Big wheels keep on turnin', and little blogs keep on bloggin'!
In hot anticipation of the convention season, ItsJustSomeRandomGuy of youtube fame has made a couple videos promoting C2E2, the new Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo! Check 'em out:
To see more videos, check out his channel, but for now, I suggest you stick around for a while as we take a gander at
Ex Machina vol. 2: Tag
by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Gay marriage and alien graffiti start mucking up NYC Mayor Mitchell Hundred's office! See the first volume here. The second volume is named "Tag," because numerous tags show up in the city that bear a strong resemblance to the artifact that gave the Mayor his powers.
WHAT I LIKED: I love how the Mayor officiates gay marriage in the trade, since it's done in a humorous and personal yet serious and professional way. Top-notch, BKV. Now that he's established a real-world setting, he can run amuck with the kinda stuff that we read about in the newspaper.
I also love that another assassination attempt is taken on the Mayor, this time with an old-school bow and arrow. It's too much!
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The trade ends up being a murder mystery that delves into a few characters of Mitch's past. I don't really like it, because it ends up being really contrived, and unbelievable, especially in the tone that BKV's established. I came on the trade really strong, but finished really weakly, I'm sorry to say.
EXTRAS?: A few sketches from Tony Harris, and an introduction from the Wachowski Bros. Nothing really noteworthy.
FINAL THOUGHTS: I really wish the trade ended better, 'cause if it did, I'd be able to praise it. Solid dialogue, solid plotting, solid art. It's just that the murderer reveal mucks it all up, and makes everything else tougher to chew.
I'm giving it THREE Foam-Finger Freddies out of FIVE.
