Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days - Volume 1

Rating:
Summary: One of the Top 5 Comic Books of 2004
Review: Brian K. Vaughn has crafted a parallel New York City that feels absolutely real and populated it with 3-dimensional human beings that go far beyond comic book stereotypes - a legitimate spiritual descendant of Alan Moore's Watchmen. Summarizing the plot would be selling it short, because there are multiple layers at work here - superheroing, politics, the human condition - and Vaughn's barely scratched the surface so far. If there was ever a comic book that could seamlessly transition to traditional fiction, this is it. Unfortunately, that would mean missing out on Tony Harris' eye-popping artwork.

For anyone that thinks comics are about men in tights and cartoonish "BIFF! POW!" visuals, Ex Machina will set them straight. As a native-New Yorker, I'm jealous that there's no Mitchell Hundred for me to vote for mayor. As a comic book fan, I'm glad to see a book like Ex Machina being published regularly, and to much-deserved critical acclaim.

Rating:
Summary: Comics ain't all about superheroes
Review: Well, the best ones are. Sorta. Watchmen, Squadron Supreme, Wanted, Authority and Top Ten. If you're still telling your friends why they should read these (even if they won't) then I strongly recommend you check out Ex Machina. Along with Sleeper it's one of the best reviewed monthly comics from the past couple of years that no seems to be reading. Here's hoping being collected into a trade paperback keeps it being published; I like getting my fix monthly. But I'll be buying a couple of these as gifts.