There are many things that impress me about Ex Machina, and the creators involved with it. Since I'll keep reviewing every issue until a whole hell of a lot more of you are buying it, I guess I can focus on something different in each review. This time out, what caught my attention was the parallel storytelling, how they can focus on one thing while moving other elements in the background until its time for them to come forward and remind you that they've been there all along. This issue is about a lot of things, including a debate on the merits of gay marriage that is both timely and guaranteed to piss off those who lean to the right (two of my favorite things in comics) and how that relates to Mayor Hundred in a surprisingly personal way, but it never feels jumbled or crowded. Instead, the creators mix together political debate, a suspenseful horror/mystery tale based around the alien origin of Mitchell's powers and the usual likable character interaction for another home run issue.
The gay marriage issue is a hot button issue, one that some argue is what cost Kerry the election. Whether you believe that or not, certainly no one can deny that this is a defining issue in modern politics, and that makes it perfect fodder for this book. Vaughan does a pretty good job of trying to present a balanced argument for and against, but even with my views being sympathetic to those of Mayor Hundred, I have to say that he comes off as a little bit naive in his take on the whole thing. This might be seen as a failing in the writing, except that I believe part of Hundred's charm is his political naivete, his attempts to do right without dealing with the political system, and so I got a big kick out of his arguments. Of course, what was more interesting was the personal place that Journal took the issue, and the resulting change in Hundred's personal life as a result. That's probably one of the true strengths of Ex Machina: While political issues are a part of the book, they exist to drive the plot, not vice versa.
As he has done from the start, Vaughan is telling several stories at the same time in this arc. So while Mitchell Hundred is dealing with the issue of gay marriage, the flashbacks and asides are showing us a story that he's deeply involved with and doesn't know about. The notion of the alien symbol turning up throughout New York City, as if it's some sort of virus, is even more interesting than my original thought (that an alien was in town looking for Hundred or the device that gave him his powers), and the subway scene where we see how dangerous the symbol can be is really creepy and effective. It's actually the kind of thing I'd expect to see from a Warren Ellis book, a violent and disturbing moment, except that Vaughan uses it as part of the story, whereas Ellis probably would have built a 6-issue miniseries around that element alone.
All due credit must go to Harris, Feister and Mettler for this moment, of course. The slow shift from freaky cool to horrifyingly dangerous is done in a tightly-controlled 12-panel grid, and the similar shift from casual commute to horrifying moment, in a two-panel page following, is just as effective. There's also a really cool action sequence early on, and I really loved the green-tinged colors that Mettler used to set the flashback apart from the main story visually. However, while the action moments are strong, the heart and soul of this book is in the interaction between the characters, and Harris and Feister really do a great job of conveying the visual personality of the characters, especially the boyish charm of Mitchell and what can only be called the spunky personality of Journal.
At this point, I don't know what more I can say about Ex Machina that I haven't before. I love the premise, I love the characters, I love the multi-layered plotting, I love the dialogue, I love the artwork. This is one of the most enjoyable reads on the stands, month-in and month-out, and it should be on everyone's reading list. 10/10
