Writing negative reviews is actually kind of easy, which is part of why I don't do a lot of them. Finding imaginative ways to call a book out for being bad is a piece of cake compared to continuing to say good things about a great book without repeating yourself. Which is why I have a hard time reviewing Ex Machina at this point. I've given it glowing reviews every time, it's earned them every time, and it continues to do so. "Tag," the second story arc in Ex Machina, continues to elaborate upon what happened that put Mitchell Hundred into Gracie Mansion in the past while exploring its ramifications on the present, and in the middle of all that, there's a topical political issue being explored in another story. It's smart writing, with beautiful art, and remains one of my "must reads" every month.
The stories in this issue of Ex Machina can be broken down and analyzed separately, even though they're leading into each other in some respects. Vaughan captures the busy pace of politics with the notion that there are always several things happening at once, and all of them seem life and death important. The political story in this particular issue has to do with Mitchell meeting with the gay couple who want to get married, and I very much enjoyed the conversations that resulted. Vaughan presents a believable, sympathetic gay Republican character (although I'm sure some will still take issue with a perceived liberal bias because of the stance on gay marriage that is presented during this sequence), and also presents everything in the same sort of pleasant political fiction as The West Wing uses. That reasonable people disagree and can reasonably discuss things, rather than just launching attacks from their PR wings at one another and not listening. It's less reasonable than real politics, but it's much less frustrating and more interesting to read about.
While I'm talking about story structure, the flashback/present day structure is one that I associate with West Wing as well, but I'm sure it's been used before and it's definitely been used since (Lost uses it particularly effectively). Ex Machina makes great use of this device, and seeing flashbacks to details of stories that we know the outcome gives them an interesting context. There's a different sort of tension involved in the flashbacks to Mitchell's candidacy, as we know the eventual outcome and even what factor gives him his victorious edge, but seeing how all the pieces fell into place to make that happen is fascinating.
Even better, though, is that Vaughan doesn't let interesting flashbacks be the only reason to do this parallel structure. Instead, we're introduced to key characters and moments that will resonate with the present, such as seeing Jackson Georges and his family only to find out in the modern story that something is going on with them. It's also interesting in reading this book to realize what we still don't know, despite having a lot of information about the characters and story at this point. The revelation this issue about Project 1440 is a really neat idea, and makes Mitchell's powers seem like only the tip of the iceberg. Basically, the storytelling in Ex Machina works on several levels, both on the individually interesting and entertaining scenes and in terms of building a larger story at the same time. Most writers can do one or the other, but those who can do both are not as common.
Despite the science-fiction concepts, Ex Machina is first and foremost about people interacting, and Harris, Feister and Mettler are ideal at conveying that. Whether the characters are discussing gay marriage issues in the park, arguing about a danger in the subways in Gracie Mansion or enjoying a quiet dinner in a New York bistro, it all feels and looks real. It's not the same hyper-detail as Bryan Hitch's work on The Ultimates, but it has the same verisimilitude and the characters have an exaggerated cartoony effect laid over the photo-referenced look that makes them seem more realistic rather than less. Certainly the art style gives the characters a lot of personality, and the violence sequences come across as very brutal and visceral as a result of the realistic backdrops. 10/10
