Ex Machina Vol. 1: The First Hundred Days

by Brian K. Vaughan

Book Overview

The first volume of the Eisner Award-winning series featuring Eisner Award-winners author Brian K. Vaughan and artist Tony Harris. Set in our modern-day world, EX MACHINA tells the story of civil... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1401206123
• ISBN13: 9781401206123
• Release Date: February 2005
• Publisher: Wildstorm
• Length: 136 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.7" x 10.2"

Customer Reviews

Play like graphic novel in a realistic setting

I haven't been into too many comic books. Mostly because superheros were never really my thing. A friend of mine was telling me about a few comics, and recommended this one to me. Being a bit skeptical I picked it up and read the volume. The story started a bit slow to get in to. Probably because of my skepticism. However at the end I wanted to read more, and more. Not because of a cliffhanger either. The art is done beautifully, modeled from actual people. It is told naturally, but it seems like they put it together like a play. It is realistic in the sense of a lot of actual things in New York city exist. The way it is told is real. Without a little "magic" in it (no spoilers), you would think it was a true political story.

Love it!

This book and series is mixed perfectly with action, drama, humor and suspense. Everything hits on all cylinders. Brian Vaughan is great!

Top Series of 2005

This is a smart, gritty series set in present day New York City. The main character is a retired superhero who becomes mayor. The plot alternates between his superhero past and political present. Tony Harris' artwork fits the story and he provides some striking full-page panels. I enjoyed this so much that I started Vaughn's other series 'Y: The Last Man'. "Ex-Machina" is perhaps my favorite current series and I'd highly recommend this to people who usually don't read comics.

Never Would Have Thought I'd Like Such a Thing...

Pronounced mah-kin-ah, this little ditty I picked up only because I saw it had recently earned an Eisner Award, which in the world of comic books, is a very big deal. The story is about a former hero turned politician. Not the stuff of captivating reads, in my opinion. On top of that, the writer, Brian K. Vaughan, was someone I was previously unfamiliar with. But, the buzz was big, the accolades were huge, so I thought I'd give it a shot. The result was quite shocking. I loved it. If you'd told me I would enjoy a book whose main character was the mayor of New York City, I'd have told you that you were nutso. It's simply the writing and the artistry. I honestly think Vaughan and his artist, Tony Harris, could put out a comic book about an agoraphobic farmer and it would still win awards. Mitchell Hundred is a civil servant of NYC who happens across a strange device at the base of a bridge's, er, base. It explodes literally in his face, thus granting him the singular ability to converse with machinery of almost any magnitude, the utterly simplistic to the drastically complex. For instance, he can command a gun to jam, preventing its detonation. Eventually, he dreams of a rocket pack allowing him to fly. His older friend and role model, Kremlin, helps him build it. He becomes a hero, calling himself The Great Machine. However, after only a year, he gives up the hero business, deciding that he's causing more harm than good. Instead, he runs for mayor. And he wins. The arc of The First Hundred Days deals with a portrait of Lincoln with the n-word written across it debuted in a museum funded by the tax payers, someone killing off snow plow drivers, as well as many flashbacks to Hundred's days as The Great Machine. As stated, this doesn't sound terribly interesting, but it is! I believe it is Vaughan's pacing and script that forces us to keep going, as well as Harris's perfectly executed sequential art. The dynamic characters, the mystery of who is murdering city workers and why, plus the conflict of the portrait's controversy creates an entrancing plot. On top of it all, Vaughan seems to know just enough about the workings of city government to make us believe that Hundred really is the mayor of NYC. Oh, and there's a really, really interesting sub-plot (although I can't help but think it will develop into a major plot) dealing with 9/11. Yes, 9/11. If you pick this book up looking for the stuff of Superman and Batman, you'll be disappointed. If you pick it up looking for a political drama with a touch of super hero flair, you'll be quite pleased. I highly recommend you pick up Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days. If you like it, the second trade paperback in the series just came out. It's called Ex Machina: Tag. It's a good time to jump on board with only two trades out so far. ~Scott William Foley, author of Souls Triumphant

One of the Top 5 Comic Books of 2004

Brian K. Vaughan 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 Vaughan'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.