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Is it worthy of all the attention?
Publisher: DC Comics
Mon, 16 May 2005
by: Tyz
Brian K Vaughan (Writes) Tony Harris (Draws)
This series came out last year and has set the comics world ablaze. You can say what you like about these books, but there is no denying that it has struck a cord with a large fan base. It would be a gross understatement to say that coming up with a new comic book superhero is difficult in the new millennium –increased cynicism and society’s lack of innocence has knocked around many of heroes from the golden era of Marvel and DC.
In order to pull it off, Ex Machina has gone for a very realistic take on the world – you’d be forgiven for thinking you were reading a comic book version of The West Wing at times. Like some esteemed works before it this series explores the notion of what would really happen if an average person was suddenly given superpowers, and decided to go down the path of the masked vigilante. Vaughan obviously believes that in a world where super-villains are not too common, superheroes would find themselves more at odds with the police than being seen as coming in to save the day. Vaughan also asks the question – what happens to a superhero’s sidekicks when the superhero hangs up the cape for the last time?
The story is that of Mitchell Hundred, a civil engineer who finds a mysterious object submerged below the Brooklyn Bridge. While Hundred tries to retrieve the green glowing thing, it explodes and gives him the power to communicate with all machines. In a mix of real time and flashbacks we are told how Mitchell Hundred takes on the mantle of The Great Machine and tries to fight crime, with his two buddies in tow helping him create an arsenal of crime-fighting gadgetry. After twelve months of fighting crime, cops and the media, The Great Machine calls it a day and decides to run for Mayor. “What chance would he have?” I hear you cry, but I forgot to tell you one thing – the year The Great Machine took to the air was 2001, and he stopped the second plane from hitting the World Trade Centre. So Mayor Mitchell Hundred comes to office and now must deal with the problems that come with the sash, plus he must deal with resentful police commissioners and the friends The Great Machine left behind.
One of the things that makes this series a bit different is that concept of consequences for actions. Superheroes can make mistakes, and the media loves a tall poppy so a superhero these days would be just as likely to wind up with a law-suit as he would a medal. This follows through to Mayor Hundred’s decisions in the top job – you can’t please everyone and you have to tread the line between doing what’s right and doing what’s smart.
Part of the realistic touch in this series is the photography based illustrations by Tony Harris. It is certainly not a new thing using photographs as a basis for your illustrations, but some of these pictures lack the artistic sense of style that you would find in other work. The pictures look great, but they again give that feeling of watching a TV show which I think detracts from the story. To confess my bias, I’d much prefer to see photos used to create surrealist imagery in comics (ie Dave McKean) than being used to enhance realism. But hey, that’s just my opinion. Another issue I have with the illustration is Harris’s penchant for big boobs and visible g-strings. This kind of stuff does nothing for the story and results in comics being taken even less seriously by the mainstream than they already are. Grow up guys, if you want porn – download it like a normal person.
To quote Flavour Flav “Don’t believe the hype”. When everyone is talking about something, it doesn’t necessarily mean its any good (eg The De Vinci Code) but it usually means that there is something different going on and that it has caught the imagination of some readers.
by: Tyz
More articles by Tyz
Plenty of people are getting into it, so check this one out and see what you think. | |
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