hey! wheres the ex-machina thread?

[ultramandingo]

comon! the "villian" is a wacked out x-comic book store owner with a jet pack! and dont get me started with the art . cus it kicks ass on just about every thing your reading .especialy that lame ultimate x crap written by that hairless hack

[Donald M.]

Uh . . .

They're all over the place.

Try the search function.

[SpecialAgentPunk]

there should be more though. ex machina's one of the best comics I've ever read. We could discuss the events in it, like killling snowplowers, controversial artwork, etc. That'd be neat.

[Aaron King]

I'm assuming this is meant to be a thread about the newest issue (#14, right?). In any case, this issue was asking a lot of my suspension of disbelief, at least at this point. If easy wasn't a veteran with crazy powers, how'd he get onto the jury? The woman at the desk last issue told him that he couldn't volunteer, so he says he has to trust in god. Then he tells Hundred that he told the computers to let him in. Then we're told that he doesn't have powers.

Maybe we're dealing with a liar or uninformed character, but I don't like being jerked around like that.

Lastly, in the little epilogue, we have Leto Jr. say, "Justice? No man, there's just us." Good enough line, but Warren Ellis already used it in Planetary years ago, and also as a closing line.

The art was amazing, and I loved how Hundred broadcast for help and showed the scope where to shoot. I'm also assuming he told the gun to fire. That entire sequence was pretty awesome.

I'm hoping we get a few issues of Hundred being just a mayor instead of having specific villains of one kind or another to deal with. Sure, the kid in "First Hundred Days" wasn't exactly a super-villain, but I feel like the good-guy/bad-guy dichotomy is getting pushed on us when Hundred, as an independent candidate, should be walking all sorts of grey lines and not have archenemies and things.

I still like the series, though.

[K'Nort]

Lastly, in the little epilogue, we have Leto Jr. say, "Justice? No man, there's just us." Good enough line, but Warren Ellis already used it in Planetary years ago, and also as a closing line.

Damn, beat me to it. Maybe it was an homage.

[ultramandingo]

Uh . . .

They're all over the place.

Try the search function.
but i want one nooowww!!!!

ahh thats better .
now i want a gin and tonic and one of those giant pretzels! chop chop!

[Expletive Deleted]

I'm assuming this is meant to be a thread about the newest issue (#14, right?). In any case, this issue was asking a lot of my suspension of disbelief, at least at this point. If easy wasn't a veteran with crazy powers, how'd he get onto the jury? The woman at the desk last issue told him that he couldn't volunteer, so he says he has to trust in god. Then he tells Hundred that he told the computers to let him in. Then we're told that he doesn't have powers.

Maybe we're dealing with a liar or uninformed character, but I don't like being jerked around like that.We're told that the military says he's just a nut. What, we're supposed to take that at face value? To me, in this context, it absolutely screams "cover-up."Lastly, in the little epilogue, we have Leto Jr. say, "Justice? No man, there's just us." Good enough line, but Warren Ellis already used it in Planetary years ago, and also as a closing line.Ah, that line's everywhere. Terry Pratchett used it in a few Discworld novels, even.

It's just some fun wordplay.

[ultramandingo]

yea, i hope that "bottemless pit " in iraq shows up again. too bad he got that guy killed

[The Adventurer]

Here's what I'm thinking, the whole Epiloge thing was about "Retcon"ing in comics.

Well here's this guy with memories of some strange crap in the Gulf, but no one knows anything about him. And everything he said was true about himself wasn't true.

So either he's a lier, he's Scitzofrenic, OR his past was "retconed" away so it just seemed that way.

[K'Nort]

Here's what I'm thinking, the whole Epiloge thing was about "Retcon"ing in comics.

Well here's this guy with memories of some strange crap in the Gulf, but no one knows anything about him. And everything he said was true about himself wasn't true.

So either he's a lier, he's Scitzofrenic, OR his past was "retconed" away so it just seemed that way.

I like it!

[MrBeebs37]

Lastly, in the little epilogue, we have Leto Jr. say, "Justice? No man, there's just us." Good enough line, but Warren Ellis already used it in Planetary years ago, and also as a closing line.

I'm thinking that that is an intentional Planetary reference due to the fact that the first part of the story arc in question had Hundred in the same comic shop that the scene you describe takes place in filled only with various issues of Planetary. Do with that what you will, but it's definetly not some sort of sneaky lift on Vaughn's part.

Now, if you want to talk about a comparison between the ending of the second storyline in Ex Machina (big crime committed by some nobody kid/looking for attention/being the one who done it/dying) as compared to Bendis' first story arc in Powers (big crime committed by some nobody kid/looking for attention/being the one who done it/dying) we can do that...

[Scott Beeler]

I'm assuming this is meant to be a thread about the newest issue (#14, right?). In any case, this issue was asking a lot of my suspension of disbelief, at least at this point. If easy wasn't a veteran with crazy powers, how'd he get onto the jury? The woman at the desk last issue told him that he couldn't volunteer, so he says he has to trust in god. Then he tells Hundred that he told the computers to let him in. Then we're told that he doesn't have powers.

Maybe we're dealing with a liar or uninformed character, but I don't like being jerked around like that.

I don't think there's any real jerking-around there. I suppose he could be telling the truth and it could be a military cover-up or whatever, but I think that lacking any evidence the simplest explanation is just that he was mentally ill. The guy can say what he wants about how he got on the jury, but it doesn't seem unusual to me that he would have just be picked naturally. He didn't seem obviously crazy in court; the lawyers didn't see any reason he wouldn't make a good juror.

Lastly, in the little epilogue, we have Leto Jr. say, "Justice? No man, there's just us." Good enough line, but Warren Ellis already used it in Planetary years ago, and also as a closing line.

I think, as Beebs says, that it has to be intentional in this context. But I'm not sure whether it really added much to this issue. I think I saw that line in another comic in the last two years or so too; I'm trying to remember where but can't at the moment.

The art was amazing, and I loved how Hundred broadcast for help and showed the scope where to shoot. I'm also assuming he told the gun to fire. That entire sequence was pretty awesome.

Yeah, that was really good. I was wondering where he was going with the call for help, seeing as how a SWAT team rushing the room would almost not taken him down fast enough to save the old lady. But the powered-up-scope bit was excellent.

I'm hoping we get a few issues of Hundred being just a mayor instead of having specific villains of one kind or another to deal with. Sure, the kid in "First Hundred Days" wasn't exactly a super-villain, but I feel like the good-guy/bad-guy dichotomy is getting pushed on us when Hundred, as an independent candidate, should be walking all sorts of grey lines and not have archenemies and things.

Well, I think it could be overdone if it appears any more, but they've had enough variation that it hasn't irked me too much. The first extended story was a bit of misdirection that initially pointed to Hundred; the second was connected to the source of his powers; the third was connected to his actions as a superhero. But they did all three deal with some sort of crazed killer/vigilante, and I agree that an extended story without that and focused on his position as mayor would be welcome.

[celluloid_droid]

Have you ever noticed that all the women in this book have huge knockers?

I was trying to think of something intelligent to say, such as the ambiguity of him being an "independent," but sides more with the left, however he directly caused the guy to have his head blown off and kind of took that in stride and what not, but Tony makes some busty women. Stop calling Frank Cho the king of big boobies hornballs, when Harris does it, and makes them more realistic looking.

[Aaron King]

The Harris art is, as usual, pretty awesome. If you want to see his process, there's an excellent "extra" in the First Hundred Days trade that documents his photo-reference process.

As for me feeling jerked around or whatever, I think I'm just getting tired of the cliffhanger endings in this and Y: the Last Man. I understand it's selfish, and if it gets bad enough, I'll obviously drop the book, but I kind of feel like Hundred's relationship with Padilla (whatever it might be) and what really happened with Jack Pherson (remember him?) could've been given a bit more of a resolution. Vaughan probably has them tie into later stories, and maybe I'm just expecting a more serial/political drama pacing, but I've never been a believer in hiding this much of the characters' knowledge from the reader.

I sound negative, I know. I'm not totally negative. Like I said, the art's freakin' awesome, the characterization is totally believable and entertaining, and I get such great enjoyment out of the day-to-day interactions in the office. I just want more of all that stuff.

[DWEarhart]

Like I said, the art's freakin' awesome, the characterization is totally believable and entertaining, and I get such great enjoyment out of the day-to-day interactions in the office. I just want more of all that stuff.

Agreed. I've been picking this up since issue #1, and people are still asking me why.

Even I've begun to question myself, but Thomas Harris' art alone speaks volumes.

I don't think Brian K. Vaughn is a generation-defining writer, but I do think he's got some cooky stories to tell, and if you don't pay attention you'll miss out on something important.

[The Xenos]

Man, there are so many things about this issue. The big reveal that the 'robot' was just one big cosplay costume had me in stitches, especially since I have a friend who wants to do crap like that. Well, bad ass cosplay props and full armor, not become a flying vigilante.

Plus I like the twist about how the guy was lying about his family and service. Eat that, M Night. Plus I wish I had made the connection with him and the retcon issue in the ending. I think I was thinking too much about what they were talking about and not enough about its relevance.

-Xenos

[Forsaken_One]

I'm thinking that that is an intentional Planetary reference due to the fact that the first part of the story arc in question had Hundred in the same comic shop that the scene you describe takes place in filled only with various issues of Planetary. Do with that what you will, but it's definetly not some sort of sneaky lift on Vaughn's part.No, that's more to do with the fact that this is published by Wildstorm and that's one of their bigger sellers. I don't think the multiple Planetary comics had anything to do with a subtle reference to the past or somesuch, it was simply something to fill the spaces on the comics that people shouldn't have been paying much, if any, attention to. I suppose they could have gone through the archives and grabbed images of various comic books from that era, tiled them properly, put them in alphabetical order, and whatnot. Or they could just put a Planetary picture there. Or Authority.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. And the Justice/Just us quote is insanely old, looong before Planetary. Ellis also wasn't the first person to use Dracula as a real being in his fictional world; don't give him more credit than he deserves.

I don't think there's any real jerking-around there. I suppose he could be telling the truth and it could be a military cover-up or whatever, but I think that lacking any evidence the simplest explanation is just that he was mentally ill. The guy can say what he wants about how he got on the jury, but it doesn't seem unusual to me that he would have just be picked naturally. He didn't seem obviously crazy in court; the lawyers didn't see any reason he wouldn't make a good juror.Okay, first of all the most simple explenation isn't always true in comics. Second, we already know the Military covers things up and deals with this in a very secretive manner just from the various CIA/FBI/NSA dealing with Hundred we've seen. So a cover up is hardly unlikely. Third it's the issue of which he got picked for, not that he got picked. There are any number of jurys picked for any number of cases in any given day, and he managed to not only get into one (often times you aren't even called) and not get vetoed by a lawyer (again, doesn't always happen) but he got picked to go into the same trial as Mayor Hundred, whom he wanted to meet and claimed he had a way of getting to meet. So either a series of extremely unlikely coincidences happened and the government is squeeky clean in this regard or he was telling at least some of the truth.

Have you ever noticed that all the women in this book have huge knockers?No, actually. I've found the women drawn in Ex Machina to be remarkably true to life in terms of body types, ranging from extremely good looking to not at all. Perhaps you're only noticing the former? :)

[John S Osen]

The 2nd trade came out Thursday and I picked up the complete run today. I hope it's good! :cool:

[ultramandingo]

Have you ever noticed that all the women in this book have huge knockers?

I was trying to think of something intelligent to say, such as the ambiguity of him being an "independent," but sides more with the left, however he directly caused the guy to have his head blown off and kind of took that in stride and what not, but Tony makes some busty women. Stop calling Frank Cho the king of big boobies hornballs, when Harris does it, and makes them more realistic looking.


what other super heros " rouge gallery" has topless protesting whackadoos?