7 of 15: “Ex Machina: Dirty Tricks” by Brian K. Vaughan
Sorry for the delay in posting this; I had it scheduled for 12:01 am, and instead saved it as a draft? Ah, well, I was tired from staying up for the Project Runway finale.
For those joining me on the 15/15/15 Project, book 7 was the graphic novel collection Ex Machina: Dirty Tricks.
I stopped reading the Ex Machina comic book monthly because the story moved too slowly for me. Even waiting for the graphic novel collection didn’t help here. Ex Machina is about Mitchell Hundred, who had an accident that enabled him to communicate with all machines. He used that to fight crime, then retired and ran for mayor of New York. This collection, the 8th in the series, is about a former fan of his who turned copycat. The art is provocative, and felt cheap and salacious. The story didn’t move the series forward in any significant way. This is the penultimate collection of the series. I will definitely buy the last book to see how it ends, but this one was disappointing.
What did you read, and what did you think of it?
April 23rd, 2010 at 2:30 pm
7 of 15 … Mere Christianity. I needed this book this day.
http://alwayschasingboys.blogspot.com/2010/04/7-of-15-but-i-am-tired.html
April 23rd, 2010 at 3:26 pm
I read David Lodge’s The British Museum is Falling Down. It’s primarily about how hard it is not to have children if you can’t use birth control. I liked it since it was very bookish.
http://pagesturned.blogspot.com/2010/04/david-lodges-british-museum-is-falling.html
April 23rd, 2010 at 4:15 pm
Here’s mine for the day:
http://churchyear.blogspot.com/2010/04/book-7-of-15-open-heart-open-home-by.html
And now I’m trying to read a book that I keep yelling at. Literary criticism. I should have known better.
Sorry yours didn’t turn out to be as good as you hoped; hope the finale makes up for it!
April 23rd, 2010 at 6:29 pm
A dark, peculiar little fairy tale: http://www.newcenturyreading.com/2010/04/the-1515-projectday-7.html
I was very happy with the PR results.
April 23rd, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Amy, I was also v. happy with the PR finale, as was my watching group. We cheered when the person who came in 3rd was auf’d, and again when the winner was named.
April 23rd, 2010 at 10:44 pm
I agree with the Ex Machina assessment. As a sidenote on the art, the illustrator of Ex Machina lays out most of his panels by using friends to stage them in real life, snapping a picture, and then drawing over that picture. It’s not an uncommon technique, but I’ve always thought it was a kind of lame way to go about things. That combined with the fact that I’ve had my fill of ‘realistic super hero’ books turned me off of Ex Machina pretty quick.
April 24th, 2010 at 7:32 am
My 7th book was a good read although I had to do it very quickly in very little time! Still managed it though!
http://beanbagtales.blogspot.com/2010/04/book-7-on-chesil-beach.html
April 24th, 2010 at 7:50 am
And happy to see #2 get his comeuppance. What an ego.