The Ex Machina series has been, at every point, stingy with its distribution of information. Why did this one Mitchell Hundred guy (and his nemesis Pherson) get powers? Is someone pulling the strings? What is the end goal? But this stinginess has been basically okay, because the character and political interactions fill up a lot of time and entertainment. What is currently weirding me out, therefore, is how Ex Cathedra doesn’t really seem to fit any of the established patterns.

Honestly, it’s enough out of bounds that I wonder if I need to reread the book. It’s happened before with stuff this short, that if I’m just not all there on the day I read it, I have a bookfail. Anyhow, the majority of the book is taken up by Hundred’s acceptance of a requested audience with the pope, in Rome. So, there’s religious talk throughout, but less political than you’d expect. And the flashback scenes about Hundred’s career as the Great Machine, pre-politics, have no apparent tie-in with the rest of the story like I’m accustomed to seeing. On what I’m gonna call the bright side, it had the weirdest vision I think I’ve ever seen in a comic. The final one-shot storydid have nice character development, but the main plot has left me scratching my head.