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http://www.chud.com/index.php?type=thor&id=5112Brian Wood Packs Heat and Heads for the “DMZ”
By Russell Paulette
It’s hard not to see Brian Wood’s work as activist. Channel Zero, his premiere graphic novel, was a book that wore its anti-corporate heart on its sleeve, infusing each panel with satirical propaganda slogans intended to overwhelm the reader with an ironic commentary on our own media. What it lacked, however, was a strong narrative through-line, and in the years since—on books like the exceptional Couscous Express, the delightful Pounded, and the curiously uneven-but-still-plenty-amazing Demo—Wood has shown a knack for building an effective story spine, and giving his narrative a strong push.
With the first issue of his new Vertigo ongoing, DMZ, he combines some of that anti-corporate rabble-rousing, with his burgeoning sense of narrative design, and come up with a compelling book that has an equally compelling hook. Seems, in this slightly futuristic world, a secessionist group calling themselves the Free States have broken off from the USA and formed their own country, maintaining an open war with Manhattan serving as the eponymous dividing line. Matthew Roth, a young, eager undergratuate photography student has pulled strings to be embedded with a military unit traveling into Manhattan—only the worst happens, his military group is shot out of the skies and killed, and he has to defend himself on the mean streets of war-torn New York. While there, he falls into a hostile friendship with a young, punk girl, who begins to give him native view on the island, teaching him not to believe everything he hears on the news.
There’s a much easier narrative through-line on which to hang your hat with this book—Roth’s journey through war-torn Manhattan gives us a viable, naïve protagonist whose outlook on things is virtually our own. Because of the nature of the type of story that is, we can expect his outlook—and, thus, our own—to be radically shaken by the events of the book, and we can be led right along with him into a world of moral uncertainty and disbelief. Because of the construction, Wood has successfully given us the right kind of vehicle for his social commentary and, as such, is going to make some of the activist arguments easier to swallow. Make no mistake—this book obviously has an agenda, but it also seems to have a compelling story through which to proffer the agenda.
Artwise, Riccardo Burchielli seems to handle the bulk of the duties, and does an admirable job. His work reminds me of a cross between a hyper-detailed artist like Colin “Losers and Point Blank” Wilson, and a looser, expressionist Pia “Y the Last Man” Guerra. So, in a sense, it’s accessible while also maintaining a strong verisimilitude and, because of that, fits the tone rather well. Wood is also credited as an artist—and whether that’s layouts or inking is unclear. The first few pages offer a framing sequence, which strongly resembles his Zero artwork, so at least that discernibly carries his signature.
All in all, it’s a promising start—and one that is infused with all the strengths one would expect from the premise and the creative team. Time will tell if some of Wood’s weaknesses will start to rear their heads, but for now, it’s a good first issue, and one that everyone should check out, regardless of agenda.
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