Ex Machina

Brian K. Vaughan has been known to write some good material. His Y: The Last Man series has been fantastic to read. When Wildstorm advertised a new political thriller, I jumped at the chance to read something different. I guess a lot of people think Vaughan is a good writer as Ex Machina won multiple Eisner awards (it's like the Oscars of comic books). Me? I never understood rewards as they are often subjective. However, Ex Machina is a great comic book and I always look forward to the next issue.

Ex Machina is indeed a political thriller. Set in an alternate New York, the series is about Mitchell Hundred, a regular Joe who was given the ability to talk to machines after encountering a mysterious alien object. Mitchell proceeds to use his powers to fight the good fight and becomes the super-hero "The Great Machine".

Mitchell tires of just fighting crime and decides the best way to help the city is run for mayor. Much to everyone's surprise, Mitchell wins and becomes Mayor Hundred. Mayor Hundred now tries to make New York a better place and deals with the politics and intrigue of being in office and an ex-super-hero.

The series jumps back and forth between events with flashbacks providing hints to story and giving the readers some background into the characters. Each issue always provides great dialogue and the art is superb. I love the artwork of Tony Harris. His art is clean and simple, yet very effective. He also occasionally uses some interesting camera angles. Vaughan lays each issue like a movie and Harris nails the art dead-on.

The supporting cast to the Mayor is great. There's Kremlin, the mechanic that made many of "The Great Machine's" equipment. You've got Bradbury, old friend and security head for Hundred. There's also Dave Wylie, the deputy mayor and Journal Moore, the intern. With names like those, it makes for a very interesting read.

I won't go too deeply into the different story arcs that have already occurred. I leave that up to you the reader to discover. I really enjoyed learning about "The Great Machine" and Mitchell Hundred and I think it's part of Ex Machina's appeal. If you can't get the comic books, there are trades readily available.

What I really like about Ex Machina is how Vaughan integrates the politics of the real world so smoothly into a super-hero book. There's controversial art, gay marriage, peace rallies, and strikes. All things that the Mayor of New York would have to deal with. I like the added fact that "The Great Machine" did manage to save one of the World Trade Center towers but was unable to save the other (Which, in my opinion, much better than any of the 9/11-related stores that Marvel produced).

Lately, the book has been coming out late. I'm not sure if it's Vaughan's fault or it's Tony Harris' fault. This could be bad for the book as I forget some of the events that happen in the previous issue. With this type of series, it's always good to remember what happened last issue. Hopefully, Vaughan and Harris will resolve their delays and continue to put out this great read. I recommend it to all. It's a great political thriller and there aren't too many of these in the industry right now.

Dragoncrypt