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Rating:  -
This book has never been able to fully engage me, yet I always pick up the trades. While the writing has never really sold me, there has always been obvious potential and the art by Tony Harris is very nice. So even if the book has failed to live up to expectations set by others, it is still better than a large number of other books that I buy (I'm not a very hard guy to sell a comic book to), so I continue to support the book.
This volume experienced a noticeable and substantial improvement - particularly over the third volume (which I didn't care for). There are essentially two stories in this trade. The first deals with Mayor Hundred trying to support the rights of protesters of the Iraqi war while at the same time trying to keep them safe from terrorist themed attacks. I thought Vaughn did a fine job of playing with the balance between these two sometimes conflicting goals (political freedom and physical security) without sinking to the use of clichés.
The second story gives us some back story on Hundred's nemesis. This portion of the trade was not as strong as the prior story arc, but still did an excellent job of tying together Hundred's super-hero exploits with his subsequent political career.
Either the book spiked in quality, or I'm just finally coming around - but I really enjoyed this trade paperback. I hope the next volume continues in the same direction.
Rating:  -
I finished this book less than eight hours after it arrived at my door and immediately after reading the last page, I checked to see when the next volume of this series will be published. That should say all that needs to be said about the quality of this work.
Rating:  -
so they could be bored to death by this poseur.
Rating: -
Ex Machina seems like it can do no wrong, and is constantly improving. In the fourth volume of Brian K. Vaughan's political superhero tale, Mayor Mitchell Hundred has to deal with controversy over a protest over the Iraqi war. After he gave the protestors a marching license, he immediately became the target of conservative backlash. However, none of that really matters after someone releases ricin gas at the protest, killing and injuring many demonstrators, and landing a friend of Hundred's in the hospital.
Hundred and Angotti work closely together to find the person who released the gas, and though we don't see too many flashbacks to Hundred's days as the Great Machine, we see a new side to Hundred and Angotti's relationship.
The second story is the two-issue special that introduces Hundred's old nemesis, Jack Pherson. While doing a radio show, Mitch is reminded of his final showdown with Pherson, and we learn his origins. Pherson was a sound technician who was working with someone who wanted to replicate Hundred's ability and market it. A freak accident caused Pherson to gain the ability to talk to animals, much the same way Hundred talks to machines.
Having Pherson communicate with animals is, in my opinion, the perfect mirror to Hundred's ability to talk to machines. Each represents one extreme side of human consciousness; machines are cold, calculating, and logical, while animals are instinctual and wild.
The political stories and superhero events are expertly intertwined; Vaughan is able to masterfully blend these two genres and create something unique. Ex Machina is always great, and this volume is no exception.
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