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EX MACHINA #2
"State of Emergency"
Highly Recommended (10/10)
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DC Comics/Wildstorm imprint
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Pencils: Tony Harris
Inks: Tom Feister
Colors: JD Mettler
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Ben Abernathy
Price: $2.95 US/$4.50 CAN |
Local politics. My first exposure to them was when, as a high school student, I went down to the Denver Capitol and watched some of the day-to-day affairs, and what I saw was a cacophony of bickering over minutiae, a lot of noise that didn't seem likely to generate much in the way of results. That's not terribly dissimilar from my view of politics today, although I've learned that, sadly, what is a minor thing in politics can turn out to be a major thing in the real world, and that's where the arguing comes from. So how does this relate to Ex Machina? Well, Vaughan has absolutely captured the nightmare of local politics, by putting it in one of the two most contentious homes for local politics in America and throwing in a science-fiction element that amps up the tension a little further. What's really cool about Ex Machina, though? Even if you have no appreciation for political drama, for the way that cities really run, you will still love this book, because Vaughan has built his story not just on the interaction of city programs and problems but on some very realistic, very entertaining people. And if that isn't enough, Harris and Feister continue to impress on the artwork.
One of the things that has drawn me to Vaughan's writing elsewhere is that he brings a sense of humor to his work. Not a wacky, "boooiinnng!" kind of humor, but the kind that comes out of situations, out of recognizing that even at its most serious, life can be pretty absurd. The opening scene between "the Great Machine" and the police commissioner is a great example, as Mitchell Hundred is calmly explaining why the commissioner shouldn't draw her weapon even as she's already two steps ahead of him, and his "oh" is just a priceless punchline. But there's also just a general zing to the dialogue, in which we see how a guy like Hundred became Mayor, not just because of one key element of heroism but because he's a personable guy.
I remember when I was reading Eagle, the manga about an American Presidential race, I was distressed that nobody was doing anything even remotely like this in American comics. While Ex Machina is a very different book from Eagle, having a touch more in the way of thriller aspects to its plotting, Vaughan has captured one of the things I really loved about Eagle, and that's the sense that things beyond the punch-em-ups and relationship struggles have meaning. Oh, sure, the key cliffhanger in this issue might relate to a murder, but the really big cliffhanger, the big suspense, is what's going to happen with a controversial painting. And that's just cool, that Vaughan and company can get me to care so much about that in a fictional context.
Which is not to say that there aren't some more conventional elements at work. The odd weather might be just that, but by means of one of the characters, the creators raise the possibility that it's something more sinister, something connected to the one truly bizarre element of the series (well, more bizarre than the notion of an independent winning the mayoral race in New York). In addition, there's a creepy feeling to the last couple pages, as we wonder if this is the act of some random nut-job or something more, and does that tie into Mayor Hundred's powers?
I can't express how great it is to see Tony Harris on a monthly book again. He stretched the boundaries of what the superhero genre could look like with Starman, and he's doing it again here. Aside from one very important (and very great) costume design, this series is about reality, about real clothes and real buildings and all that jazz, and Harris and Feister deliver that in perfect, believable and beautiful style. The anger of the commissioner at being confronted by a vigilante, the exasperation of Mayor Hundred with any number of things throughout his day and the purposeful, silent madness of the gunman at the end, they're all brought to life by these artists, and while their vision of New York might not be as all-encompassing as Michael Lark's design for Gotham Central, they definitely give a sense of the city and its environs.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
