What would happen if a former superhero ran for public office? If it were anything like how Brian K. Vaughan imagined it, said superhero would want to think twice before taking the oath of office. Ex Machina follows Mitchell Hundred, a civil engineer who became the superhero known as "The Great Machine" after a strange device on the Brooklyn Bridge exploded. The device gave Hundred the ability to "speak" to machines, allowing him to influence them to do his bidding. He can command complex machines (simple, circuit-less machines, like bows and arrows don't respond); Hundred can change the television channel by asking it, can jam a gun with a yell, and has gained a sort of mastery over engineering (he subsequently built a jet pack and a laser gun).
Hundred spent about a year and a half as the Great Machine, but quickly became disenchanted with the job, since he seemed to do as much damage as he prevented. He is neither muscular nor invulnerable, so being a superhero is a very dangerous job. And in addition to dealing with criminals, he has to avoid the police, who want to arrest him for vigilantism. Unlike Commissioner Gordon of Batman comics, New York Police Department's Commissioner Angotti does not see the Great Machine as a solution to New York's crime problem. Hundred eventually decided to take off the jetpack and run for the position of Mayor of New York. Running as an Independent (woot!), Hundred is initially dead last in the polls until one last job as the Great Machine propels him into the positive side of public sentiment.
Ex Machina takes place in the "real" world; Hundred is the only superhero (though a supervillain eventually came to power) and real-world events come to pass (the 2003 blackout in the Northeast provided the backdrop to one story arc). Of course, due to the events of the series, there are certain divergences in history. The "one last job" was 9/11; after the first plane hit the North Tower, Hundred suited up and stopped United 175 from hitting the second tower.
The narrative begins on Hundred's inauguration day in 2002; as we see his tenure of mayor face numerous trying situations, flashbacks to his time as the Great Machine are juxtaposed to show why Hundred tackles the situation the way he does. His relationship with Angotti, whom he retained as commissioner, is somewhat strained, especially when he uses his powers to prevent an assassination attempt. But his fear to actually suit up and use his powers to fight criminals comes from his experience with an adversary named Pherson.
Reviewers have referred to Ex Machina as "West Wing meets The Rocketeer". I can't fully comment on this, since I've never seen either of those (I know, I know, The West Wing is really good; it's on my list), but the meaning is true. This book interestingly weaves together politics and superheroics; often, the exploits of the Great Machine and the political work of Mitchell Hundred are fairly separate. But the fact that the Machine and Hundred are one person forces him to tie the two together. Since people know that Hundred is the Great Machine, he cannot do anything as the Machine that goes against his politics. Though that would be a bigger problem if he as Hundred didn't have to continually worry about the fallout from the decisions he makes as mayor (such as presiding over a gay marriage).
Ex Machina has a planned ending, but it has not yet reached it yet. I am also behind, since I am a trade-waiter (for non-comic book fans out there, trade paperbacks are the bound collections of issues that are available in mainstream bookstores in addition to comic book stores; people who wait for the trade paperbacks to come out, as opposed to buying individual issues, are known as trade-waiters). Therefore, since I don't have the whole story, I will not go in depth into the book's themes. As of right now, the book seems to be about the political divide in America as well as a realistic look at the superhero genre.
Up next: Back to the real world...
Showing posts with label Brian K. Vaughan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brian K. Vaughan. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Brian K. Vaughan: Runaways
Runaways was the first Vaughan book that I read, and is one of the first comic books that I read regularly. It was recommended by a friend who has been a substantial influence on my taste in film and television. The story revolves around a group of teenagers (and one or two preteens) who make the shocking discovery that their parents are a group of powerful supervillains. Each teen has their own superpower or skill, and they vow to use their abilities to right the wrongs that their parents have committed.
Personally, I found this idea fantastic from the very first time I heard it, but I can understand how the premise can but off-putting, especially since regular teenage dramas can end up being awful. Fortunately, Vaughan is a very competent writer who not only knows how to write convincing adolescent dialogue, but knows how to handle high-concept premises. The characters act like kids their age would; they bicker, they defy authority (a central theme), they can sometimes be slaves to their hormones (but this never gets overly sappy), they are brash (causing them to make lots of mistakes) and they try to hide certain aspects of themselves that they do not like.
The central theme of the book is that authority should always be questioned. Certain characters are more counter-cultural than others, such as the misfit socialist Gert who is gung ho about opposing her parents and goth Nico who is a little more wary to take on her parents, but is still willing step outside of cultural norms to do her own thing. But there are a few who need some convincing; Chase dislikes his abusive parents, but his role as a lacrosse player has given him a fairly cushy life at the top of the social food chain. Sort of hippie Karolina strives for normality, and has a tougher journey than most of the other runaways, since there is so much about herself she finds abnormal. Preteen Molly is too young to question authority on her own, and needs the other runaways to convince her to go along with them (I'm surprised that Vaughan never fully explored the idea that no one, not even the runaways, has all the answers). And Alex is kind of caught in the middle; he is a gamer who occasionally argues with his parents over internet issues, but it's likely that he has never questioned adults to the degree that Gert or Nico had. But when the opportunity to become a real leader, he jumps at the chance. These are just the original runaways, but all new recruits have some sort of issue with adults.
It is not just the parents of the runaways who let them down, but all sorts of adults (including bona fide superheroes, which I will slightly touch on later). The idea that all adults are out to get you, an idea held by many teenagers, is nearly a reality for the runaways, and vastly influences their outlook on life. The runaways are the countercultural opposites to the the Young Avengers, Marvel's other popular teen team, who tend to idolize the adults in their life (except for Stature, who claims that she planned on joining the runaways before she learned about the Young Avengers). Whereas the Young Avengers represent more clean-cut (on the surface at least; even the most normal-looking kids have their demons, after all) teenager, the runaways are the outcasts who may be a little too smart for their own good.
Of the three Vaughan books I'm looking at, Runaways is the only one that takes place in an established universe (Marvel's Earth-616). This has both benefits and detriments. Though the runaways tend to stay in their little corner of the Marvel Universe (they live in Los Angeles, whereas most Marvel heroes live in New York City), when they do interact with other Marvel characters, Vaughan's themes can be applied to well-established characters. It is an interesting take on superhero stories when we see the runaways opposing major superheros like Spider-Man and Iron Man, due to their mistrust of adults. Of course, Runaways fans unfamiliar with these characters may not get the full experience of the story. Along these lines, Vaughan also has to deal with continuity. Like I said, the runaways do tend to stay removed from most big stories, but they couldn't escape the Civil War or the Secret Invasion (both times pairing up with the Young Avengers, who are almost as awesome as the runaways; hopefully their series will return soon). The result of the Civil War has made life even more difficult for the runaways, forcing certain aspects of the story to change.
Fortunately, more often than not, Vaughan is able to use the setting of Runaways to his advantage, and effectively spins a compelling story of cynical kids learning how to handle themselves in a somewhat cruel world (it's not as dark as I just made it sound, but this is certainly not a cheery story).
Up next: Superhero for mayor...
Personally, I found this idea fantastic from the very first time I heard it, but I can understand how the premise can but off-putting, especially since regular teenage dramas can end up being awful. Fortunately, Vaughan is a very competent writer who not only knows how to write convincing adolescent dialogue, but knows how to handle high-concept premises. The characters act like kids their age would; they bicker, they defy authority (a central theme), they can sometimes be slaves to their hormones (but this never gets overly sappy), they are brash (causing them to make lots of mistakes) and they try to hide certain aspects of themselves that they do not like.
The central theme of the book is that authority should always be questioned. Certain characters are more counter-cultural than others, such as the misfit socialist Gert who is gung ho about opposing her parents and goth Nico who is a little more wary to take on her parents, but is still willing step outside of cultural norms to do her own thing. But there are a few who need some convincing; Chase dislikes his abusive parents, but his role as a lacrosse player has given him a fairly cushy life at the top of the social food chain. Sort of hippie Karolina strives for normality, and has a tougher journey than most of the other runaways, since there is so much about herself she finds abnormal. Preteen Molly is too young to question authority on her own, and needs the other runaways to convince her to go along with them (I'm surprised that Vaughan never fully explored the idea that no one, not even the runaways, has all the answers). And Alex is kind of caught in the middle; he is a gamer who occasionally argues with his parents over internet issues, but it's likely that he has never questioned adults to the degree that Gert or Nico had. But when the opportunity to become a real leader, he jumps at the chance. These are just the original runaways, but all new recruits have some sort of issue with adults.
It is not just the parents of the runaways who let them down, but all sorts of adults (including bona fide superheroes, which I will slightly touch on later). The idea that all adults are out to get you, an idea held by many teenagers, is nearly a reality for the runaways, and vastly influences their outlook on life. The runaways are the countercultural opposites to the the Young Avengers, Marvel's other popular teen team, who tend to idolize the adults in their life (except for Stature, who claims that she planned on joining the runaways before she learned about the Young Avengers). Whereas the Young Avengers represent more clean-cut (on the surface at least; even the most normal-looking kids have their demons, after all) teenager, the runaways are the outcasts who may be a little too smart for their own good.
Of the three Vaughan books I'm looking at, Runaways is the only one that takes place in an established universe (Marvel's Earth-616). This has both benefits and detriments. Though the runaways tend to stay in their little corner of the Marvel Universe (they live in Los Angeles, whereas most Marvel heroes live in New York City), when they do interact with other Marvel characters, Vaughan's themes can be applied to well-established characters. It is an interesting take on superhero stories when we see the runaways opposing major superheros like Spider-Man and Iron Man, due to their mistrust of adults. Of course, Runaways fans unfamiliar with these characters may not get the full experience of the story. Along these lines, Vaughan also has to deal with continuity. Like I said, the runaways do tend to stay removed from most big stories, but they couldn't escape the Civil War or the Secret Invasion (both times pairing up with the Young Avengers, who are almost as awesome as the runaways; hopefully their series will return soon). The result of the Civil War has made life even more difficult for the runaways, forcing certain aspects of the story to change.
Fortunately, more often than not, Vaughan is able to use the setting of Runaways to his advantage, and effectively spins a compelling story of cynical kids learning how to handle themselves in a somewhat cruel world (it's not as dark as I just made it sound, but this is certainly not a cheery story).
Up next: Superhero for mayor...
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Brian K. Vaughan: Y: The Last Man
I'm sure that there has been a time in every (heterosexual) man's life when he has wished that he was the last man on Earth, so that chasing after women would be infinitely easier. Brian K. Vaughan thinks so, and thus is the basis for Y: The Last Man, the story of Yorick Brown, the last man on Earth.
Y: The Last Man may be a comic book, but it is definitely worthy of literary analysis. There was actually an article in the Chicago Tribune yesterday about how more and more comic books are achieving the status of literature, and Y is full of themes, excellent characterization and plenty of social commentary. The story begins with a horrible and seemingly unexplainable event: with one exception, every male on the planet suddenly and violently dies. The only survivor, Yorick Brown, is a 22-year-old amateur escape artist. He is an average man; he is thin but not overtly muscular, has a sense of humor that not everyone gets and is reasonably good-looking. He was on the phone with his girlfriend, who was in Australia on an anthropology trip, and was about to propose to her when the incident occurred. The phone went dead before he could finish his question, and this "inconvenience" regarding the phone was the first of very many setbacks.
With the instantaneous loss of 3 billion people, things are naturally going to go to hell. But even worse, these 3 billion people are the ones more likely to work in blue collar industrial jobs. More men than women (in America at least) work at power companies, and this results in losses of electricity across the country. And not only power, but the food industry crashes, cars driven by dead men are backed up on the freeways and the economy crashed (ok, so men also dominate white collar jobs). This is not exactly what we had in mind when we thought of what it would be like to be the last man.
Yorick's mother is a Congresswoman, and she introduces him to a special agent, known only as 355, to protect him (more on that in a second) and a noted geneticist, Dr. Allison Mann, who will study him to determine why he and his male pet monkey (the event wiped out every mammal with a Y chromosome, including Y-carrying sperm) were the only survivors. The trio was going to go from Washington, D.C. to Boston to go to Mann's lab, but are forced to head to California to go to her secondary lab when the first is burned down. As I said, Yorick needs protection, and the people he needs protecting from burned down the lab.
In the wake of the "gendercide", an organization called the Daughters of the Amazon rose up, believing that Gaia finally cleansed the male "scourge" from herself. They travel the country tearing down the shrines built to honor the dead loved ones, attacking male impersonators who make money by, um, servicing the needs of women, and hording rare food items. When they learn that a man has survived the purge, they make it their mission to complete the work of Gaia. Furthermore, a group of Israeli soldiers are tracking Yorick down in order to preserve the Jewish people. They fear that if Israel's enemies can repopulate first, the Jews will finally be eradicated. Their fears engender terrorist tactics in their pursuit of Yorick that put the lives of his friends at risk.
On Yorick's journey, he encounters various reactions to the unmanned world, which serve as reflections of the way the our world works. For example, when Yorick impregnates a woman he meets in an abandoned Catholic church, a group of nuns descend upon her, believing that her baby is the Messiah. The Church has been in shambles without men, since the Pope cannot be a woman. When the baby is born female (remember, all Y sperm died too), they abandon her. There is also a story taking place in a town with functioning utilities. The twist is that the town is populated by ex-cons who learned how to work factories while they were incarcerated. These "dregs of society" are functioning better than the "normal" people. And these are just the stories that take place in the US. Eventually, Yorick's journey takes him across the world, where we see how various other nations have coped with being the last generation of humans. Some countries have descended into drug use to dull the pain, while others have learned to adapt.
I'm not sure if this was a theme that Vaughan intended, but one thing that I pulled from this story is the seemingly paradoxical nature of men. One of the explanations given for the gendercide (and the one that I adhere to) references the idea that men may be obsolete, since in the age of test tube babies and clones, all women need to continue the human race is sperm. However, if there were no men, where would new sperm come from? Furthermore, we see a world that is at first torn apart, but then learns to cope with the absence of one of the genders. And finally, as a character points out, in a story about a world full of women, the lead character is still a man.
Up next: Defy authority...
Y: The Last Man may be a comic book, but it is definitely worthy of literary analysis. There was actually an article in the Chicago Tribune yesterday about how more and more comic books are achieving the status of literature, and Y is full of themes, excellent characterization and plenty of social commentary. The story begins with a horrible and seemingly unexplainable event: with one exception, every male on the planet suddenly and violently dies. The only survivor, Yorick Brown, is a 22-year-old amateur escape artist. He is an average man; he is thin but not overtly muscular, has a sense of humor that not everyone gets and is reasonably good-looking. He was on the phone with his girlfriend, who was in Australia on an anthropology trip, and was about to propose to her when the incident occurred. The phone went dead before he could finish his question, and this "inconvenience" regarding the phone was the first of very many setbacks.
With the instantaneous loss of 3 billion people, things are naturally going to go to hell. But even worse, these 3 billion people are the ones more likely to work in blue collar industrial jobs. More men than women (in America at least) work at power companies, and this results in losses of electricity across the country. And not only power, but the food industry crashes, cars driven by dead men are backed up on the freeways and the economy crashed (ok, so men also dominate white collar jobs). This is not exactly what we had in mind when we thought of what it would be like to be the last man.
Yorick's mother is a Congresswoman, and she introduces him to a special agent, known only as 355, to protect him (more on that in a second) and a noted geneticist, Dr. Allison Mann, who will study him to determine why he and his male pet monkey (the event wiped out every mammal with a Y chromosome, including Y-carrying sperm) were the only survivors. The trio was going to go from Washington, D.C. to Boston to go to Mann's lab, but are forced to head to California to go to her secondary lab when the first is burned down. As I said, Yorick needs protection, and the people he needs protecting from burned down the lab.
In the wake of the "gendercide", an organization called the Daughters of the Amazon rose up, believing that Gaia finally cleansed the male "scourge" from herself. They travel the country tearing down the shrines built to honor the dead loved ones, attacking male impersonators who make money by, um, servicing the needs of women, and hording rare food items. When they learn that a man has survived the purge, they make it their mission to complete the work of Gaia. Furthermore, a group of Israeli soldiers are tracking Yorick down in order to preserve the Jewish people. They fear that if Israel's enemies can repopulate first, the Jews will finally be eradicated. Their fears engender terrorist tactics in their pursuit of Yorick that put the lives of his friends at risk.
On Yorick's journey, he encounters various reactions to the unmanned world, which serve as reflections of the way the our world works. For example, when Yorick impregnates a woman he meets in an abandoned Catholic church, a group of nuns descend upon her, believing that her baby is the Messiah. The Church has been in shambles without men, since the Pope cannot be a woman. When the baby is born female (remember, all Y sperm died too), they abandon her. There is also a story taking place in a town with functioning utilities. The twist is that the town is populated by ex-cons who learned how to work factories while they were incarcerated. These "dregs of society" are functioning better than the "normal" people. And these are just the stories that take place in the US. Eventually, Yorick's journey takes him across the world, where we see how various other nations have coped with being the last generation of humans. Some countries have descended into drug use to dull the pain, while others have learned to adapt.
I'm not sure if this was a theme that Vaughan intended, but one thing that I pulled from this story is the seemingly paradoxical nature of men. One of the explanations given for the gendercide (and the one that I adhere to) references the idea that men may be obsolete, since in the age of test tube babies and clones, all women need to continue the human race is sperm. However, if there were no men, where would new sperm come from? Furthermore, we see a world that is at first torn apart, but then learns to cope with the absence of one of the genders. And finally, as a character points out, in a story about a world full of women, the lead character is still a man.
Up next: Defy authority...
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