Reading

I’ve started ploughing my way through Brian K Vaughan’s Ex Machina, a comic book series in which the world’s only superhero becomes New York City’s mayor in a post 9/11 America. An alternate history, political satire and down-to-earth superhero tale (well, as down-to-earth as you can get with a superhero), it’s smart, snappy and well-plotted. It’s easy, then, to see why Vaughan was made co-producer of Lost so that its flabby plot could be tightened up. (More on that here.)

Vaughan’s other big work is Y: The Last Man, a recently concluded graphic series following the only male to have survived a plague that wiped out all the rest. It’s an expensive business catching up on collected comic books; Ex Machina averages at about €15 per paperback of five issues. But it’s damned addictive. You can download a free PDF of Ex Machina #1 at DC’s website. And you can download Y: The Last Man’s first issue here.