This volume takes on the politics of terrorism, going to war with Iraq, privacy vs protection, and the death penalty.The highlight of the plot was meeting Hundred's archenemy, a man with powers that aren't opposite but rather the other side of the same coin.This comic excels when it looks at the common superhero tropes and examines the ethics and politics surrounding them. Most superheroes are strictly non-lethal, what does that say about our ethics and is it realistic? Think of all the people t...

A march to protest America's invasion in Iraq is apparently attacked by a terrorist and a major character dies.The portions of this book involving the march are still 4 stars for me although the death should have hit me harder. The two volumes about a guy who can speak to animals were not as good - three stars for that part. I find I like these stories more when they're focusing on Mayor Hundred and political issues rather than the Great Machine and fighting bad guys.

Ex Machina: March to War returns to the series’ greatest strengths, namely exploring real-world politics through a comic lens. March to War takes place during the months before the 2003 American invasion of Iraq, centered on Mayor Hundred’s decision to allow a controversial anti-war protest in New York City. The later issues return to more conventional superhero affair, as The Great Machine grapples with someone who can communicate with animals just as he can with machinery.Overall, the politics...

I'm still enjoying this though some of the faults are becoming more obvious. The initial 'terrorist' attack was interesting though somewhat predictable as was killing off a reasonably big character (one I quite liked too). The arch-nemesis storyline was pretty funny though I don't think it was intended that way and there's a sense of Vaughan not quite committing to some of the tropes here.The art is distracting me a little. A bonus feature in the first volume highlighted how real models are used...

This is a stellar read. Reading it I was again surprised by how smooth this book is. As I mentioned in my review of the last issue it’s lack of flashiness leaves me tempted to underrate it but when I really look at it I realize just how good this book is. Herein it goes well beyond its superhero hook. The “March to War” story in particular is downright bold political commentary. Commentary is not something new to Mr. Vaughn but there is something about the real world setting that grounds his voi...

Deeply intense, violent, and political. Fantastic writing and artwork continues.

I've already learned how Vaughan finds his speed in his comics with further editions. it was the same like in the last man.This time he touches on important topics such as racism, fear of the Arabs, animal protection, etc. I like it and already exciting for other parts of the story. it is no longer personal story of Great Machine, but also real political events.

I've had some trouble getting through the middle portion of Vaughan's series. Took me a couple of weeks to get through book 3, and I fear I'll have similar reticence with this volume. And I think I've figured it out. It has to do with Vaughan's penchant for lecturing. He's full of factoids and historical references, and I dunno if he's a nerd about history & New York and politics - or if he's just doing lots of research and feels obliged to spunk it out onto the page. Either way, these expositio...

The terrorism part was very interesting and all Still very familiar today.

All this build up for the reveal of The Great Machine's arch-nemesis Pherson, but the guy is actually the lamest character in the series.(view spoiler)[Someone gasses an anti-war protest leaving many hospitalized and some dead (including, eventually, Journal). For some reason, Muslims are suspected(?) sending off a wave of anti-Islamic activity. It also sparks city-wide Subway bag checks, which results in the accidental murder of a fleeing drug dealer by some cops. Hundred and police commissione...

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 and...

Vol. 4 of 10This volume bored me a little. Recap to remind me of what this issue was about. ****Possible spoilers ahead****:--Journal, one of Mayor Hundred's office staff decides to resign in order to protest the war in Iraq. Something goes terribly wrong during this protest.--We meet Mitch's archnemesis, Jack Pherson. Somehow Mitch has passed on his powers to him through a recording of Mitch's voice that Jack Pherson's parrot has learned to imitate. But instead of being able to control machines...

Another highly enjoyable edition of Brian k. Vaughan's "Ex Machina" and for this go round we get treated to a mysterious and rather interesting antagonist in a prolonged flashback scene and much more of the same that made the previous volumes such great mixes of entertainment and social and political commentary without a need to preach its themes.

Eh. I still just can't get into this series. I have volume 5 still checked out, and unless something radical happens, I won't be continuing. It's just not that interesting. The story seems to be a never-ending compilation of one-offs with little overarching plot lines. They're hinted here and there, but they're not exactly hard to figure out. In this volume we finally figure out Mayor Hundred's "arch-enemy", who is summarily (view spoiler)[killed off at the end of the volume, or is he? (hide spo...

Nobody writes dialogue like Vaughan. Add that to the plot being something totally different (a "superhero" who hung up his cape to become a politician, but once in a while he still does superhero stuff.) and you got some awesomeness going on here. He also gets points for writing about a time in my past (911, the Bush years) that evokes emotional reactions.The only negative thing I can say about this series is that it really doesn't seem to have an overall story arch, or if it does, it's just mov...

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 about the war, the cities reactio...

Two stories here: March to War, which looks at a second terrorist attack on NYC and the aftermath of it, and Life or Death, which focuses exclusively on Mitchell's superhero days, and his arch-nemesis from that time, Jack Pherson. Both stories were fairly interesting, but March to War felt unfinished (seriously, Journal dies and that's it? the story ends right there?) and Pherson seemed like he would have been a good character to keep around as a recurring foil for Mitchell. As a result, the sto...

Aaaand this is where they lost me. Brian K. Vaughan seems out of his depth trying to deal with big political issues, the art is uncharacteristically sloppy, and I'm a little stymied trying to figure out how invested I'm supposed to be in Hundred's pre-mayoral superhero shenanigans. I can't tell if the characters' eyes have always been out of focus and I just glazed over them because of the tight writing, or if the politics have always been so painful to engage with (I mean, they were a little pa...

Mystified at the criticisms of the art (yes, they are clearly still using models), and the politics. If Vaughan is wrong because he doesn't take a harder stand, well then so be it--an artist is supposed to convey, what they see as truth. Truth for Brian Vaughn is that these issues are as hopelessly complex as the sea of people that comprise them...but he seldom fails to bring up things that make me think, "good point." Meanwhile, some think he's "anti-Bush." Hilarious.Folks, this is a good story...

I tried to give it another chance, but I just couldn't. Maybe it's the negativity around 9/11 and the Bush era and knowing what happened with the war. Maybe it was just all the lecturing or a reminder of the terrible political climate we're currently in. And then once the nemesis was introduced I really just skim read to the end. I think this will be last try with this series.