Brian Vaughn delivers a couple "wow" moments in this final trade for his acclaimed Ex Machina series. Some pretty important people get turned or killed off when Mayor Hundred has to go up against the alternate Earth that has been plaguing him for a few trades now.So the first shock, a death in the family. It makes sense, and I thought Vaughn did a good job showing how the death affected Hundred, but how Hundred is able to put his feelings aside for the greater good of New York. He's been doing this since the first trade.
I LOVED seeing Hundred get back in his Great Machine gear. Vaughn made us wait for it for a LONG time, so when this briefly becomes a super-hero story for a few moments, how can I not love it?
I'm not sure I buy Bradbury's quick descent. Unless Hundred totally dropped the guy who saved his bacon on multiple occasions, Bradbury didn't seem like the type to fall as far as he does here. His declaration of love was weird and seemed like it was more for shock value than in line with the character. Or maybe I just missed the signs.
Kremlin's fate fascinates me. Vaughn basically pulled the rug out of all of his readers with this one. For this entire series, Hundred seemed like he was there to show how Vaughn is smarter than the reader. He has it all figured out. Maybe I was mis-reading (and I see now I was), but I figured this was political book for Vaughn to put his beliefs out there. But no, this book was about something else entirely. I don't want to ruin it, but this is not a super-hero story at all.
Tony Harris art is wonderful, as it has been all series long. I need to check and see what he's doing next; he's the only artist out there who actually draws people who look like they could exist off the comic page.
Good
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