Ex Machina: Ring Out the Old (Vol. 9)

Ex Machina: Ring Out the Old (Vol. 9) by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris consists of issues 40 through 44 of Ex Machina plus the Green Special.

When I started reading Ex Machina, 6 trades had come out and I read through them quickly. I loved it. Since then, I have had to wait about half a year for each trade and because of that, I often forget what has been going on and have a hard time loving the series as much as I did the first time. With this trade, I didn't have that problem. The comic starts with a fun "meta" issue with Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris written into the story. Then it has another one shot issue about paper. The next four issues (41-44) are the heart of it, the issues that give the book its name. They are fantastic. We get to know more back story about Mitchell, we get teased about how he got his powers, we get a cool villain and the politics heat up as Mitchell is continuing his pragmatic style of governing.

This comic got me very excited about the conclusion that comes up in November in trade format (the final issue comes out in June or July). The comic has shown us three years of government and the last six issues will focus on the last year (2005). With the introduction of new villains, the political pressure and the mysterious outside forces, I am eagerly awaiting the final chapter.