Ex Machina

Ex Machina: Volume 1-5 written by Brian K Vaughan, drawn by Tony Harris.

I’ll say this about Vaughan, he doesn’t write comic books.  He writes stories and is probably the best writer in comics out there right now. Whereas Alan Moore has kind of gone off his rocker over the last few years.  Neil Gaiman seems more concerned with writing actually books without pictures. Grant Morrison, in my opinion, has never made a great comic, even though he, and a lot of comic media tend to propagandize other wise.  Brian Michale Bendis is stuck in the cesspool of Marvel comics, which is nowhere close to him writing his brilliant Powers comic, instead he churns out recycled Marvel story lines that seem "fresh".  Jeoff Loeb and Kurt Busiek are so overrated I don't have time right now to write about them and how bad they are.  Mark Waid is still one of the better writers out there, when compared to guys on this list, and is highly underrated. 

And every other comic “writer” out there seems to just want to churn out the daily superhero monthly fodder, where continuity and actual storylines are in a alternate universe. Everyone of Vaughan’s comics actually have an overarching storyline with continuity unlike anything from Marvel or DC now-a-days, where if you mention continuity all you get in return in a blank face with questioning stares. Vaughan knows how to write stories and he knows how to write them extremely well. I’ve read a lot of the books he written since I first read is best written book Y-the Last Man, which was not just one of the best comic books I’d ever read, but one of the books I’d ever read. 

Ex Machina is probably not his best written book but it’s still up there in the comic book realms of needing to be read because of how he approaches a story is so different from the main stream comics and even most of the comics that are considered edgy or independent. What he does so differently from them is actually tell a story and create interesting characters whereas most independent and edgy comics seem to just want to be different and push buttons instead of actually having a story to tell. Vaughan has an interesting story to tell. 

Ex Machina has roots deeply planted in Moore’s Watchmen as it plays with the notion of applying real world philosophy and physics to superheroes. Vaughan’s interesting premise is: what if a superhero reveals his identity and quits fighting crime to go into politics and make a difference on the political level? It’s an interesting idea and I’ve got to give Vaughan credit, he does a nice job of balancing both party lines of politics without ever revealing where his actual political beliefs lie. It takes a good writer to set aside their own beliefs for the sake of the story. I think Vaughan is brave to make a comic book about superheroes and politics. 

This is a character based story that focuses on Mitchel Hundred.  Vaughan does a great job with the flashbacks that help to build the character of Mitch into a full fledge character instead of the typical cardboard characters of Marvel and DC.  You really get to know who Mitch is as the story goes on as Vaughan injects all kinds of humor, wit, history, and politics into Mitch's character.  There's a lot going on in the story with many questions raised about Mitch's power to communicate with anything electric/machines.  Vaughan doesn't disappoint in revealing questions the reader wants answers too. 
There is always a thread of something else being rotten in Denmark weaving its way throughout the story, but don’t worry Vaughan reveals enough about it so as not to pull a Lost or X-files and leaves the comic with an actual ending.  There are still loose threads dangling but they work because the reader knows as much as Mitch does as to what is going on.

This was my first time sampling Tony Harris’ artwork which was a good marriage between him and Vaughan.  They complimented each other very well. Harris’ detailed and often realistic artwork made the story Vaughan wrote about come alive and not seem so cartoony. Since the story was at a higher maturity level, than typical Marvel or DC comics, it needed an artist to match that writing and Harris’ delivered with every issue creating some very beautiful artwork. His cover designs alone are worth just gazing at with the amount of detail he put into them.