Ex Machina Issue 6 Page 3

Ex Machina Issue 6 Page 3
Writer Brian K. Vaughan
Pencils Tony Harris
Inks Tom Feister

Having a piece from this series was essential to me. Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris’ Series is a modern storytelling masterpiece.

Ex Machina is a political superheroic drama that combines elements of the West Wing, Unbreakable, and a dash of Mad Men.
Vaughan and Harris weave a cautionary tale of wielding power both political and super.

We meet Mitchell Hundred talking in the dark to...no one in particular, this is his confession, he tells us in the first few pages of this fifty issue series that this is a tragedy. We flashback to various times in Mitchell’s life.
He tells us in the opening pages that the tale he is telling us is a tragedy. But over the next forty-nine issues they lull you into feeling that maybe...maybe Mitchell and his best friend Bradbury, and surrogate father Kremlin will succeed and overcome. Instead this well intentioned path leads to the only place it can, a hell made of compromise and regret.

Mitchell was a civil engineer who after encountering an exploding piece of alien technology near the Brooklyn Bridge is granted the ability to speak with and hear technology. Mitchell I grew up a comic book reader and fan so when he gets powers he does what most of us would love to do.... he tries to become a superhero.

Vaughan and Harris weave the past together in a very clever ways.
Mitchell’s time as the Great Machine is a reflection of the idealization of power. His ability to speak to machines and being a costumed adventurer gives him an advantage. He wants to fix something he does. Or at least he tries... but he wants to make real change, so he quits being a masked hero and decides to run for the office of the Mayor of New York City. He publicly unmasks and honestly...no one cares.
Mitchell is the dark horse candidate until, on 9/11 he suits up as the Great Machine one last time to save the second plane from hitting the World Trade Center. An instant hero Mitchell wins the office of Mayor.
Now that he wields real power he discovers just how unwieldy it can be. Mitchell comes to the job with the utmost best intentions. But slowly we see him falter.
Ex Machina is a brilliant series. Which I love, and have read through several times. Mitchell is a fascinating protagonist who complexity is never fully explained and the book is better for it. You root for him and at the same time you can incredibly frustrated by him. Vaughn makes him an incredibly layered complex character. When the final issue comes it breaks your heart.
While Ex Machina uses flashbacks of Mitchell’s time as the Great Machine (whose costume is brilliantly designed by Tony Harris) the book is largely political and conversation based. Tony Harris’ visual storytelling is amazing as he keeps the story moving and compelling.
I have wanted a page from this series for a while now, particularly a page that featured Mitchell in his Great Machine Costume.
In this sequence Mitchell, as the Great Machine is meeting with NSA Agent Jackson Georges. Mitchell is giving him a piece of shrapnel from the device that gave him his powers. When this page became available I knew I had to take my shot. So grateful to the collector who let this page go.