Ex Machina, Book Five

Ex Machina: The Deluxe Edition #5

by Brian K. Vaughan, Tony Harris (Illustrator), John Paul Leon (Artist)

In this last EX MACHINA volume, Mayor Mitchell Hundred descends into the NYC sewers to learn why he was given the strange powers that helped him become the heroic Great Machine while a powerful new foe reveals a terrifying plan that's been in the works since the series began

Then, in the very last EX MACHINA adventure, will Mitchell Hundred's new archenemy, a dogged reporter with powers far beyond those of the Great Machine, finally bring down his administration? Will the tragedies that Mayor Hundred warned about from the beginning finally come to pass?

Collects EX MACHINA #41-50 and EX MACHINA SPECIAL #4.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Science Fiction, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

319 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 12, 2011

About the author

Brian K. Vaughan is the writer and co-creator of comic-book series including SAGA, PAPER GIRLS, Y THE LAST MAN, RUNAWAYS, and most recently, BARRIER, a digital comic with artist Marcos Martin about immigration, available from their pay-what-you-want site www.PanelSyndicate.com

BKV's work has been recognized at the Eisner, Harvey, Hugo, Shuster, Eagle, and British Fantasy Awards. He sometimes writes for film and television in Los Angeles, where he lives with his family and their dogs Hamburger and Milkshake.

Reviews

[James DeSantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story: This is it. The final chapter of one of the greatest comics I've gotten to read. I took my time because I didn't want it to end. So anyway, Hundred is on full speed trying to get to the next jump in his political career. When his job is on the line he sends his bodyguard to get rid of some evidence. On top of that he's dealing with trying to become President. You get a bit more of the past, learning about his greatest villain, but a new one might arise here.

Art: Damn, this series always had great art, but this one blew me away. Some of the emotional moments hit super hard. I think the atmosphere, the dark shots, and the big epic scope shots all somehow work in one series. I can't stress enough how amazing the art is here.

Enjoyment: Everything. I mean it. This series seriously blew me away. Each volume builds upon the other, and by the end of the entire series you get some insane twist and turns too. The last chapter is probably a love or hate it chapter, like Y the Last Man, but it hit me so hard. Hundred said it best. "Happy endings are bullshit" and they sure as fuck are.

What Didn't work: Everything worked.

A 5 out of 5 series. this is right up there with Y the Last Man as one of my favorite comic series of all time. Just fucking amazing.

[Ernest · Rating 2 out of 5]

After all this series had before it, this is how it ends?

This is the final volume in this highly ambitious series which involves an ex-superhero turned politician as the story of Mitchell Hundred is simultaneously, effectively, told as ‘present’ New York mayor and in flashback during his superhero days, with the larger thread of how and why he got his powers.

What had built up and hinted at some grand, overarching reveal and conclusion simultaneously frustrating fizzled out, jarringly unevenly dealt with characters, still hinted at the grand scope of things, and underwhelming disappointed when the last page was turned. Characters do things or have things done to them that are inconsistent or make little sense while the grand hinted scope makes one want more of that tale to be told (and here the art is beautifully terrifying). Truly thinking about the choice of the series’ narrative structure, fully revealed at the end, leads not to an appreciation of the choice made or a deeper understanding of the story, but rather bewilderment at why the character would do it this way at all.

There is much to like about the series as a whole. The concept was interesting and the hinted at larger narrative was intriguing. It is thus such a shame that it had to end like this.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed in the ending, although Hundred did warn us at the very beginning it was going to be a tragedy.
It just felt all over the place, and the art changes towards the end?!
It felt like it was ending just before the real final showdown, which was confusing.
I don’t know how I feel about this tbh 😩

[Matthew Lagerloef · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man, what happened, BKV? This was a pretty good series. Book 5 was an interesting book that FINALLY started dealing with some of the cooler, more “comic book-y” elements, and then was marred by a completely shit ending. It uses every trope you see in a rushed, bad conclusion to any story in any medium:

- 11th-hour deus ex machina device: the portal gun which somehow NEVER came up until like 2-3 issues before the end? Cmon guys.

- 11th hour nonsense in general - a seemingly “heel” turn by Hundred, where he kills Kremlin and abandons Bradbury? (Who looks like a completely different character in the last issue, which isn’t explained)

- Massive time jump

- Visions of what’s to come?

- Showing that it’s all been a preamble for the “real” threat, and ending the story before that’s addressed (arguably the whole point of the thing?)

- Fade to black - literally. He says “fade to black” and then it does. Cheesy to the point of being tacky.

I don’t know if there are any plans to continue this story at any point, but this was a poor conclusion to an otherwise pretty good series.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I teared up at the end of Y the Last Man. I didn't get quite there with this one, but man, Vaughan knows how to leave a lasting effect. This has been one of my favorite titles.

[Nicholas Doyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly, I'd give this entire series 2.5 stars if I could? After finishing a re-read of Saga (which I love so much), I've been working my way through some of Vaughan's old stuff, most of which I'd read before. When I started re-reading the series, I couldn't remember my reasons for not owning Ex Machina (I got these from the library) but man, do I remember now: it's not good. On the writing side, the series indulges in my least favorite BKV tick: the "I've got this obscure fact that I'm going to shoehorn into my character's conversations, even though it's not going to sound natural at all." Normally, it's not that bad, but for whatever reason, he goes totally overboard with this in Ex Machina - the dialogue is clunky and annoying. Worse than the writing, though, is the art: I mean, geez louise. I loved Starman, and Tony Harris was a big part of that - I definitely feel like the book was not as good after he left. But this? For some reason, he decided to double down on the photo reference, and the characters end up looking awkward and phony - which is weird since the drawings are based on people! On the other side of the coin, a lot of the work (especially in the final two volumes) looks unfinished or sloppy. The specials that were published outside of the main series (that featured art by Chris Sprouse and John Paul Leon) are gorgeous, which makes the fact that the art on the regular series was so bad even more of a bummer.
I don't know, I love the West Wing and I love superhero comics, which means that this series should be a slam dunk, but...It's just not good. Hopefully, putting this review here will prevent future me from trying to re-read it again in like five years?

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess I'm just not a huge fan of Brian K. Vaughn's endings. This was a tremendous series, and even this volume wasn't bad, but the ending just didn't do it for me. The thing with Kremlin. The thing with Bradbury. The alternate dimension looking like Hell, literally. The way Hundred's mother died. The whole nebulous thing with Hundred's powers, although I guess it sorta made sense if you analyze it closely. Just seemed like it could have been explained better, but maybe I'm being picky.

This was still good, and the series overall as great, but just didn't like the ending. But it was Vaughn's story, and this was his ending.

[Nabila Chowdhury · Rating 3 out of 5]

The difference between a good book and a great one is that a good book fails to uphold what it builds. The political and cultural nuance is missing. In an attempt to bring more moral nuance to the character of Mayor Hundred and to surprise readers, both of which honestly felt forced, it creates inconsistency in the character.

The quality of the artwork has also dropped. A few pages in this 300+ page volume are done rather shoddily, which is very unusual for Tony Harris, as he showcases top-class art throughout the series. Maybe he wasn't given a pay raise after years of hard work, so he used reference photographs with little care in penciling or digital processing on those pages.

[Óli Sóleyjarson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Serían byrjaði vel en endaði í frekar miklu rugli.

[Peter Hiller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my only review of this series. Quite honestly, every book up until this point deserved a 4 or 5 star. This one deserved a 3 star at best.

There is a moment in the Simpsons where Krusty the Klown watches a bizarre eastern European cartoon. It then cuts to him, cigarette in hand looking confused. He points the cigarette at the screen and yells "what the hell was that?".

This moment basically sums up my feelings about the ending of Ex Machina. The tie up of the big overarching plot felt so rushed it was almost comical (no pun intended). The "final showdown" was underwhelming in the extreme. The hints that I expected would appear are major events or causes went nowhere. And the use of flashbacks to the days before 9/11 just felt like the go to for retconning a new character or backstory as required.

While the final pages clearly did show a different side of hundred, they simply weren't an arc. An arc would have take 5 issues, or 10 issue to make that kind of movement in who he was. I understand this is framed as his career as Mayor, but all the character development in the final book(is in the final issue) felt like the "issues 50-70" pile getting compressed until it fit into 40 pages. I'm not sure if they were just getting bored of the plot or what. But frankly the author really dropped the ball.

In related news, if you want to get angry at politicians and develop a disgust for them as a group. Read Seveneves, at least hundred doesn't seem do bad in comparison.

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm. It’s a good end to the series, but I’m honestly a bit underwhelmed. Tip-toeing around spoilers here: parts of the story petered out for me, like they weren’t given proper closure. And I think the stuff behind Mitchell’s powers could have been explored more, or at least given a larger role in the end. Vaughan was building to this grand reveal and it didn’t amount to nearly as much as it should have in my opinion, for the characters or the overall narrative. Also, Tony Harris’ art looks rushed in the final issues. Some faces are flat-out ugly, a far cry from his usual realism.

That aside, this is a pretty great series. The concept is compelling, the characters come alive on the page, and Vaughan’s dialogue is just as good as in anything he’s written. The political conversations feel like they would actually happen in the mayor’s circle. If you’re a comics nerd, you should absolutely read Ex Machina. I wouldn’t call it Vaughan’s best work but it’s still very good.

[Sage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I wish I could say that Volume 5 wraps everything up in a nice bow and completes the story but there are still a few too many questions left unanswered. These unanswered questions are not enough to detract from the overall enjoyment of the story and characters though... just a bit unsettled.

There are some (seemingly random) character shifts which seem a bit out of place too, but I understand why Vaughn included them and the message he was trying to convey.

As an overall series, I'd have to rate Ex Machina a 4/5. It starts out very strong (Volumes 1 and 2) and then sort of peters out. The art is fantastic and the quality of writing is fun. The 'ode to New York' gets a bit tiring but I'm not a New Yorker so perhaps I don't quite 'get it'.

[Henry Blackwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I should be giving this 5 stars because I loved every issue of this, especially how it ended.

I guess I just didn’t like how late the colour spectrum and the Suzanne storyline came into play. I think that could’ve been explored a little earlier if it was coming to a big confrontation like that. But other than that, this was amazing and so was the whole reading experience. This will go down as one of my favourite and most intriguing series I’ve ever read.

BKV has carved out a really special place among my favourite writers.

[Kaila · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed in this series overall. It's really dated already. It was basically a platform for the author to talk about his politics, as far as I could tell, when what I was really interested in was the portal side story. Hundred is SO DUMB about that and it was really frustrating. He keeps on getting hit over the head with hints and he's all "SHUT UP IMMA KILL YOU" and then does that. So frustrating and annoying.

Talk about killing your series with a terrible ending.

[Blair Conrad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the series overall, but the promise of the initial books was never really delivered upon. Hundred becomes less sympathetic, and I found the storyline wandered around a bit. Then Hundred became unsympathetic. It made me sad - I'd really been rooting for him.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the end of the previous volume (Ex Machina: The Deluxe Edition, Vol. 4 - "Dirty Tricks"), in the last three pages of it, Vaughan starts moving the pieces for his endgame and this one's a doozy: Kremlin visits Suzanne Padilla and gives her a folder marked "Classified", containing presumably the file that January Moore stole from Mitchell's safe in Ex Machina: The Deluxe Edition, Vol. 3 ("Power Down").
When Suzanne asks Kremlin "What is this?" He replies, "Where the end begins."

"But what's in the file?" you ask. Well, here is where we find out...


"Ring Out The Old"

On the election day which saw Mitchell become the new mayor of NYC, Bradbury visited a number of polling stations while carrying a mysterious White Box. Mitchell had built this White Box and explained (not convincingly) to Bradbury that it was "to save lives".

Fast forward to the present. Suzanne Padilla asks Bradbury about the White Box. He denies knowing anything about such a thing, and goes to meet Mitchell to let him know about Suzanne's inquiry. Nobody is supposed to know about the White Box, so Mitchell orders Bradbury to retrieve it from storage and destroy it. Suzanne tails Bradbury to the storage facility and, just as he retrieves the item, confronts him about it. After a heated discussion, Bradbury strikes Suzanne with the White Box, which breaks and leaves fragments inside her head. Suzanne thereby acquires the ability of the White Box, which is essentially Mind Control.

MEANWHILE

A mysterious rat infestation leads Mitchell to suspect that Pherson is back from the dead, so he suits up (in a different outfit - no jetpack!) and makes his way to the sewers. There he meets a being dressed very much like Zeller (from Ex Machina, Vol. 6: Power Down). This being is The Probe, a robot with a Violet Box for a head (which explains its ability to control the rats). As it reveals to Mitchell, The Probe was sent (from another "Brane in the Bulk" - a parallel dimension) to determine why Mitchell has not yet completed the mission that came with his abilities. Mitchell was supposed to make way for an inter-dimensional invasion! The Probe reveals the four frequencies' (read: colours') meanings:

Violet: To corral the "beasts of burden"
Red: To destroy the crops
Green: To cripple the weaponry
White: To subjugate the soldiers

The Probe eventually detects that "a new opener has been created" (Suzanne having acquired the abilities of the White Box) and promptly self-destructs.

Mitchell now knows his intended purpose and is aware there is a new - albeit unknown to him - player on the field. What will he do? What's Brian K. Vaughan got in store for the final story arc of this series?


"Green"

This stand-alone is the second one for which the art is NOT supplied by Tony Harris, but rather by John Paul Leon. In light of the "rushed" feel of issues 41 & 42, maybe Tony Harris did need a fill-in artist for this "special" issue. Anyway, the art's not terrible, but definitely stylistically different than what we're used to getting from Harris.

Chronologically taking place before the events of "Ring Out The Old", here we learn that on one of his first sorties as The Great Machine, Mitchell was injured and bled on some vegetables, which were eaten by a man (now calling himself The Gardener) who subsequently acquired the ability to hear (& understand) plants & other vegetation. An interesting story that fits in well with The Probe's reveals from "Ring Out The Old".


"Pro-Life"

With the help of her newly-acquired mind control abilities, Suzanne Padilla gains entry to January Moore's appartment and takes her hostage. She is looking for "the opener", one of Mitchell's ray guns that can open a direct passage between this reality and the alternate reality from which the invaders will come.

Nothing is heard from either of them for some days and Kremlin assumes the worst and that Mitchell is responsible. He visits Martha (Mitchell's mother) to warn her about her son. She doesn't believe that Mitchell's done anything like what Kremlin is implying, and she says that anyway, she's got some home protection: one of Mitchell's ray guns (coincidentally, it is "the opener" - but we all saw that coming).

Kremlin contacts Suzanne by telephone and tells her about the "nullifier", a contraption that Mitchell invented, which temporarily makes him unable to use his powers. He tells her where he is (at Martha's appartment) and she goes to meet him there. By this point she's really a frightful villain. She crushes Martha's head like an over-ripe watermelon and takes possession of "the opener".

Next, Suzanne goes to a public radio station and uses it to broadcast a simple command to all who are listening: "Raise Hell".
Meanwhile, Kremlin calls Mitchell and lets him know his mother's dead, and that Suzanne killed her. In spite of several warnings from Commissioner Angotti regarding vigilantism, Mitchell decides to suit up one more time and goes to face off against Suzanne at Coney Island.

After Mitchell dealing with Suzanne and the portal to the invaders' world, Commissioner Angotti shows up and places him under arrest.


"Finale"

To prevent spoiling any aspect of this final issue, I will not summarise it. It picks up where the previous issues ended, and moves pretty quickly: the story jumps forward in time every few pages, and we see what's become of Mitchell and some of the other characters. There's a lot of cleverness to how Vaughan wraps up this series, and where he takes the different characters, most times to their logical conclusion. It ends with one the most shocking and heart-breaking moments I've ever read.

All in all, this was a very satisfying series. It is different from most things out there; it is intelligent and thought-provoking.
Thank you Brian K Vaughan & Tony Harris!

[Chr*s Browning]

Look, here's the thing: as a teenager, I read Y: The Last Man and Pride of Baghdad and I was blown away; as an adult, I reread the former and found it still mostly enjoyable, but not quite as thoughtful as when I was 14. These days, I'm as much a Saga fan as anyone who reads comics regularly - I think it has a tendency to get lost now and again and I think recent arcs have felt less potent than the first 50 issues, but so it goes with long-running series. All this is to say that I've got nothing against Brian K Vaughan and I like him more than I don't. This series though? Fucking blows. Asinine centrist anti-hero (who's not even really succesfully an anti-hero - there are plenty of antiheros I still like reading, even if they aren't good people, but Mitchell Hundred is so nothing that I just don't care - is he the purest mayor of all time or just an asshole careerist? that's the question we're left with and we have very little evidence of either perspective) bullshit. Nothing that happens in this matters - the climax takes 40+ issues of build-up and makes it a dumb extradimensional invasion plotline and then resolves it almost immediately so that Mitchell can reject all his friends (man what the fuck was that Bradbury resolution?) and become McCain's VP lmao . Who cares? It doesn't even come as an emotional twist because I don't care about those characters either - no one here ever appealed to me, whether that's the fault of the writing or Harris's often hideous art (sometimes it felt like the colorists were just mocking the reader with how ugly some panels are) - but it's just boring. None of this matters. Awful series.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ex Machina Deluxe Edition Vol. 5 collects Vertigo Comics issues Ex Machina 41-50 and Special #4 written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Tony Harris and John Paul Leon, and colors by JD Mettler.

Mayor Hundred has set his goals on his political future but a device that he created in his days as The Great Redeemer will come back to haunt him.

The final volume, and especially the final issue, is such a tonal shift from the rest of the series, even though it was blatantly called out in the 1st issue that this story is a tragedy. It’s just very jarring because so much of the comic is pushing a story of hope and a better future. I believe the ending can be seen from a couple different perspectives: Hundred has positioned himself within the federal government and a political party that he may not completely agree because he believes he can best use those resources for a war he sees coming, or - even worse - absolute power has absolutely corrupted Hundred, alienating all of those closest to him. It’s definitely an interesting perspective and I think valid arguments can be made for both sides.

This was a fascinating series that encapsulates a very specific time period in post 9/11 America. It was a both a time of grave uncertainty, yet also a time where so many people did come together to try to find a bright future which didn’t always work as shown in this comic.

[WadeofEarth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I simultaneously love and hate this final book in the series (you might then assume this would level out to a solid 2.5 stars, but since I think that a books ability to evoke strong emotion is a positive, I went with 4 stars). This final volume opens up a lot of issues both in working within the government, and also the crazy things happening in the world[s] that BKV has created here, however, rather that wrapping things up with an ending, we are left with a bunch or really sad circumstances, and nothing quite going as planned... And then it ends...

It felt a lot to me like BKV just really needed to be done with this series, so he found a decent place to leave it and walked away, which is, I guess fair; not all stories end wrapped in a cute little bow. And that leads me to my final conclusion on this series, for all the craziness that gets introduced, it tries to deal with it in a very realistic way. Heroics don't always lead to happy endings and good intentions can have catastrophic results (and vice versa).

This series was insightful and unique, and if you are looking for an offbeat superhero that gets his hands all up in politics while remaining non-partisan, this is your guy!

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know this is a fairly controversial finale, and I do see why after reading it, but I'm an unabashed fan of pretty much all of Vaughan's work and this was the capper to a great series. While Mitch Hundred up until now has been portrayed as someone who mostly tries to do the right thing and act heroically, whether as The Great Machine or as the mayor, in this issue we find out that he probably rigged his election victory with Bradbury's help and in the end he assists Kremlin's suicide in order to cover up the rigging during his presidential campaign. While these were jarring reveals, Hundred was always portrayed as a nuanced figure, so they didn't seem totally out of character. We do get satisfying answers on where his powers came from, and I don't know of any big dangling threads left unresolved. So having finished the series, I can now unreservedly recommend it to any fans of Vaughan's other work and/or The West Wing.

[Marek · Rating 3 out of 5]

6.5
[opinia za całą serię]

Sam już nie wiem, czy to kilkutygodniowa przerwa przed sięgnięciem po ostatni tom, czy może rzeczywiście pod koniec Vaughan wykrzesał z siebie ostatnie dawki kreatywności. Faktem jest jednak, że kończąc przygodę z burmistrzem Hundredem czułem się okay. Czy podobały mi się wszystkie zastosowane rozwiązania fabularne - nie, zresztą od paru ładnych zeszytów. Ale czy polubiłem się z dobitnie podkreśloną na końcu niejednoznacznością moralną głównej postaci? Jak najbardziej.

Niestety w swoim dość długim runie "Ex Machina" cierpiała na klasyczne rozdwojenie między próbą skonstruowania jakiejś zasadnej, sprzedającej się rozrywki z gatunku superhero, a byciem angażującą historią political fiction. Z początku rezultaty były interesujące. Jednak im dalej, tym bardziej okazywało się, że Vaughan nie jest w stanie skupić się na jednym aspekcie tej historii bez konieczności sięgania po drugi element opowieści.

[Zack! Empire · Rating 3 out of 5]

With this being the end of the series, it's hard to write about this book without writing about the series as a whole. I wasn't very satisfied with the ending. We do get a sort of explanation oh where Hundred got his powers, but it's still vague in a way. It does seem like it is building towards something there at the end, but it goes away pretty quickly. A huge part of the "villains" plan is stopped OFF PANEL! We see Hundred's relationships with Bradbury and Kremlin come to an end, but I thought the way it happened was way out of character. There is really nothing to suggest what happens with Bradbury. Hundred has shown he is willing to do something horrible for the "greater good", but I don't think he would do what he did with Kremlin. The ending just felt kind of hallow. I may have to come back to this in a few years and see how I feel about it then.

[Malcolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and unpredictable through the end. I think what I really loved about this series is the protagonist - NYC mayor Mitch Hundred, the "Great Machine" - is so good with comeback lines. He never gives the obvious answer. What he says is consistently surprising and witty. The quality of the writing is far above the norm for this genre. The threat to the world that compels Mitch to enter national politics is never disclosed. I like that he doesn't cake-walk to the presidency and that names of actual political/historical figures are used. I probably would have understood more of the storylines if I had access to the previous volumes while reading the final installment, but I understood enough.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I guess some of this review for the entire series which is glorious. Vaughan and Harris create a masterpiece interweaving politics and superheroes in a way like no others. Here, we get the finale that shocked me more often than I care to admit. Vaughan reveals more about Hundred's origins still without telling the entire story. This book could have kept going for a hundred more issues (no pun intended). This last oversized collection seems to have everything and I won't ever stop recommending this series. The art by Tony Harris is still breathtaking and perfectly suited for the book. Overall, brilliant.

[Francine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this series, but this just isn't a very good ending. I really didn't like what happened to Suzanne. I didn't like Bradbury's last scene, there was no setup for it. I didn't like Kremlin's last scene, but at least that one made some sense. The whole climax didn't do anything for me at all. I would have written something else entirely (maybe I should).

I liked Pherson's opening scene. Imo he was such a wasted character... Kremlin's potential was also wasted, I think.

I like the IDEA of the White Box; I just didn't like who it ended up happening to.

3 stars, mostly cause I love Tony Harris's art so much, and I liked the series overall.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the end, it chooses to create a lot of new ideas that weren't explicit earlier in the book. (And a lot of the earlier stuff seems to have vanished.)

As I said in my earlier reviews, I think I liked it better when it was about someone with superpowers trying to navigate a "normal" world of politics rather than a superhero story that had some politics. The series overall was novel and well-written. I just would have wanted this ending either toned down or brought to its ultimate conclusion. That's me.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why did I doubt him? Never again. He pulled it off, without Deus ex, organically, and with references to the earliest volumes. In this last volume, Vaughan finally reveals the conspiracy behind the Great Machine's powers. It's a mind-bender, and ends with a classic BKV unresolved question, a la Y: The Last Man, Vol. 10: Whys and Wherefores: who really is Mitchell Hundred?

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixed feelings on how this series ended. I think in many respects, the superhero stuff was handled better than the political angle through most of its run. That's not something I thought I'd be saying after the first book. Making Mayor Hundred a contrarian centrist type was uninspired back then and comes off as even more annoying now. But some things worked and the idea of what it means to be a "protector" of the city is examined well throughout. I liked it but I'm not sure I'll miss it as much as I thought I would when I started it. Time will tell.

[A.J. Garner · Rating 2 out of 5]

BKV what were you thinking? I wish I hadn't finished the series for a second time! The first four books are so damn good...then this. It isn't complete trash but it is just a curve ball to be a curve ball. I don't recall it selling well and maybe some pressures caused it to wrap up too early or something. Maybe his writing on LOST made him get lost. I don't know, but the ending of Y the Last Man was a lot better.

[cloverina · Rating 3 out of 5]

An incredible series with an extremely dissapointing ending. After reading this and Y: The Last Man, I've figured out I love BKV stories and I hate BKV endings. There was so much potential for a great ending rather than the "realistic" one where everyone he loves dies or leaves him. It also felt a bit incomplete, like the ideas in the story weren't yet fully fleshed out. Overall though, Ex Machina is a 4/5 series, and I've enjoyed my time with the characters up until this point.