DMZ: A Review

Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchiell have created a stark, all too believable future America torn apart by civil war and corporate war-profiteering. The ongoing monthly comic DMZ, published by the Vertigo imprint of DC, follows photojournalist Matthew Roth through the heart of New York City, the same metropolis that has played backdrop to countless other conflicts in the comic book world. I’d initially overlooked what, to my mind, was yet another photojournalist at large in a comic book Big Apple.

Now, with the series well underway (the third graphic novel having come out in trade earlier this month) I can confirm that I had overlooked something unbelievably profound. DMZ is filled with consistently compelling stories in a way that finely tunes this standard comic trope into a exciting and action-packed meditation on the reality of modern warfare. Journalistic protagonists have been zipping around NYC in one form or another since Peter Parker picked up a camera, but DMZ has more in common with war and crime comics than the standard superhero fare or Vertigo’s occultic horror tales and post-modern fables.

DMZ begins after Midwestern militia groups revolt against their local governments in protest of the ongoing conflicts overseas. With the National Guard out of the country, these revolts quickly become a full-scale second civil war with the conflict arising across the country and the militias taking control of New Jersey. NYC, nearly emptied of people, has become impossible for the US military to defend, while at the same time the Free State forces based in New Jersey find themselves unable to move beyond their armed outpost at the mouth of the New Jersey tunnel. As a result, the entire city alternates between full-scale urban conflict and periods of cease-fire while uneasy diplomatic proceedings continue.

As the series opens, Matthew Roth discovers that his photo tech intern position with veteran reporter Viktor Ferguson’s crew means he’s suddenly on a helicopter flight into the heart of Manhattan. But within moments of arriving, everything turns to shit, Black Hawk Down-style. With Free State forces and the locals themselves attacking the helicopter, Matty flees just trying to survive. He befriends Zee Hernadez, a medical student who turned into a freelance medic by staying behind rather than attempt to flee during the botched evacuation of NYC.

The storyline is textured, and the war-torn city itself is as much a character as Matty or Zee. It helps that Brian Wood knows his city, and each block has its own personality, every issue showcases a different aspect of the city’s character.

The most recent issue I’ve picked up, entitled ‘Decade Later’ (#23, Nov. 07), showcases Brian Wood’s writing at its best. It follows the life of a graffiti artist from his first exposure to the subways as a kid before the second civil war up through they years until he’s caught up in the constant territorial disputes between the locals and the military seeking to secure the area. As a single issue, it is a powerful demonstration of the creative power of the DMZ team, and it only confirmed my decision to add this comic to my pull list down at the shop. Earlier story arcs cover Roth’s investigations into a corrupt private security corporation, his coverage of the trial of an army soldier for the slaughter of a 198 peaceful protesters, and the cover-up of his own situation, the lone member of the press loose in the field with only a cellphone to send in his stories.

This series isn’t explicitly for or against war, there’s no deeper political agenda here beyond simply exploring the horror of wartime violence on daily life. If there’s some over-arching thread here, it’s that war doesn’t happen in a field somewhere but on top of people’s homes, in city streets, in the parks and subways. The violence we see on the nightly news could just as easily occur here, in our midst, if things were just the slightest bit different. It’s entertaining, yes, but it’s also gritty, moving, and thought-provoking. I’ve always felt that on-going monthly comics need a year or so to flesh out before a reader can really make an informed decision about the series. So take a close look at the first dozen or so issues yourself, courtesy of the torrents and I suspect you’ll immediately understand why I added this title to my pull list.

Torrent: DMZ (1-13)