DMZ #1-3

Genre action Author Brian Wood Publisher Vertigo External Links Official Vertigo Comics Website

DC's Vertigo imprint has a long-standing history of publishing high quality adult comics. These days, with books like The Alcoholic and Incognegro forthcoming, it seems like their new mission statement is to be as controversial as possible. Brian Wood's DMZ is the perfect example of such a controversial comic.

Imagine a nation where the state National Guard units have united and overthrown the United States government. What is left of the United States has been pushed onto Long Island. A hesitant cease-fire has been declared, with Manhattan island as the demilitarized zone. This is the premise for DMZ.

The protagonist of this book is Matty, an intern with a United States news service. He gets air-lifted to Manhattan along with a famous reporter named Fergusen. Their helicopters are ambushed and, as the first story stands, only Matty survives. He is alone in the middle of a war zone. He meets a resident named Zee who convinces him to tell the stories of the people still living in Manhattan. This sets up the ongoing series, and it looks very good.

For one thing, this comic blatantly references current news. A graffiti tag in the first issue reads "Every day is 9/11." Manhattan could easily be substituted for present day Baghadad. And we still don't know why the National Guard units revolted. What makes this story particularly interesting is that it's told from a journalist's perspective, which lends both objectivity and subjectivity to the story. Easily, this ongoing title could add its name to the long list of quality Vertigo titles.

Artistically, the book is strange. Writer Brian Wood does the art on a few select pages per issue. His style uses calculated quantities of negative space. For the rest of each issue, Italian artist Riccardo Burchielli takes over the art chores. His style is at once cartoon like and realistic. He handles characters' expressions and settings well enough. For one thing, Brian Wood, as a New York resident, apparently sends Burchielli photos of New York streets to add a level of realism. On the other hand, the cartoon aspect Burchielli's art doesn't bode well for the graphic violence common in DMZ. Brains and eyeballs fly out of heads, children cry in hospital beds with missing limbs, but it all comes across as slightly comic. The fact that the art changes each issue can also be a bit jarring.

Still, DMZ is an educated comic, a critique on present day issues hidden behind an intriguing story of a journalist in a war zone much too close to home. The first three issues serve as a decent entrance into this world. Easily, this could become another one of Vertigo's classic series.