By far the most controversial volume...

books:

	• Ex Machina, Vol. 4: March to War Brian K. Vaughan Wildstorm, 2006 - 144 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

By far the most controversial volume...

...and also the best. Volume 4 of Ex Machina offers the most engrossing storyline of the series. While the subject matter is about controversial issues, namely the war in Iraq, it doesn't really have a bias either way. It's more of an alternative, or parallel universe where the war is still going on, and how these people react to. Almost impossible to tear yourself away from this series once you've started reading it.

Waging the unwinnable war

Hundred, the mayor of this alternate New York City, finds himself hemmed in on every side by bleak alternatives. Let that rally's permit stand, with the chance it might get out of hand, or quash free speech? Then when dozens are injured and several (including a very special one) killed in a terrorist attack on the rally, the perfect clarity of hindsight changes all the answers - or does it? A few other plot threads build up, too, with the clear expectation that they'll develop in future volumes of this collected comic.

The narration interleaves flashback cuts between the one-time superhero and the here-and-now fall guy in the mayor's seat, desperate to hide that fact that he's still pretty super. I'm not nuts about the jumps, for several reasons, but the artist has a right to draw as he sees fit. And, with his Chaykin-esque crispness, that averages pretty high. A few technical points in the story nagged too, like how hard acetone is to get (try Home Depot) or how fast symptoms of ricin poisoning set in. Those points only itched, though, they never became painful.

I like this series, on the whole. I enjoy the art and the premise, both of which season credibility only lightly with fantasy. The result is a tasty treat that I plan to come back to.

-- wiredweird

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Graphic SF Reader

Mayor Hundred has some serious political stuff to deal with as he has to allow protesters to demonstrate about Iraq, and deal with the flak he gets from their political opposites at the same time.

An interview also sparks thoughts of an old enemy, and hence the writers delve into the backstory of this bloke.

Four regular issues and two 'specials'

This fourth trade paperback collects issues #17-20 and a two 'special' issues of Vaughan and Harris' acclaimed series. The excellent first four issues focus on the 2003 runup to the US invasion of Iraq as a ricin attack during an anti-war rally fells a key character. Vaughan explores the controversial modern tradeoff between security and liberty. The Ex Machina Specials were less enjoyable, featuring a villain that can communicate with animals like Hundred can with machines. These two issues also feature a different team of artists. This volume is still worthy of five stars as the previous three have set a high standard.

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Bouncing Back

After a disappointing volume 3 'Ex Machina' is back in top form with Volume 4 'The March to War'. The Iraq war was a subject that Vaughan would have to tackle eventually in this series and here he does it with a fine even-handed approach.
One of Mayor Hundred's staff resigns to participate in an anti-war demonstration and Hundred is left to figure out how to provide security for the city while not trampling on the rights of free speech of the protestors. The ending of this story leaves Hundred at his most disheartened about his ability to change the world through public service.
A second story that includes the 'Ex Machina' special flashes back to Hundred as he is campaigning for the Mayor's office. In an interview he is asked about the death penalty which prompts a flashback to a fight with a super villian who Hundred is locked in a battle to the death with. Both stories together make for the best trade so far for this series and a must read for fans of intellegent and sophisticated comics.

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reviews: page 1, 2

Ex Machina, the Eisner Award-winning series that Entertainment Weekly voted "One of the 10 Best Fiction Books of 2005," tells the story of Mitchell Hundred, who becomes the Great Machine, America?s first superhero, after a strange accident gives him amazing powers. Eventually tiring of risking his life merely to maintain the status quo, Mitchell retires from masked crime-fighting and becomes the mayor of New York City.

In this volume, a shocking tragedy strikes an Iraq War protest in downtown Manhattan, and Mayor Hundred must choose between the liberty of his constituents and the security of his city. Plus, a tale from the past finally reveals the origin of his mysterious archenemy, Jack Pherson.

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