(1) Fact Vs. FictionA new super-hero is sighted in NYC – the Automaton, who claims to have been created by ‘the engineer’ and will continue to operate until his ‘return’. The police commissioner suspects Mitchell, but the mayor denies any involvement. He then tasks Bradbury to find out who this mystery person is. Meanwhile, Mitchell serves jury duty and has to deal with a hostage situation in the jury deliberation room (while himself being a hostage and seemingly having no way of contacting ‘the...

Again, a well done plot that moves back and forth from Hundred's time as the Great Machine and his time as mayor. The art is good, and the political angle is pretty well done as well, since these characters are well fleshed out, and not just stand ins for a republican or a democrat or a hippie or whatever other stereotype.I was a little confused on how Hundred's voice gave the other guy the powers he had, but that's a plot to be revisited, I hope!

I'm back on my Brian K. Vaughan kick...if I'm being honest, I probably won't ever be off, but at some point I'm sure I'll finish all of the series he has out so far, but I don't want to think about that dark day. I think I read Vol 1 of this series over a year ago at least, so I reread the first one before I picked this back up. This might be the most complex storyline? Mostly because there are about three plots going on in each (usually political, past, and something along the lines of super he...

This installment was better than the last, I felt that the story was more focused and the flashbacks didn’t disrupt the main story too much, and I actually liked the story that explained Pherson. I will say that these deluxe editions aren’t great for me because they mesh all the issues together and sometimes you don’t know which issue begins and ends, and the way sections of the book are organized into “chapters” rather than “parts” seems kinda lazy to me. Also, this book has a foreword from The...

The second volume of Ex Machina continues what is a quite original and thought provoking series. Like the first volume, it balances a super hero backstory and a political drama.There's a pivot towards more of the political and character drama for the majority of this book and I think the volume was better for it. It continues to run right up against the line between thought provoking and distastefulness when dealing with ethical questions but I found the dilemmas less forced here.I'm unsure abou...

Artfully done, but the series never really explores the villains but has no problem pausing everything to go on and on about libertarian "post-political" platitudes that it's pretty sure you haven't heard a dozen times already. It's definitely not BAD, but I had a hard time engaging with it.

I really, really envy the majority who have read this second deluxe volume of Ex Machina and liked it. I believe that this is an "it's not you, it's me" type of issue. I mean, Brian Vaughan totally slayed it in Saga and for most parts of Y: The Last Man, so why can't I see through the goodness of Ex Machina?Maybe because I see the story of the series as two things which try to meld into one cohesive literary material - the political views and issues that engulf post-9/11 NY City, and the whole o...

Finally the story is picking up a bit. I really whipped the archnemisis in this volume.

In which the tension ratchets up a notch and things get weirder.Something alien (?) is hacking people's brains, turning them into murderous psychos, and/or (in the case of the Great Machine's nemesis Jack Pherson) giving them extrasensory powers. All this, plus more terrorist conspiracy, and more backstory on Mayor Hundred's pre-political vigilante phase, including a chilling full page panel of him facing the 767 hurtling toward the South Tower, from a perspective behind the airplane.As in the p...

You know what? Yeah. This is an unbelievable rare superhero book that does politics in at least a semi-believable way. And I'm impressed with the way Vaughan keeps me guessing about whose politics are right.Weirdly, I'm not that into the actual superhero, supervillain storyline. It seems like the charm of the series should revolve around a superhero in retirement. Kind of the flipside of Zenith's Peter St. John, if I have that right.

I can't believe I waited so many years to read this book. It's fan-fucking-tastic. So Hundred is trying to balance his political campaign with his superhero past. It's not so easy running for Mayor when you used to be a superhero. It's hard enough when the media twist your words, people believe every little thing they hear and read, but when you have the power to control Machines by talking to them? Yeah...it only gets harder. What I love about Ex machina is that it's a big political campaign st...

In the first story, Mayor Hundred serves jury duty which results in a hostage situation where he’s forced to intervene in ways he’d rather not. Then he visits his mother who reveals a secret she’s been harboring for years. After that, he approves a protest for the Iraq War, which comes home to roost in more ways than one. Finally, we see what happened with the Great Machine’s archnemesis, Pherson. I really enjoyed this continuation of Mitchell’s story, which I’m realizing is about a man trying t...

This continues to be a great series. The art evokes emotion unlike almost any art in comics. The story remains politics heavy as this volume is set during the invasion of Iraq. We also get to see The Great Machine's archnemesis. He talks to machines, so it only makes sense his rival would talk to animals. I was little spotty on how the power was developed, and the tactic used to fight him was odd as well. (view spoiler)[ Somehow listening to The Great Machine talk to machines gave the bad guy hi...

Mayor Mitchell (aka The Great Machine) is just a good guy doing his best to make the world a better place. In his path are bureaucratic red tapes and the occasional crazies (because this is still a superhero tale). Kinda like Aaron Sorkin's hopeful shows such as The West Wing meet Amazon's The Boys (the moral questions, not the violence).My favourite part of this volume is about a particular character development. Saying anymore than that would be spoiler.

It would've been tough for this one to live up to the operatic heights of the first, but to be fair, Brian K. Vaughan comes darn close. The dialogue is still great and it's neat to see Hundred's days as a superhero teased out more. Could've done without one of the post-9/11 subplots, not only because of what Vaughan was trying to say but also because it just hasn't aged well given all that's happened even since these came out. But it's still another great entry in a great series.

Hundred is being a major but his city gets attacked and everyone thinks that is a terrorist job. He also gets visited by some past memory of a guy who talks to animals, and then back in 2003 (present) there is a hint that he is back. So, lets see in book 3. Lots of drama and political views.

Simple review for Book Two - I love where this is going and I'm completely hooked.

This is brilliant. Brian K. Vaughan is such a good writer i can’t believe it. However, I can see why someone would struggle with the concept of this book and lose interest in it but for me, this does exactly what it should. It gives me something different in a superhero story, it gives me a more realistic and political look at the problems superheroes and regular people face. It’s an extremely thoughtful and thought provoking view on politics and the war on terror especially in that time of the

Continuing in the same vein as the first volume, this one continues to interweave the current-day challenges of being mayor with Mitchell Hundred's previous time as The Great Machine. While the first three chapters are mostly standalone stories (albeit with long term consequences for at least one character), the final one starts to hit on the origin of Hundred's ability to talk to machines. Vaughn's storytelling continues to be top notch, and the art is crisp and detailed. Looking forward to see...

A good continuation of the story, the pace is beginning to pick up a little and he is tackling some issues like weighing what is legal vs what is right, and who gets to decide? I still am quite taken with the whole idea this story and BKV continues to play with it in fascinating ways, though I am still somewhat reserved about his characters here.