Ex Machina: Dirty Tricks

Ex Machina: Dirty Tricks (Vol. 8) written by Brian K. Vaughan with art by Tony Harris. Contains issues 35-39 plus the Masquerade Special Illustrated by John Paul Lennon.

Ex Machina is a series I have enjoyed a lot. It is a little hard to have to wait six or more months to get the next trade paperback, but every trade I read is fun and exciting. This volume is no exception.

A little background on Ex Machina is worth mentioning. Mitchell Hundred is the only superhero in the world, but after an unsuccessful time as a crime fighter he decided to try his hand at politics where he thought he would make a bigger impact. After saving one of the towers on the September 11 attack, Hundred easily won the election for mayor of New York City. The series has followed Mitchell through his tenure as Mayor of New York City.

In this series, there is usually something from the past of Mitchell as a crime fighter that makes an impact in the current day. For this volume, the thing in the past is a woman tour guide that fell in love with Mitchell when he was the crime fighter and saved her life. She makes an impact in the current day as she is a security threat for the Republican Convention which will be held in New York (the story is set in late 2004 just before the election between Bush and Kerry). The series goes through the question of whether Mitchell should give a speech at the convention or not. Mitchell has no political party (he is an independent) so one advisor is worried that he would look Republican if he does, while the other main advisor encourages him because he would make a national political spotlight making it possible for him to run for president in the future.

The whole political angle is interesting and the security threat of the biker girl brings in the fun in terms of funny pranks she does and making people nervous about what she will do next.

Brian K. Vaughan as usual, has some very funny lines and is able to move the story along at a fast pace without making it feel too rushed. This is one of the things I love about reading his work, he makes you want to read the next page right away and it all flows smoothly. Of course, all of this is made possible by the fantastic art by Tony Harris. Harris is one of my favorite artists because he draws beautifully and he makes it easy for the reader to go from panel to panel. I also like how he portrays many different facial expressions in his characters, he is able to do great close ups and also able to do great action scenes. Great artist.

The one thing against it is that I wish the next book were already out so that I could read what will happen next.