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Ex Machina, Vol. 4: March to War (Ex Machina #4)
Set in our modern-day real world, Ex Machina tells the story of civil engineer Mitchell Hundred, who becomes America's first living, breathing superhero after a strange accident gives him amazing powers. Eventually tiring of risking his life merely to help maintain the status quo, Mitchell retires from masked crime-fighting and runs for Mayor of New York City, winning by a...more
Paperback, 128 pages
Published
December 6th 2006
by Wildstorm
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My Vaughan-a-thon continues with this volume of Ex Machina. Volume 4, "March to War," is actually two separate storylines, neither of which feels complete, but both of which I presume will have a stronger pay-off later in the series.
The first of the two stories deals more directly with the titular "March to War." In Ex Machina's timeline, we've now reached the impending invasion of Iraq, and this story deals with how Mayor Hundred wrestles with his own feelings abo...more
The first of the two stories deals more directly with the titular "March to War." In Ex Machina's timeline, we've now reached the impending invasion of Iraq, and this story deals with how Mayor Hundred wrestles with his own feelings abo...more
Graphic Novel. Contains the Iraq war, terrorism, hysteria, religion, shrinking civil liberties, and hate crime. You may find the contents triggering, exploitive, or both. I could have got that anywhere; I don't see how the story was changed much by adding a guy like Hundred to the mix. Even the art let me down. In chapter four the artwork has a psychotic break and Angotti and Suzanne become completely unrecognizable; even the inks guy seems to have lost his mind because their hair's the wrong co...more
This was a timepiece that, while still relevant, is seen now in a somewhat different light than it might have when first published. Without sacrificing story, "Ex Machina" returns us to a very wounded New York shortly after 9/11 over the first three volumes (especially the first two). Yet in vol. 4, the story regarding 9/11 and our view on terrorism is a bit more of a swing and a miss. The conversation we currently endure regarding terrorism has evolved, relegating this to the categ...more
Federiken Masters
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
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Sigue siendo una serie excelente. Los diálogos tienen toda la onda del mundo. El dibujo pinta muy profesional y expresivo (aunque duro a la vez) y además hay de bonus unas historias dibujadas por el segundo papá de Tom Stong, que es muy expresivo y atrapante. Pero Vaughan, por más que lo banque, sigue siendo yanqui, y parece que tiene miedo de afirmar que las guerras yanquis son maniobras comerciales sin mucha ideología detrás y que es más difícil justificarlas que discutir de fútbol civilizadam...more
This was much better than the last volume! The title of this volume, March to War, could not be more appropriate considering what goes down. The best part about this volume is we finally get to see who Hundred's arch-nemesis, Pherson, was and the circumstances of his "death". Pherson is a perfectly conceived villain, in that, due to the very nature of his powers to speak to animals, he stands in direct contrast to Hundred, who's power is to speak to machines. It's the old "Nat...more
This was probably my least-favorite volume of the series so far. `The use of 9/11 has been one of the things that's most seriously bothered me about this series since the beginning, so the increased focus on that made me distinctly uncomfortable, and I'm really not sure the terrorism plot was well done at all. I liked the specials at the end, about Jack Pherson, Mitchell Hundred's nemesis, but I didn't feel like they were quite fleshed out enough to make me really care. Still, I enjoyed bits ...more
Better than Volume 3 but not as entertaining as Volume 2. The bit of humor in Volume 2 has long since disappeared. There is still plenty of wit but it's almost forced down the readers throat. I've come to realize that I enjoy my graphic novels with more action, more surreal art, more violence. This series tends to lean towards a lot of talk and preachiness, something that bothers me no matter that I agree with the message. March To War also felt a little dated, rather funny considering. Still, I...more
It might be that this series just isn't clicking with me 100%, but I continue to feel like there are a lot of interesting political topics touched upon, but they aren't given enough focus or time to be explored. Vaughan sure does like to toss hot-button topics into the mix (just look at the description of this volume to get an idea of what he tries to cover), but he then usually has a character spout off some neat thoughts on the topic and it's sort of just left at that while another plotline is...more
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This book has never been able to fully engage me, yet I always pick up the trades. While the writing has never really sold me, there has always been obvious potential and the art by Tony Harris is very nice. So even if the book has failed to live up to expectations set by others, it is still better than a large number of other books that I buy (I'm not a very hard guy to sell a comic book to), so I continue to support the book.
This volume experienced a noticeable and substantial impr...more
This volume experienced a noticeable and substantial impr...more
A protest march against the war in Iraq turns deadly personal, as one of Mayor Hundred's top aides falls victim to an attack on the crowd. As Hundred investigates the event and tries to quell a city on the verge of rioting, we get a peek at the rise of his archenemy Pherson. A man who gains the ability to communicate with animals in the same way Hundred talks to machines, Pherson's story at the conclusion of the volume showcases why this book is a great read.
This volume helps the series pick up a bit, if not just for the serious metaphorical bomb dropped towards the end. No spoilers here! Because the arc at this point deals with some serious issues, the Vaughan humor that I know and love isn't quite coming through like it did earlier in the story. Let's hope it comes back :)
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Dana *
rated it
Who is behind the attack on NYC AGAIN? Ricin gas, killing a character close to Hundred this time. And of course, the introduction of another person with similar powers to our superhero, this one can converse with animals. He is no doctor dolittle though.
I'm still always surprised that this is good, for some reason. High praise, oh yes... but it is actually good, at least. Expect BKV to play a bit with your expectations, and for Mayor Hundred to be both slightly devoid of personality and yet still a really interesting character. And also for pretty much of the female characters to have the same face, for some reason.
a little bit disjointed, and not sure what's going on with the artwork but a bunch of the characters look totally different! anyway, still enjoying the series.
There is no black-and-white in this book. Using your brains to sort through the moral gray and ambiguous choices makes this series appealing to me.
More of the great story telling, in addition we get introduced to the arch-nemesis! No hero is complete without one. This book is great.
This book makes me want to like New York.
Also, I love how Mitchell is a hero who was personally traumatized by 9/11.
Also, I love how Mitchell is a hero who was personally traumatized by 9/11.
Ex Machina continues in form. A protest ends in tragedy and we learn more about The Great Machine’s arch-nemesis.
continually impressive. an alt-history look at new york post 9-11. insightful, engaging, and damn well written.
Overall, I'm really enjoying this series. But this volume wasn't as good as the rest of the series so far.
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This is the best of this series so far for me. I really enjoyed it.
comics,political,drama,superhero
Cecelia
added it
even better than the last
The plot thicks...
Addictive.
Really interesting and I love Hundred's nemesis.
The only thing I disliked about the other two series I've read by Vaughan - "Y: The Last Man" and "Runaways" was the overuse of pop culture references. There are still some in "Ex Machina" but hardly enough to be distracting. Instead, we get lots and lots of the things Brian K. Vaughan is very good at - strong dialogue, smart plotting, rich ideas, and exciting action. The fact that this guy is not that much older than me is quite depressing.
March To War, volume four of Vaughan’s Ex Machina series continues to deliver the goods. We finally meet Jack Pherson, who has been mentioned several times throughout the series. We also lose a team member. Vaughan continues to infuse Mayor Hundred’s story with real life issues (racism, sexism, homophobia, war, terrorism, economics, death, etc.) to great effect. Well done and consistently interesting.
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Born in Cleveland in 1976, Brian K. Vaughan is the Eisner, Harvey, and Shuster Award-winning writer and co-creator of the critically acclaimed comics series Y: The Last Man, Runaways, and Ex Machina (picked as one of the ten best works of fiction of 2005 by Entertainment Weekly).
Recently named "Writer of the Year" by Wizard Magazine, and one of the “top ten comic writers of ...more
More about Brian K. Vaughan...
Recently named "Writer of the Year" by Wizard Magazine, and one of the “top ten comic writers of ...more
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