EX MACHINA #50
What did the
iFanboy
community think?
Pulls
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Art and wraparound cover by TONY HARRIS
Variant cover by JIM LEE
Size: 32 pages
Price: 4.99
This review contains spoilers, click here to read
The final chapter hits and the weight of expectation for this 50th issue is pretty heavy. There have been ups and downs with Ex Machina, though I can claim to have loved it pretty much consistently, disappointed more by it's occasional delays. I've not seen much commentary yet, but I don't tend to seek such things out and I'm pretty sure that the ifanboys will reserve comment until the podcast.
For me I thought it was excellent. My only real negative was that the wrap up of the immediate story i.e. the dimensional invasion, feels as though it was a little rushed. All of a sudden the threat is thwarted, Mitch pulls a last minute switch to save his political career and on we go. However, it's in the rest of this lengthy issue that I think the gold is to be found.
The conclusion takes the form of Mitchell's account of the ensuing 3 years following the end of his mayoral tenure. He moves on to become US ambassador to the UN, before truly shocking developments occur. At the same time Dave Wylie takes his old office, Bradbury becomes a washed up drunk and Commissioner Angotti cuts off all contact. All this time Hundred himself compromises his integrity and his morality, for what he presumably perceives as the greater good that he could achieve.
If people feel there's controversy here, it's going to stem primarily from the fact that as Kremlin holds a gun to his head, Hundred makes it fire with his ability and then the revelation that Hundred, an independent politician, has agreed to run for VP on the McCain ticket. This to me is not contradictory behaviour, but rather an excellent use of the "power corrupts" theme. Throughout the story we see a man deluding himself that he can effect real change as long as he can manufacture the opportunity to do so. Even the murder of Kremlin is somehow necessary, and yet the most fascinating irony here is that Mitchell never really achieves anything of any real merit!! It's truly a fascinating final episode, it's mood fitting the kind of televisual air that the whole series has had. I was gripped to the end.
On the art side, a lot has been said about the looser style Tony Harris developed recently. I think it works well here, as if he's ironed out the kinks. Detail is kind of substituted for a more sketchy, shadowy look. I don't know how deliberate it is, but it really seems to follow the hazy, grey morality that is taking over Hundred in these final days.
In the finale the story has a kind of open endedness, but the tale certainly feels complete. Politics eats up the idealistic Mitchell Hundred that ran for mayor of NYC (although his manner of getting the post in the first place was kind of murky anyway). "Vice", as this last part is titled, gets pretty dark pretty quickly and it's perfect in it's inevitability.
Art: 5 - Excellent
great review
Many thanks