Ex Machina #20

Issue #20 brings the "March to War" arc to its conclusion with a cover by Tony Harris that places Mayor Mitchell Hundred in an unsettling spotlight — suited in dark jacket and red tie, he stands atop the stripes of an American flag while glowing circuit-board patterns swarm the background, fusing political power with technological unease. The low-angle perspective gives him a tense, almost embattled presence, as though the weight of the office — and something stranger — is pressing down from all sides. Brian K. Vaughan's Wildstorm Signature Series title continues to deliver one of 2006's most thought-provoking blends of superhero mythology and real-world civic drama.