Iron Man #1

History

The series launched in the wake of the 'Avengers Disassembled' crossover that ended the previous Iron Man volume, with Marvel bringing in Warren Ellis — who deliberately avoided reading most prior Iron Man stories so he could approach the character fresh — and digital painter Adi Granov, who had previously worked primarily as a cover artist on the series. Granov's painstaking painted interiors caused significant publication delays: the concurrent Captain America relaunch by Ed Brubaker had reached its sixteenth issue by the time all six chapters of 'Extremis' had finally shipped. Ellis's stated creative goal was to reframe Tony Stark away from his Cold War arms-dealer origins and toward the identity of a 'test pilot for the future,' a character concept that would anchor the character for years afterward. The issue also carried an updated retelling of Tony Stark's origin, relocating his wounding from Vietnam to Afghanistan prior to the Gulf War — the third such origin revision in the character's history.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Iron Man vol. 4 #1 carries a January 2005 cover date and was written by Warren Ellis with fully painted art by Adi Granov; it is the first chapter of the six-part 'Extremis' storyline.
• First appearance of Maya Hansen — the FuturePharm scientist and Tony Stark's old acquaintance who co-developed the Extremis virus — who was later adapted for Iron Man 3 (2013), portrayed by Rebecca Hall.
• First appearance of Mallen — the domestic terrorist who injects himself with the stolen Extremis serum and becomes the arc's primary antagonist.
• First and only appearance of Dr. Aldrich Killian, the FuturePharm scientist who steals the Extremis formula and commits suicide in this issue; a heavily reimagined version of the character, portrayed by Guy Pearce, serves as the main villain of Iron Man 3 (2013).
• First appearance of the Extremis concept itself — a techno-organic virus that rewrites the host's genetic code to grant superhuman strength, speed, and regeneration, and which later allows Tony Stark to interface directly with his armor.
• The issue presents the third retelling of Tony Stark's origin in comics history, relocating his capture and wounding to Afghanistan (pre-Gulf War, circa 1991) rather than the Vietnam War setting of Tales of Suspense #39 or a later Chinese-province revision.
• Artist Adi Granov was subsequently brought on as a producer and armor designer for the 2008 Iron Man film, based directly on his visual work developing the armor aesthetic in this storyline.
• The full 'Extremis' arc (issues #1–6) was collected in the Iron Man: Extremis trade paperback and later adapted as a six-episode Marvel Knights Animation motion comic released on iTunes in April 2010.

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