DMZ Vol. 4 – Friendly Fire

DMZ Vol. 4 - Friendly Fire
By Brian Wood, Riccardo Burchielli

And so we come to the fourth volume of Brian Wood’s critically-acclaimed series set in a New York City torn apart by the second American Civil War.

As I mentioned when I started the series, DMZ is a concept rife with unrealized potential, a fantastic premise marred by little niggles that add up.

But it gets better. Stories like this one are a part of the reason why.

This volume deals with what appears to be an unprovoked massacre of civilians by U.S. soldiers. But was it?

Wood seems to be hitting his stride here. Strong story well told, some good characterization, and delving into politics without being heavy-handed about X belief being Wrong and Y belief being Right. That last part is pretty huge, because this entire SERIES is really just an excuse for him to explore political issues and offer entertainment-based commentary on America's adventures overseas. That's a tough tightrope to walk. Too heavy-handed and you run the risk of alienating readers and letting your message get in the way of the story, too soft a touch and you sap the impact from the hot-button issues you're tackling.

Here, he strikes a great balance.

The cause of the civilian massacre at the root of the story is left ambiguous, and while we don't root for the military figures (no surprise there, given the tone of this book), we're not entirely sure they weren't justified in seeing danger. Wood trusts the reader to fill in the blanks. Presented this way, our own biases can allow different people to see the story in markedly different ways. That is, in my opinion, a positive.

The art is a big step up here, too ... of course, I'm talking about a fill-in artist rather than the series regular, so maybe saying the art took a step up is an insult. But it's true, I like the fill-in artist far more than the main artist. Like, a lot more.

The truth is, I began to grow weary of DMZ by the third volume. I though about bailing out on the series, about cutting my losses and walking away, but you know what? This won me over. I'll stick around. I'll keep reading. Maybe -- hopefully -- things continue on their upward path and we see DMZ become what I think it can be. Something awesome.

An earlier version of this review was originally posted at IMWAN.com and was also featured at Popthought.com.

Read my regular, everything-and-anything (usually on writing and music) blog right over here.

DMZ Vol. 3 - Public Works

DMZ Vol. 3 - Public Works
By Brian Wood, Riccardo Burchielli

Let's cut right to the chase: DMZ continues to improve. Public Works gives us a more focused story than anything that has come before, much more clear and direct than the somewhat scattered, uneven initial arcs of this filled-with-potential series. The story focuses on a (very, very, very) thinly veiled Halliburton + Blackwater corporation that is, of course, mustache-twirling eeeeeeevil.

Somehow, though, Wood manages to not come across as too heavy-handed. Quite the feat.

Our protagonist, Matty, continues to be barely likable, which is usually death for a lead character, and I continue to long for a more meaningful exploration of the people living in the DMZ, but Public Works offers a solid story and the best sense of place I've seen so far in this series. It grapples with questions of corruption and terrorism, and puts the main character in some tough situations that struggle with issues of morality, and right and wrong.

Yes, yes, all obvious questions and themes from a series blatantly trying to offer commentary on America's recent "adventures" in the Middle East, but I'm not going to knock the guy for exploring such thematic material as long as the end result is a quality read. And this one was.

An earlier version of this review was originally posted at IMWAN.com and was also featured at Popthought.com.

Read my regular, everything-and-anything (usually on writing and music) blog right over here.

DMZ Vol. 2 - Body of a Journalist

DMZ Vol. 2 - Body of a Journalist
By Brian Wood, Riccardo Burchielli

Though still not living up to the promise of the premise, Volume 2 of the Brian Wood/Riccardo Burchielli Vertigo series DMZ is a step up from the first, offering a clearer focus, better stories and a stronger exploration of the series’ cool hook.

But I’m not yet totally sold. I still can’t help but feel that Wood & Co aren’t quite there. The characters are shallower than an inflatable kiddie pool – I’ve spent 12 issues with Matty Roth and Zee, and feel like I barely know them – and the dialogue lacks life and punch. Matty is frustrated with the war, but I don’t feel any real humanity or emotion there, just F bombs. Our window into who these people are is a string of profanities without character or personality. Sorry, but “fuck!” and “aww fuck!” and “fuck this shit!” does not make for good characterization. Fine if you’re playing a Grand Theft Auto game, not so fine if you’re reading a work that attempts to say something larger than, “Fuck!”

Speaking of that profanity, it struck me while reading this volume that the profanity and occasional graphic violence is the only reason this is a Vertigo title – and neither are necessarily vital to the story. Well, the graphic violence is, arguably, but that’s assuming Wood wants to highlight the plight of civilians caught in the hell of war. Ostensibly that’s what he wants to do, but that rarely comes across in the story. When it does, great, but things are spotty in that regard. Wood needs to give his world room to breath. The segments that feature Matty’s first person narration or the newsreel segments are all too brief, because they are exactly what we need. They strike a great tone and give us the insight into the world and characters of DMZ. They set mood and atmosphere, offer context, and get us into the heads of the people in the story. We need MORE of that! As for the profanity, I feel like it’s there for its own sake. Unlike the incredibly witty-yet-profane dialogue of Brian K. Vaughn’s Y: The Last Man or the character-heavy-yet-profane language of Brian Azzarello’s 100 Bullets, the F bombs add very little to this book.

Hey, great, it’s Vertigo, which means you can get away with this stuff ... but if it’s not adding anything to the characters or story, drop it.

And it’s not adding anything to the characters or story.

Still, if I’m bitching, don’t let that be an indication that I didn’t enjoy this. I did. The second volume of DMZ was a big step up from the first. There is a good story arc here centering on corruption, propaganda, and manipulating the media to influence public opinion. Some very solid themes that could have used more exploitation, but nonetheless were enjoyable to read. We’ve got some new characters, political intrigue, betrayals and double-crossings, and the sense that something larger is at work. We're starting to tap into the series’ potential.

I like that. I like that especially because I hate to see great potential go to waste.

An earlier version of this review was originally posted at IMWAN.com and was also featured at Popthought.com.

Read my regular, everything-and-anything (usually on writing and music) blog right over here.

DMZ Vol. 1 - On The Ground

DMZ Vol. 1 - On The Ground
By Brian Wood, Riccardo Burchielli

You know when all the parts of a machine look great, but when you put them together something just doesn't click? For me that was the first volume of Brian Wood's cult favorite DMZ . I think I was supposed to like this more than I did.

After all, what’s not to like? The premise is right up my alley. America at war with itself. New York an island in the midst of the war. The survivors, isolated in the city, have hacked out bits and pieces of a society – though anarchy all too often still reigns supreme. A young journalist is in the middle of it all, documenting the war in the midst of New York City and what that conflict is doing to the civilians there.

That's the stuff right there, folks. Exactly the sort of thing I’d like to read. So why did the first volume leave me wondering if I wanted to keep reading?

Because it failed to deliver on all that promise.

For all the praise Wood gets for this supposed love letter to New York City, I rarely got the sense of place I should have felt. One should be immersed in the city, living it and breathing it and feeling it, yet that sense of being there was inconsistent. When they nail it, they nail it – but they don’t always nail it. That's a pretty huge failing for a series of this type, seeing as it leans so heavily on location.

Maybe it’s the art. Riccardo Burchielli’s style does not appeal to me, but that’s something I can live with (even if all the characters are as ugly as sin). What I can’t live with is rough storytelling. Burchielli draws a great cityscape, but his panel-to-panel work just isn’t as clear and direct as it should be. It’s not that I felt lost, it’s just that it’s very, very uneven; a spotty sense of composition, totally arbitrary use of unusual angles, and so on. A case of style over substance doing the story a disservice.

It doesn’t help that the coloring is so damn muddy. Everything is washed out in a murky reddish hue, so few things really pop from the page. I understand the color choices and why they were made, but this book really could have used more contrast in that regard. Even if you want a bleak, war-torn near future, in order for it to really have impact you've got to have something cleaner to set next to it. Maybe this is why the issue set in Central Park during the winter looked best. It offered an excellent contract with the overall look of the series.

So what we're left with is the writing carrying the load. Well, it does what it needs to do, but not much more. Wood’s writing was fine. Not extraordinary, a bit problematic here and there, at times very good, but overall it didn’t grab my bag. Quick dialogue and an attempt at a "hip" and "edgy" tone that doesn't always ring true.

I’m hoping this stuff improves, because there is a lot of potential in the premise of this series.

Which is what it boils down to for me. The premise. The single strongest thing about this book, and the one thing that will get me to read the second volume.

An earlier version of this review was originally posted at IMWAN.com and was also featured at Popthought.com.

Read my regular, everything-and-anything (usually on writing and music) blog right over here.