I feel rather ambivalent about the way that everything seems to be coming together in this final arc of Ex Machina. On the one hand, it’s very pleasing to be seeing evidence that Vaughan has definitely had a firm plan in place for the book since the early days of the series, with many seemingly disparate plot points now beginning to be tied together. These include the explanation of mysteries like Nirvana’s non-existent “The Stars Are Down” song, pointed references to prominent characters from old story arcs (like Agent Georges), and the explicit acknowledgement of complex scientific ideas like String Theory--something that had previously only been touched upon in passing by the book. It’s satisfying to see Vaughan unite all of these ideas and to get a sense that the title’s hitherto unrevealed underlying concepts are gradually being brought into focus.

On the other hand, these pieces feel as though they’re coming together in such a straightforward, A-to-B-to-C manner that I’m somehow not feeling as excited about it as I expected. There’s almost a sense of inevitability about seeing everything connect, with the possessed Suzanne Padilla feeling like the only truly unpredictable wild card in the book. And the pages certainly feel a lot more lively during the scenes that she appears in. However, perhaps this sense of linear logical progression is a testament to how well Vaughan has set up all of the various pieces of his story and how naturally he’s managing to weave them all together at this stage.

One thing that’s certain is that the tone of Ex Machina has evolved as the series has gone on and I sometimes find myself wishing that it hadn’t changed quite as much as it has. As I’ve said in previous reviews, it’s been interesting to see a comic that was once a political book with occasional superhero/fantasy elements turn into a superhero/fantasy book that occasionally remembers to drop in some political ideas. For example, this issue does touch upon the pro-choice/anti-abortion debate, but it’s a brief discussion that doesn’t feel quite as insightful as the book used to be and it doesn’t feel closely linked to the rest of the story in the way that the book’s political ideas once were. Having said that, I suspect that by the end of the arc it may become more relevant, especially if Hundred finds himself responsible for a decision that will dictate the fate of whatever civilization is planning on invading his dimension.

One area of the book that I can praise unequivocally, however, is the artwork of Tony Harris. On a purely visual level, I think that the book is as strong as it’s ever been: the artist feels completely comfortable with drawing his cast of characters without ever making it feel as though he’s recycling the same old stock poses or expressions, and there’s a surprising sense of consistency with earlier issues (given that Harris is now inking his own pencils).

Harris’s skills are particularly well employed during the opening flashback sequence, which contrasts its realistic textures and subdued colour schemes against the flatter, more boldly coloured visual stylings of Hundred’s otherworldly technology. It helps Harris (and his colorist, the excellent JD Mettler) to create an eerie, unsettling effect that culminates in a panel that I can only describe as vaguely gruesome, in that it manages to suggest that something unpleasant and nasty lies on the other side of the portal opened by the Great Machine, without actually tipping its hand as to what the exact nature of the technology’s originators might be.

There’s also a sold cliffhanger panel involving the fate of Hundred himself, which places the mayor in a classic feeling situation of superhero peril, but without the benefits of his Great Machine accoutrements. I’ll be interested to see how he gets out of that one.

Ex Machina is definitely not a book that I’d recommend to new readers at this point. So much of the series now revolves around providing payoffs to long-running mysteries from previous arcs and making explicit ideas that were only hinted at in earlier issues that I’m not sure that somebody who comes to the series cold would really get a huge amount out of issues like this one. For longtime readers, however, there’s a certain satisfaction in seeing all of the pieces fall into place. Even if I’d like to see a little more tension and excitement in the story, I can’t deny that I’m still very keen to see how these final issues play out.

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