Let’s take things back to the year 2006, a simpler time when all we ever had to worry about was global terrorism, two massive and illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the end of personal liberty as we know it, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe was still a year away.
But hey, at least Americans were prospering (even though the Great Recession was starting to get underway) and the only deadly disease we had to worry about was E.Coli infected lettuce.
All joking aside, here’s a comic about the Second American Civil War and one of my favorite comic books of all time. Have fun!
Written by Brian WoodCover by: Brian Wood
Illustrated by Riccardo Burchielli and Brian Wood
Colored by Jeromy Cox
Lettered by Jared K. Fletcher
Welcome to the second Civil War. Manhattan is now a demilitarized zone, separating the United States of America and the Free States of America. Five years into the war, journalist Matty Roth arrives in Manhattan as an intern photographer-and soon becomes the only source of news from the DMZ.
“DMZ” Vol. 1 opens in New York City, where we find out through news broadcasts that the United States is embroiled in an all consuming civil war between the United States of America and a faction known as the Free States. At the moment, the two sides are in something of a stalemate in New York City with the Free States controlling New Jersey and the United States controlling Brooklyn and Queens. That leaves Manhattan between the two powers, acting as the Demilitarized Zone or “DMZ”. Unfortunately the island isn’t empty and is home nearly one hundred thousand people who are left behind to survive intermittent bombings, food shortages, and gang violence.
Into this hellhole steps Matty Roth, a photojournalist intern who only got the job because his father is a well connected news executive. Through no fault of his own, he winds up stranded in the middle of the DMZ and must survive the violent quagmire the place has become.
The writing on “DMZ” Vol. 1 comes courtesy of writer Brian Wood, who had previously been known for some very good independent work before writing this. While I am not the biggest fan of using the cliché of news broadcasts as exposition dumps, it’s something that really works here. The news source in question is a company called Liberty News, a not so thinly veiled analogue to Fox News. What makes it work is that the news itself is a major character of the book, it’s an organization that is very clearly on the side of the government and the information and language it shares with the public displays a very clear bias towards the soldiers of the American military.
Speaking of the military, Wood gives the reader a brutal and uncompromising look at warfare, the people who fight it, and the people who are just trying to survive. Whenever there are soldiers on the page they are presented as these bulky and imposing professionals who shoot first and ask questions later. What elevates “DMZ” Vol. 1 from just being a mindless anti war story is how Wood characterizes them. Sure, the soldiers are a bit trigger happy, but there’s a deeply implied history that many of these guys are acting the way they act because they know that if they don’t shoot first they’re dead. It’s a comic that is very critical of military action, but takes the time to understand why they act like the way they do.
But the real highlight of “DMZ” Vol. 1 is Matty Roth and the exploration of the Demilitarized Zone and what it has become. Right off the bat, Roth meets a medic named Zee who takes him under her wing and shows him around. The world that Brian Wood creates is a fascinating one. Sure, there’s blood and death and destruction everywhere, but there are also incredible stories of survival. Those left in the DMZ have turned it into an almost community filled with food growers, neighborhood militias, and even an art scene. The whole thing has an underground, almost subversive feel to it and the everyday struggle to survive is well researched and would probably be uncomfortably familiar to anyone who has actually lived through something like this.
Continued belowThe gritty realism continues with superb artwork by artist Riccardo Burchielli. Previously, Burchielli had made a name for himself over in his native Italy where he had worked for several comic book magazines, but “DMZ” is where he came roaring onto the American scene, and it was an impressive debut. His art takes the grime, blood, and horror of war and uses a very messy and almost ugly style of art to make the world of “DMZ” both harsh and beautiful. The level of detail in the background is fantastic. There isn’t a single wall, window, or surface that isn’t either covered in dirt, debris, blood, bullet holes, or graffiti and it elevates a good story into a great one. This commitment to the ugly nature of the conflict extends very naturally into his character work. Everyone from the soldiers, to the executives, to the trapped civilians looks tired and worn out and their clothing looks worn, faded, and in desperate need of a wash. You can almost smell the exhaustion, body odor, anger, and rot wafting out of a once great city.
It’s not to say that the art is perfect, Burchielli’s art does kind of fall flat with the facial expressions of the characters. It seems that everyone is only limited to being terrified, extremely angry, or grimly determined, but it almost doesn’t matter. Burchielli lays the horrors of war bare for the reader to see and it’s a style of art that is the perfect fit for the kind of story that “DMZ” wanted to tell.
“DMZ” Vol. 1 is a fantastic volume and, in my opinion, is one of Vertigo’s best titles. It was an uncompromising look at the fear and terror that a lot people were suffering through in the time it was written and it is a shining example of the amazing stories that could only come from the medium of comics. I cannot recommend this book enough.
