Ex Machina (comic book)

Ex Machina
Cover art for Ex Machina Vol. 1: The First Hundred Days Art by Tony Harris
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics/Wildstorm
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Genre	Superhero, political drama
Publication date	August 2004 to August 2010
Number of issues	50 (plus 4 specials)
Main character(s)	Mitchell Hundred Rick Bradbury Ivan "Kremlin" Tereshkov Dave Wylie
Creative team
Writer(s)	Brian K. Vaughan (Garth Ennis for 2 pages in issue #40)
Penciller(s)	Tony Harris (Chris Sprouse (Ex Machina Special #1-2)) John Paul Leon (Ex Machina Special #3-4, Jim Lee for 2 pages in issue #40)
Inker(s)	Tom Feister (#1-26) Jim Clark (#27-46) Tony Harris(#47-50) Karl Story (Ex Machina Special #1-2)
Colorist(s)	JD Mettler
Collected editions
The First Hundred Days
Tag
Fact v. Fiction
March to War
Smoke Smoke
Power Down
Ex Cathedra
Dirty Tricks
Ring out the Old
Term Limits

Ex Machina is an American creator-owned comic book series created by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris, and published by DC Comics under the Wildstorm imprint.

The series details the life of Mitchell Hundred (also known as The Great Machine), the world's first and only superhero, who, in the wake of his actions on 9/11, is elected Mayor of New York City. The story is set during Hundred's term in office, and interwoven with flashbacks to his past as the Great Machine. Through this, the series explores both the political situations Hundred finds himself in, and the mysteries surrounding his superpowers.

Ex Machina launched in 2004 as part of DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. The series ended in August 2010 with issue fifty.

The title of the comic comes from the Latin phrase 'deus ex machina', and is also a reference to Hundred's superhero persona, the Great Machine, in that he is now an 'ex-Machine'. In the first issue, Mitchell explains that he chose the name "Great Machine" based on a quote about society by Thomas Jefferson. Accordingly, one of the series' recurring themes is the tendency of citizens to become overly reliant on their government and constantly expect it to save them.

Vaughan has said that the comic was "born out of my anger with what passes for our current political leadership (on both sides of the aisle)".

Vaughan has admitted seeing the series as a means to explore real-world contemporary politics as well, but states that discussing themes overtly is not something he prefers.

Ex Machina has been collected in the following trade paperbacks:

In addition, the series is being released in deluxe hardcovers, the first of which was released on July 15, 2008.

Ex Machina won the 2005 Eisner Award for Best New Series.