It's kind of a dicey time to be writing a political book. Everyone is pretty amped up about the issues, and in a book that revolves as much around seeing how those issues run in local government as it does around mysteries relating to the mayor's super-powered past, it's not unlikely that the way the characters react to things is going to step on someone's toes. However, I think that this issue shows pretty clearly that Vaughan is aiming at having his characters discuss issues, rather than just preach them, and while the right side of an issue seems pretty clear to me, that may be my viewing things through my own liberal viewpoint, and a more conservative reader might get something completely different out of the issue. At any rate, this issue also introduces a new wrinkle in the alien device that gave Mitchell his powers and has the usual excellent Sorkin-esque dialogue and character interaction (not to mention the always fantastic artwork) to keep things moving along, whatever your political views.
I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I love the structure that Vaughan is using to tell the story here. The constant flashbacks to fill in backstory as it becomes important is a nice touch, something that has also been used to good effect on TV shows like The West Wing and Lost. In addition, the flashbacks are full story, as opposed to multiple panels covered by narration, which means that they flow more clearly as part of the story instead of looking like great chunks of exposition, the way so much comic-book flashback information tends to. In particular, opening this issue with Mitchell's first encounter with the NSA provides another glimpse at how he was received by the "real world," and it also hints at something important later in the issue without completely giving it away.
One of the other things that I love about Ex Machina, and it continues to be seen here, is the dialogue. Every character tends to be smart and witty, and the resulting conversations are always entertaining. It's a sort of false reality where there aren't any dialogue missteps, but it's a better false reality than the one where every line of dialogue serves an easily discernible plot purpose. Though you might sometimes see the strings when Vaughan is having two characters discuss two sides of a political issue, as with the dialogue between Wylie and Mitchell about school vouchers, it's always interesting reading, and it rarely feels familiar or cliched. Little bits of non-essential detail, like the two sewer workers talking about porn sites or Mitchell complaining about the Sierra Club give life to the characters and to the book overall.
Yes, I just mentioned school vouchers, the Sierra Club and other less-than-stirring political topics. One of the easy pitfalls of a comic about politics is that if politics were so damned entertaining, C-SPAN would cost as much as HBO on your cable bill. Fortunately, Vaughan is able to integrate these political issues with the emotions that so often drive them, and as a result, we can see how these abstract issues affect people, and that makes it easier to become interested in them. In addition, this is not a book that just sits back and talks politics. The first arc featured a serial killer, the second looks like it may delve into the story of where exactly Mitchell got his powers, and whether there are some dangerous side effects roaming the streets of modern-day New York. Though I'm always entertained by the talking heads and issue-oriented stuff, this is most certainly a book with tense mysteries and thriller aspects as well as an examination of city politics.
Of course, Tony Harris, Tom Feister and JD Mettler could probably make the phone book entertaining, were they to illustrate that. They've done an exceptional job of giving each character a visual personality, whether it's Mitchell's somewhat sardonic demeanor, Wylie's more serious political veteran style or Journal's youthful enthusiasm and intelligence. The dialogue makes the characters come to life, but the reason we feel it as much as we do is because it's there on the visual side of the page. In addition, while their skill with the talking heads moments is essential to the book, these artists don't falter when it comes to the visceral splash of the mutilated animal in the subway or the splashy, fast-moving action of the opening sequence. 10/10
