I have to admit, I had pretty high expectations for this title. Tony Harris did some amazing work in his time on Starman, and I was anxious to see him tackle something in this genre again. Brian Vaughan has wowed me on everything from Y: The Last Man to Runaways. And Wildstorm has produced some of my favorite mature superhero comics, notably Sleeper and Wildcats Version 3.0. A great pedigree leads to high expectations, and Ex Machina meets all of them. Those expecting the West Wing in comics won't find it here, as Vaughan's political bent here is more local, a look at an alternate version of New York politics that is informed by his love of the city, along with an examination of vigilantism in a somewhat more real world than the one we tend to see in the superhero genre. The book includes plenty of suspense hooks beyond what Mitchell Hundred will do as mayor, however, including an assassination attempt, a mysterious past and hints that things might not look so rosy for him in the future. Whatever that future holds, I'm pretty sure I'll be there to read it.
Vaughan is one of a very small group of writers in the industry who can still write a kickass first issue that just grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go. He did it with Y: The Last Man, he did it with Runaways and he does it with Ex Machina, which opens strong, closes even stronger and presents a startling amount of story in this issue. Vaughan's structure here is an unusual one, flashing forward and back in time to show various events so that they play thematically off one another, and I was surprised at a very clever decision to set Mayor Hundred's career during the time of another politician in the real world. Vaughan doesn't have to engage in speculation as much in terms of what's going to be going on in the world, instead he can show us an alternate take on what might have happened if Hundred was mayor during a certain period in New York's history. It's a small but exceptionally important decision that really makes the book click.
I knew that Vaughan was a fan of the town, but after reading Ex Machina, I start to realize just how much he is a New York kid. This book just drips with New York attitude, both the pride and cynicism of the city, and it's refreshing to see a book with such a strong sense of place. Not unlike the previous book that Tony Harris worked on, Starman, one gets the sense that the city itself is one of the characters in this book. One of many interesting characters, I should mention, because Vaughan establishes a number of interesting cast members in this issue, from Hundred himself (whose life is detailed in three very important age periods so that we get a strong sense of him) to the likably gruff and yet in some ways naive Ivan to two key members of Mitchell's staff. If there are comparisons to be made to the West Wing, which seems inevitable with a comic surrounding politics these days, than they can best be seen in the way Mitchell and his staff interact in funny, friendly ways that makes them seem smart, witty and likable.
While I love the script enough that I think Vaughan could have made it work with almost any artist, the importance of getting someone like Tony Harris on this book can't be overestimated. Half of the reason Ex Machina has the affect that it does is that it feels more real, and that comes from Harris's art style. Though he's accompanied by Tom Feister, who has been working with him on several projects now, the two of them eschew the animated cel appearance and go for something more akin to Harris's Starman work, and it really looks terrific. I am a bigger fan of the more stylized look rather than photo-realism in general, but a more real effect is what is needed here, and Harris and Feister create the cast of Ex Machina and recreate the city of New York in such perfect detail that it feels like they came out of central casting for television rather than popping off the pages of a comic. All this without losing the sense of wonder when we see Mitchell's superhero days.
You have no idea how much I want to blow the ending of this one, because it's such an important moment, it encapsulates everything that this book will be about, a mixture of the optimism of superheroes with the realism of politics. But I won't, because I was stunned when I got there and I wouldn't want to rob anyone of that joy. Just trust me when I say don't flip to the last page, read the book at its own pace and enjoy it, because Ex Machina #1 is like a great big chocolate fudge sundae, and the fantastic ending is but the cherry on top.
