a shotgun, the team decides drastic situations call for drastic measures. Well, okay, they didn't really put it like that, but I'm trying not to drone on too much...

... So, the invincible Elsa Bloodstone leaps into action, shotgun in tow, and fires at Fin Fang Foom's fintastic right eye. Which really hurts, and makes him open his mouth and shout in agony. This oral opening allows the Aaron "the Machine Man" Stack to hurtle into the gullet of the beast.

Twisting his way down through Fin Fang Foom's digestive system, Machine Man pops a whole mess of wacky, dangerous and sharp looking gadgets, and hacks away at FFF's innards like a sissy footballer brutalising a shin in the name of a steal.

In the end, Machine Man's rampaging butchery paid off.
Lurching in agony, Fin Fang Foom wonders if perhaps he had eaten too many people, but this was more than a little Bangalore belly. This was the bitter, hard-to-digest result of man's intolerance for giant alien monsters.

When will you learn to accept, humanity? Shame.

The hammer...
Fin Fang Foom's heart was broken, as was mine, with Nextwave walking away with the victory via excessive force.
This begs the question - is Fin Fang Foom now dead?

Popular opinion is to simply dismiss Nextwave as a book that obeys it's own exclusive canon, irrelevent to the established history of the Marvel "616" universe. This reporter, however, sees it otherwise.

In fact, despite it's comedy stylings, I tend to believe this book would greatly benefit the Marvel universe if it were to be directly attached.
This book has the potential to succeed where other series, like the recent ill-fated Defenders mini, have failed. Despite it's humorous and untamed antics, it has an over the top quality that nullifies, I believe, any potential misuse of characters.

In fact, thus far, it's my opinion that it hasn't even tred dodgy ground.

As a creatively and artistically brilliant piece of madness, this book, in my estimation, has not yet betrayed any of the characters it's borrowed. This opinion is no doubt held intact by the editorial wisdom that birthed a character like Dirk Anger, rather than pushing the boundaries of the likes of Nick Fury beyond parody.

In the case of Fin Fang Foom, I'd like to think a little bit of alien psuedo-reptilian regeneration could explain away a prompt resurrection. With, perhaps, the rest of the book steering clear of potential snafus that would necessitate separation from the other childred.

Critically, I could only fawn over this title.
Thoroughly disappointed with mainstream ventures from Ellis in recent past [Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate Secret, JLA: Classified...], this book not only makes up for those lapses of judgment, but seemingly does it on Ellis' own specififc terms.

The collaborative design produced under Ellis' direction by Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, Dave McCaig and Joe Caramagna, makes this more than just a beautiful, and kinetic read. This is a book generating it's own exciting image, akin more to high-end popart than just another Marvel comic.

I have nothing but gleaming reviews for everything from cover to cover.
The application of under utilised characters is brilliant. I could not say the book is a trailblazer in that sense, but solicitations from the big two are clearly indicative of an overdue realisation that this is a fantastic way to produce interesting, and unique books.

The use of Fin Fang Foom as a recognisable face under the 'UWMD' classification is fantastic. This was surely an intelligent way of ensuring long reading fanboys had interest to invest in the style of the ook, before it deviated to it's own self-perpetuated characters and stories.
I only hope the book can keep one foot in the Marvel Universe, because there are many characters I'd love to see gain new life here.
Post-New Invaders, I think the likes of USAgent and Blazing Skull would fit in superbly here, but I digress...

Since these ramblings are rapidly going nowhere, I'll close with a negative.
While the writing is strong, and suitably wacky, Elsa Bloodstone's dialogue is a bit grinding. Coming from a true Brit like Ellis, I would have expected slightly less over the top British dialogue. It's like someone threw scripts from The Bill in a blender, and pulled out as many of the colloqualisms as possible.

Machine Man's anti "fleshy," robotic antics were fun, but also seemed a little less shiney. More specifically it felt very much like strings from Futurama were being plucked, taking some of Bender's finer moments, and regurgitating them with more psychotic menace.

NEVER THE LESS, a shining review here. This is the kind of effort I'd like to see Marvel producing more often. Superb! If there wasn't a fight in this issue, I probably still would've forced it onto the site.
A pleasure to 'review' such an oustanding book.

*Finally, if you enjoyed the opening lyrics, you can still find the Nextwave theme song via the Thunder Thighs MySpace page. This glorious madness is perpetuated by Nextwave editor, Nick Lowe, along with his brother Matt.

The Fight: 6 The Issue: 7

NEXT: The May main event. Captain America versus Batman. When it comes to fantasy fights, they don't come much bigger than this one folks. Stay tuned!