Review: Ex Machina v9 Ring Out the Old...AND Ex Machina v10 Term Limits

One of the most difficult challenges for any writer of a serialized story is ending the damn thing, and ending it well.

I've been slowly plugging away at the Ex Machina series since last December and though I've enjoyed the series, it has had some ups and downs.  That being said, the events of the 7th and 8th trades gave me high hopes that the ending to the series would be one that did justice to the overall story of Mitchell Hundred, that man who can talk to machines.

Sadly, the ending did not come anywhere near my expectations.  Instead of an ending that tied up main plot lines, brought in those hinted at elements that were seemingly critical to the main plot, and wrapped things up nice and clean, the ending was disjointed, sported some jarring plot gaps, and left me confused, and very dissatisfied.

One of the most frustrating aspects of the lack-luster ending was that the book shifted from what had been mostly a political drama with bits of super-hero stuff mixed in, to being almost completely about Hundred's powers and his masked adventures...to the point that he was not handling political crises, but crises that a costumed hero would face in a typical capes and tights story.

My first reaction to the ending was "Huh?" followed by a reread of the bits that left me confused.  I thought for sure I had missed something crucial that would make the end satisfying, but there was none to be found.

During my next stop at the comic shop, I discussed the end of Ex Machina with the owner, and some well-read customers and they all confirmed that I hadn't missed anything, the ending was just weak, and that they'd had similar disappointed reactions with the ending.

It wasn't just the writing that left more to be desired though.  For the first time all series, I was underwhelmed by Tony Harris' art.  His usual quality stood firm in Ring Out the Old but his art in the finale, Term Limits, appeared to be "mailed in" at times.  What was most annoying though, was that one page would look like an amateur version of Tony Harris had handled the art, then the very next page would look like classic Tony Harris.  The inconsistency of the art was frustrating to say the least, but also disappointing.  Believe me, once you've seen what Harris is capable of, anything less than the best is just not enough.

What makes the weak ending to Ex Machina so sad and disappointing is that I know what the creative team of Vaughan and Harris are capable of, and these last two trades just weren't it.  Overall, this is still a pretty solid series, but the ending doesn't do justice to what at times was an amazing comic.

In the end I would say yes, I recommend this series, especially if you are a super-hero comic reader looking to get into the non-mainstream stuff.  Ex Machina would serve as a pretty solid go-between.  In many ways, Ex Machina has done the same for me, but in reverse, as I'll be subscribing to some super-hero comics for the first time this September with the new DC relaunch.  And yes, I would still recommend it to most any other comic reader as well, because there is a lot to love about the entire series, but I recommend it with the caveat that you'll likely be disappointed with the ending.  I know I was.

On to better (hopefully!) things...

Grade Ring Out the Old: C

          Term Limits: D-

Overall Series Grade: C+

Review: Ex Machina v7 Ex Cathedra...AND Ex Machina v8 Dirty Tricks

I figured that at this point in the Ex Machina series, people are either all aboard because they love what the series has to offer, or not reading the comics anymore, thus making my reviews of the latter part of series sort of an exercise in futility.   However, I want to do justice to what I feel is a great comic series, so I'll share my thoughts about the final 4 trades in shorter chunks and double up the reviews by doing two at a time.

Ex Cathedra: In this 7th volume, Mayor Mitchell Hundred wakes up one morning at 5 am to find his intern at his bedside delivering him hot coffee, and his chief of staff awaiting him downstairs. Clearly, there's some news to deliver. It turns out that the Pope has requested a private audience with Hundred, so the Mayor who, thanks to his powers isn't usually allowed outside of the US, hops on a plane for his first ever travel abroad.  

A meet and greet with the Pope seems simple enough, but Hundred's life is ever the complicated one.  An assassin, with access to some crazy remote-controlled-cyborg-rat technology has plans on making Hundred's visit with the Pope a deadly one.  This mad-science style technology uses computer programming to interact with chips placed in the rat's brain to control its movements and actions.  When used on Hundred, who already has some strange machinery working in his body, the assassin hopes to remotely manipulate Hundred into being the tool of the Pope's demise.

Now, I'm generally a sucker for some sweet mad science, so Ex Cathedra was particularly exciting for me, but I have a weak spot for some cool, trippy art too, and there is a sweet dream/divine intervention sequence that made this 7th volume all the more awesome.  Aside from hitting a couple of Ryan's-favorite-stuff home runs, Ex Cathedra is an important volume in the series, because it provides a clear direction of where the series is headed coming down the stretch, and I like what I see.

Grade: B+

Dirty Tricks: The 8th volume of Ex Machina delivers a four-part story arc sandwiched between two stand-alone stories.

In the opening stand-alone, Mayor Hundred is haunted by the ghost of a long dead slave.  All while he tries to decide whether or not to let the Ku Klux Klan hold a rally in Central Park.  Hundred must find a way to put a soul to rest, and properly deal with a group of assholes.

In the Dirty Tricks story arc, President Bush requests to hold the 2004 Republican National Convention in NYC.  Hundred deals with the security issues of hosting such an event, the political ramifications of seeming to support one party over the other as an independent politician, and a Great Machine look-alike/copycat who keeps performing wild, attention grabbing, republican damning stunts that threaten the safety of the convention and certain politicians. 

It is amazing how often the ghosts of Hundred's super hero past come back to haunt him in his new life as Mayor.  This is a pattern that has held true through out the entire series, yet a couple of the really big ghosts that have been teased and hinted at have yet to come into play, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them popping up in the next two trades.

For my money, Dirty Tricks was somewhat lacking compared with other volumes in this series.  There was less character development and story progression happening and it seemed like Vaughn was trying to sexy up the story for some reason by adding a biker chick with some big tits.  Little was done to move the overall story ahead, but if the last line of the Dirty Tricks story arc is to believed, hopefully this truly is "where the end begins" and from here on out the story will deliver.

Though this one wasn't up to the standards of many of the other volumes in the Ex Machina series, I have high hopes for the final two trades.

Grade: C

Review: Ex Machina v6 Power Down

The sixth volume of Ex Machina is aptly titled Power Down as it covers Mayor Hundred dealing with the massive 2003 blackout that had much of the eastern seaboard out of power.

The loss of electricity isn't Hundred's only worry, as the blackout appears to have also taken away his ability to speak with machines.

Both situations might have something to do with a strange guy in a strange outfit named Zeller, who might be from the future, or maybe just a different version of earth.  (I never was quite sure...)  Anyway, Zeller has turned up, and taken certain members of Hundred's family hostage, claiming he has a message to deliver to the Great Machine.  As usual, Mayor Hundred is pulled in bunch of different directions as he's forced to deal with multiple issues at the same time.

Also featured in this issue, finally, I might add, is the back story of how The Great Machine saved the second World Trade Center on September, 11th.  Its been known from the very first volume that he had used his powers to stop the plane from crashing into the second World Trade Center, but the how's have been only hinted at, and I've been anxiously waiting to see how it was done.  Well, I don't have to wait any longer.  It is pretty awesome, and worth the wait.

Again, consistency has been a hallmark of the Ex Machina books.  Once again, the writing and the art is at a high level and there is very little to say that I haven't already said.  Simply put: great art, great writing.

I know from experience that the middle of any long series of stories can often be a tad dull, but that isn't really the case here. The story told in this volume is pretty interesting, and Zeller was such a wild card that he spiced up the story quite a bit.  After reading this I feel like I don't have a totally firm grasp of what his appearance was all about, or what he was intending to accomplish, but I feel like it will be important later on.  I wouldn't be surprised if I have to reference back to this volume later on in the series so I can figure everything out.

My one let-down about Ex Machina: Power Down is that it only contains 4 issues worth of comics.  To flesh out the volume they include some extra material about the process Tony Harris goes through to create the covers and interior art.  It turns out he often uses live models to nail down body language, and facial expressions...two of the best qualities in his art for my money.  This is pretty interesting stuff, but I think I'd rather have the volume include a 5th issue. 

So, yeah, more high-end comics stuff here.  As I said, Brian K. Vaughn's writing is great, each story arc has been interesting and well written.  The art by Tony Harris is very high quality, and steadily some of the best I've seen so far in the comics medium.  This team can seemingly do no wrong for me at the moment, and I'm excited to move ahead in this series.

Grade: B

Review: Ex Machina v5 Smoke Smoke

In this 5th volume of Brian K. Vaughn's and Tony Harris' Ex Machina series, Mayor Mitchell Hundred has recently committed a political blunder; he admitted to having smoked pot in the past.  This admission sparks a long series of debates and creates a lot of unnecessary political drama that distracts Hundred from issues that are actually important. 

The first pressing issue is that someone has been posing as a New York City firefighter in full on official fire fighting gear to do some serious assault and robbery hits on New York citizens.  Adding even further distraction is the fact that a women committed a rather flamboyant act of suicide on the steps of City Hall by lighting herself on fire.

Amidst all the confusion and chaos, Hundred takes on a new intern, January Jones, who is the sister to his recently deceased intern Journal Jones.  From the little clues that this story arc provides, it looks like she has it in for Mayor Hundred and is looking to cause some damage to his political career.

As usual, mixed in with all the political drama, Vaughn interweaves some of Hundred's earlier adventures/misadventures as The Great Machine.

I've started to notice a trend with the Ex Machina series.  Each story arc will present a set of political dilemmas that Hundred has to face, combined with some related issue that has to do with the safety and security of New York citizens.  Though I feel like it makes for content that is slightly predictable, so far, the stories have been good enough that I don't mind the overall predictability of the Ex Machina formula.  Hopefully this will hold true for the second half of the series.

The political issues tackled in Smoke Smoke are kinda silly, but I guess if you are gonna do a story about a politician, you gotta do something about drugs.  The things I found most interesting in this story arc were January Jones' introduction and the little hints as to what Hundred's old buddy, Kremlin is up to behind the scenes.  I get the sense that these two will be key players in what the series is building up to, so I'm looking forward to not only seeing if my predictions are right, but also just what those two are all about.

I've praised both the writing and art of the Ex Machina comics before, and the writing and art in Smoke Smoke is par for the course...that is to say, exceptionally good.  Added to this collection is a standalone story titled, err...Standalone about Rick Bradbury, Hundred's bodyguard.  It is essentially his "origin" story, but it is pretty fun, and provides some good insight into the character. 

Now that I've reached the halfway point I feel like I'm fully invested in the series.  At this point I feel like I wanna read through the remaining trades in fairly rapid succession so that I can find out where everything is going.  Even though I thought Smoke Smoke was one of the less entertaining volumes so far, big things to come are hinted at and I wanna see what is up.  I own all but the final volume, so more Ex Machina is in my near future.

Grade: B-

Review: Ex Machina v4 March to War

Ex Machina: March to War takes place at the onset of the Iraq war.  Mayor Hundred, as mayor of New York City, must decide whether or not to let peaceful anti-war protests to take place in his city streets.  Though the risk for some sort of terrorist situation seems highly possible, Hundred allows the protests to take place and is left to pick up the pieces when many of the protesters are killed or hospitalized due to a toxic dust cloud attack.

As bad as the attacks are, they hit extra close to home as one of Hundred's cabinet members is severely injured in the attack.  To make matters worse, in response to toxic dust cloud attack, which may or may not have been the work of terrorists, a few New Yorkers have decided to deal out some street justice by killing people they assume to be "terrorists".

So, while the police are doing what they can to find these killers, Hundred and his chief of police team up to find the person or persons who built the device that delivered the toxic dust.  Hundred and Chief Angotti don't exactly go "by the book" to crack the case either.  Instead, we get an impressive display of how Hundred's ability to talk to machines can be used in subtle ways.

Also added into this fourth volume is the two-part Life or Death story line that delivers some great insight into Hundred's life while he was The Great Machine.   We finally get to meet Pherson, The Great Machine's archenemy, a man with the ability to talk to, and command animals.  Pherson is pretty much the antithesis of Hundred and for that reason, makes a great archenemy.  The guy is pretty damn creepy too....like all bad-guys should be.

Not surprisingly, this was another solid Ex Machina trade.  I thought the peace protest story line was quite engaging since it represented a piece of fairly recent history that I have strong memories towards.  Vaughn does a great job of placing this narrative in an engaging context and then also delivers a story that is not only exciting to read but also packs an emotional punch.

I like to think that I'm not one who usually gets excited for reading about politics, but I actually really enjoy the way Hundred goes about his mayoral duties.  He pretty much handles shit the way a normal person would, and doesn't pander to anyone, including constituents, fundraisers, or political parties.  When a crisis does come up, and they tend to hit him all at the same time, he is all about taking care of business by any means necessary.  The way these scenes are written with the character interactions come across as incredibly sincere and real.  The characters talk like real people, not like action heroes or dramatic performers.  I really appreciate that quality.

On the other hand, I also like to think that I'm not the kind of guy who gets excited for super hero comics, but the super hero bits of Ex Machina  are also quite awesome.  Simply said, Hundred is, at best, a pretty amateurish hero... Aside from the time when he saved one of the Word Trade Centers.   In the flashbacks to his hero days he always seems to be saving someone who doesn't want to be saved, or messing up and doing something like saving a mom before he saves her children.  Once again, all this comes across as genuine and realistic.  I like that Hundred struggles to do what he thinks is right, even though that isn't necessarily what someone else wants him to do in the heat of the moment.  I like that The Great Machine isn't just some perfect, omnipotent do-gooder.  It makes the flashback scenes extremely entertaining.

As per usual, Tony Harris' art is top level in this installment.  I don't have any complaints, and though I could easily gush, I'll spare you and just say that Harris' work on Ex Machina is consistently great and a perfect example of a top flight artist working at the top of his game.  Sexy-sexy stuff.  (Yup, two sexies!)

Ex Machina: March to War is a return to form for this series.  I was pleased to see the writing half of the series step its game up and deliver a story line that was interesting and engaging.  The extra two-part Life or Death arc was like a delicious icing on the cake.  Alone, the March to War arc was one of the best in the series so far but adding Pherson, The Great Machine's nemesis into the mix gave this graphic novel some extra juice.  All around good stuff.

Grade: A

Review: Ex Machina v3 Fact v. Fiction

The third installment in what has been a solid series thus far, Ex Machina: Fact v. Fiction gains some ground in the character development department, but in terms of story fails to live up to the two previous volumes.

Mitchell Hundred, once the world's first super hero, has already proven himself to be unlike the typical American citizen, but he proves himself to be even more of an oddball when he goes against all convention and participates in jury duty.  While the mayor is tied up with his civic duties, his police and security team are busy trying to catch a Great Machine copy-cat type vigilante calling himself the Automaton.   However, jury duty is proving to be a bigger event than Hundred could have anticipated.  During the deliberation portion of the trial, Hundred finds himself right smack in the middle of a tense hostage situation.  Though the hero "The Great Machine" has retired, you could use that same term to describe the workings of a big city like New York, and Hundred has to hope that all the parts of his new "Great Machine" are working together so that these unrelated crises get resolved.

There's a third story thread involved in this volume as well, but talking about it too much would spoil other aspects of the book, so I'll simply say that this bit of the graphic novel delivers some interesting character development.

Like I said earlier, I felt like the story being told in this third volume wasn't as strong as those of the previous two volumes.  Maybe it's just me, but the conflicts in this volume just didn't strike me as all that interesting or inventive compared to the others in this series.  Sure, the writing is still strong, and the characters are still compelling, but I sort of got the feeling that this story arc was a bit of a stop-gap to bigger things down the road.

On the artistic front, Tony Harris' work continues to be pretty amazing.  Harris can draw facial expression and body language better than any other comic artist I've experienced so far, and that ability lends a very realist air to the characters he draws.  I can really get a good sense for their tone of voice and inflection thanks to his skill.  Ex Machina is a very good example of the writing and art in a comic working extremely well together.

So, the weakest installment thus far, but still of a pretty high quality, and by far a better "Super Hero" book than any other out there.  There is definitely a downward trend happening here with this series, but I have high hopes that it'll pick back up.  I have the next four volumes waiting on my shelf, so I'll be getting around to them sooner than later.

Grade: C+

Review: Ex Machina V2: Tag

It seems crazy that in 2011 folks all over are still fighting for same-sex marriage rights.  I feel like the things I read most often: fantasy and comics, with the occasional exception, often value escapism over dealing with contemporary issues such as gay rights.  Well, given that Ex Machina is a modern story about a mayor in the city of New York, it is only fitting that the series covers some hot/controversial topics.

In the second volume of this engaging series, Mayor Hundred makes the most controversial decision of his political career, which is sort of saying a lot given his past political dramas.  Thanks to that decision, (legalizing same-sex marriage) Hundred is forced to face tough questions about his own sexual preferences, all while dealing with a strange, possibly supernatural power that plagues the subways.

Someone has been putting up mysterious tags in the subway tunnels that sort of resemble Chinese script.  Mutilated bodies of humans and animals have been found near these tags, and they seem to be somehow connected to the source of Hundred's power, and his past days of heroic adventures.

Once again, Ex Machina features a nice blend of super powered action and political wheeling and dealing.  While that stuff is certainly at the center of this volume, this volume also provides a nice glimpse at the man himself, Mitchel Hundred.  If there is ever a politician I can relate to, it is Hundred.  He truly is a regular guy who simply wanted to do good, and through supernatural forces found himself in the position to actually do some good and make positive changes.  Hundred's approach to politicking resembles his status as a normal person.  He doesn't really follow any party lines, but still plays the political game quite well, and he seems to enjoy his wild card  status.  His mayor gig seems to be a 24/7 type thing, but Hundred does manage squeeze in the time to date a pretty reporter lady; simultaneously pursuing a lady he is interested in while quelling questions about his sexual preferences.  The date scene is quite good as it builds up Hundred's character a bit more, and fleshes out his personality.  It also ends hilariously. 

This volume also provides some more back story, adding in some of Hundred's adventures as the Great Machine, and his early relationship with the American government. I was definitely a little bit confused by the mystery glyphs, and how they connect to Hundred's powers, and his past.  I get the feeling that all that information is going to slowly get leaked over the course of this series.  Due to the slow unraveling of important plot points Ex Machina  is definitely a comic that demands full attention.  Sometimes it can be hard to keep all the flashbacks straight while maintaining a proper time line in my head.  I had to reference the first volume a couple of times to make sure I was getting it all.

Ex Machina is unlike most other comics out there.  It features a nice blend of heroics and political wrangling, but also demands your full attention, all while covering interesting topics that are pertinent to the modern world.  Add to that the fact that this comic is very well written, filled with fantastic characters and absolutely beautiful to look at.  Truly a great piece of engaging, fun, and compelling artistry.

Grade: B+

Review: Ex Machina v1 The Frist Hundred Days

Michael Hundred was once a civil engineer, but a strange accident near the Brooklyn Bridge gifts him with some amazing powers: the ability to talk to machines and mechanical items. Hundred used these powers to become the world's first, and only, real-deal super hero. However, he eventually tires of doing nothing more than maintaining the status quo, so he gave up the crime-fighting gig, and turned to, what else? Politics. Cashing in on his celebrity status, Hundred wins the NYC mayor election in a landslide, kicking off a political career full of drama.

Hundred has his work cut out for him as he must deal with his eccentric staff, assassination attempts, a PR disaster thanks to a controversial exhibit at an art museum, a crippling blizzard, and a crazed serial killer who's topping the city's snow plow drivers.

I know the plot synopsis I just gave doesn't do justice, but let it be said that Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days is a truly special comic. There are multiple layers at work here; the politics, the characters, and the super hero stuff, all work together to make this really special. First off, you have the characters, who are incredibly fleshed out and nuanced. Comic characters can sometimes come off as over the top, but writer Brian K. Vaughn avoids that easily and creates a unique cast that not only stand out, but stand on their own as interesting individuals.

Obviously, politics play a major role in Ex Machina, so if you aren't into that sort of thing, well, go read Spiderman or something. Guess what though? A comic about politics isn't boring as shit! As a nice touch, Vaughn ties in a few real life news items, like the painting of Lincoln with the "N" word written across it, to add some flesh to the political turmoil plaguing Hundred's life. Aside from the major news worthy stuff, Vaughn mixes in lots of the nuts and bolts daily bullshit that a mayor would have to deal with which made me feel like Hundred actually was the mayor.

Maybe I shouldn't have scared off the Spiderman fans so soon, because there's some super hero action in Ex Machina as well. Vaughn layers in a bunch of flashbacks to Hundred's old super hero days which craftily gives you his back story, and sets up the pertinent history for the series. These scenes are all well done, and play an important role in the overall tapestry of the story. I get the feeling that if a regular guy actually ever did gain some super powers, his crime fighting days might look a lot like Hundred's sloppy, trial and error, fly by the seat of your pants crime fighting style.

Not only does The First Hundred Days feature some top-shelf writing, but the art is equally amazing. Tony Harris was more or less an unknown to me before I read this, I knew he had an epic run on Starman, but I'd never read a book with his work. Simply said, he is amazing. Every single aspect of this book looks stunning, but Harris shines when drawing the people that populate this book. I haven't seen any artist nail facial or body expression like Harris. Yeeeeah, there are a few times that the facial expressions look overdone, and the body language is too much, but most of the time it is spot on, and amazing. Harris' skill at capturing facial and body expression/language adds another layer to the already great characters.

Overall this is a fantastic comic. You have a creative team that is on their A game working on a great title. Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days is definitely one of the best graphic novels I've read this year. Without a doubt I am sucked into this series, and it looks like I'll be spending more time with Mitchell Hundred, and his political staff in the future. Definitely worth a read. This one easily gets the Battle Hymns seal of awesomeness.

Grade: A+