Brian K. Vaughan has four other high-concept comics on the market. We got to know him by asking a question related to each.

EX MACHINA

Concept: A superhero stops one of the planes on 9/11 and gets elected mayor of New York City.

Incidentally: It’s intended to cover Mayor Mitchell Hundred’s four-year term, which would take about 50 issues. The 23rd issue is due in stores today ($2.99, WildStorm).

Question: Have you ever considered running for office?

Answer: "I suppose I have, when I was younger. I have a passion for politics, but I vote too lazy, and I have too many skeletons in my closet to really consider a run."

Y: THE LAST MAN

Concept: A plague kills every male mammal on Earth except Gen-Y slacker Yorick Brown and his pet monkey, Ampersand.

Incidentally: The series will end in a year when the 60th issue is released. The 49th came out last week ($2.99, Vertigo).

Question: If you woke up tomorrow and were the last man on Earth, what would your first move be?

Answer: "I think I’d just jump off a bridge. Not that I couldn’t stand to be around a bunch of women, but I don’t have the fortitude Yorick has. It would be a very hard place to live. And women are much more suited for the apocalypse than us poor men are."

RUNAWAYS

Answer: "Just once, and I didn’t actually run away. I left a note that I ran away, and then I just hid behind a couch and waited with anticipation and excitement for my family to freak out, and they didn’t care at all. So think I waited three hours before I came out."

THE ESCAPISTS

Concept: Three comic creators from Cleveland revive the Escapist, the superhero from Michael Chabon’s Pulitzer-winning novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.

Incidentally: The third of six issues is due in stores today ($2.99, Dark Horse).

Question: You grew up in Cleveland. Does it rock as much as Drew Carey would have us believe?

Answer: "Under no circumstances. It doesn’t even rock a little. I love Cleveland for a lot of different reasons, but not for the degree to which it rocks."