For the new season of Storied Arcs, Mike and Alex strap on their jetpacks and soar into the sky as they get ready to discuss Ex Machina by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris, originally published by DC under the Wildstorm imprint beginning in 2004 before moving over to the Vertigo imprint and then eventually to the Black Label imprint. The guys start off by giving the CliffsNotes of the CliffsNotes about the history of Wildstorm, from its founding as a studio by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi as part of the creation of Image Comics in 1992 to its sale to DC Comics in 1998-1999, and how all of that affects where the book ends up when imprints get shuttered and shifted. Then they give you some background on the creative team behind the book, mainly focusing on artist Tony Harris, inkers Tom Feister and Jim Clark, and colorist JD Mettler (we covered writer Brian K. Vaughan and letterer Jared Fletcher way back in the very first episode of this show while previewing Paper Girls). The guys also give a spoiler-free preview of Ex Machina, including a content warning for some things presented in the comic that were meant to be provocative 20 years ago and remain provocative today, but perhaps for different reasons now. All the more to discuss when we dive deep into the story.
There are many ways to find and read Ex Machina (the series is 50 issues plus 4 specials), and we’ve decided to use the Deluxe Editions as our guide. The issue breakdown is as such:
Deluxe Edition Volume 1: issues #1-11
Deluxe Edition Volume 2: issues #12-20, specials #1-2
Deluxe Edition Volume 3: issues #21-29, special #3
Deluxe Edition Volume 4: issues #30-40
Deluxe Edition Volume 5: issues #41-50, special #4
We can’t to get into our discussion, so go read Ex Machina Deluxe Edition Volume 1 (issues #1-11) and join us back here next week!
