Ex Machina Ring Out The Old

There are only a few current comic books I try to keep up on. One is Invincible, which I love because it effortlessly feels like a classic superhero story while still breaking new ground. Another is Ex Machina, which breaks new ground by doing something completely different than any other comic I've ever read. I'm not going to recap the plot of the entire series in a review of Volume 9 of its trade paperbacks, but suffice to say Ex Machina is a book about politics, 9/11, and strange extra-terrestrial/parallel dimension created technology. If you've never read it, I can not suggest strongly enough to go pick up the first trade.

One of the most important things for Ex Machina as a series is that every issue needs to feel like it's moving toward a finite conclusion. This is not a book that can run forever with new villains and love interests popping up. Unfortunately that was exactly what the storyline in Volume 8 felt like, and I was worried that they were starting to milk Ex Machina for more than it was worth. Thankfully in Ring Out The Old the story gets back on track and feels right on the edge of a truly epic finale.

The few times they've done stand alone issues they've had mixed results and we get two of them in this trade. One I found to be flat out bad, the other was okay but unnecessary. In the half decent issue guest artist John Paul Leon does an admirable job once again but this is Tony Harris' book and anything else just don't feel right. In the bad issue we get a painful "comic book creators making their own book in their character's universe!" story. No matter how many Grant Morrison jokes Brian K Vaughan makes at his own expense about writing a meta issue, it still doesn't change the fact that it all comes off painfully self indulgent.

But once it gets into the four issues that are the meat of this trade it hits its stride. It doesn't touch the best trades in this series, such as The First Hundred Days, Tag and Ex Cathedra, but it sets up the story to a point where the next trade might get to that level. After having some questions about the future of the book in Volume 8, I feel completely confident after Volume 9 that Ex Machina will finish as one of the best comics in the history of the medium. When the core team produces an issue that sticks to the main storyline they create outstanding stories and amazing art. As long as they continue to move in this direction and put the individual issues and guest artists aside, Ex Machina is a book that you need to be reading.