EX MACHINA 193
and electoral success in the next mayoral election (he runs as an independent). Th e
series tracks Hundred’s attempts to bring about meaningful change and prosperity by
way of political power, all while wrestling with both the shadows and the allure of his
super-heroic past.
Th e back stories of Hundred and Th e Great Machine are pieced together
incrementally in fl ashback sequences that punctuate the narrative. Indeed, the entire
series is framed as a retrospective: the fi rst issue begins with a somber Hundred
seemingly addressing readers directly: “Th is is the story of my four years in offi ce,
from the beginning of 2002 through godforsaken 2005. It may look like a comic, but
it’s really a tragedy.” Th e book’s continually-advancing present is thus also readers’
recent past, meaning that the book’s alternative history is infused with a healthy mea-
sure of retrospective clarity and irony. Debates over the potential disastrousness of
an invasion of Iraq, for instance, are particularly resonant. Various real-world events
are integrated into numerous storylines: the blackout that hit New York and much
of the East Coast in the summer of 2003 is caused by Hundred’s malfunctioning
powers; chaos during the city’s anti-Iraq war protests claims the life of a support-
ing character; the Republican National Convention in 2004 has Hundred juggling
terrorist threats and his political alliances.
Ex Machina’s defi ning thematic feature is its refl exivity: from its inception, the series
has explored the political, cultural, and moral relevance of telling stories about super-
heroes. Th e meta-dramatic elements of the book reach a critical mass in issue #40, as
Vaughan and Harris write themselves into their own story as applicants for a graphic
novel biography that Hundred wishes to produce. At its best, Ex Machina thrusts
various archetypes of superhero comics (otherworldly origins, secret identities, arch-
nemeses) into otherwise realistic scenarios involving human frailties and fallibilities,
political machinations, and brutal, explicit violence. By interweaving hot-button po-
litical issues with the rich, often strange political history of New York City, and the
well-established tropes of superhero comics, the series strikes a provocative balance
between the fantastic and the real. Even as readers learn that Hundred’s powers might
be linked to alternative timelines and witness fl ashbacks to Th e Great Machine battling
Jack Pherson (his chief enemy and opposite, who possesses the ability to command the
animal kingdom), storylines are simultaneously steeped in contentious matters such as
gay marriage, the censorship of publicly-funded art exhibitions, alternative energy, and
the legalization of marijuana. According to Vaughan, the series is slated to run for
approximately fi fty issues. Hundred’s earliest experiences with his powers and some
of his misadventures as Th e Great Machine are detailed in Ex Machina Special #1 and
#2 (with art by Chris Sprouse), and Ex Machina Masquerade Special and Ex Machina
Special #4 (with art by John Paul Leon).
J. Gavin Paul
