Brian Wood’s DMZ Makes My Tits Hard.

I figured I’d throw together a couple unintelligent sentences regarding Brian Wood’s DMZ. I’ve been burning through the trade paperbacks in an effort to catch the conclusion as it drops onto stands this year. It’s been an addictive rush through a crumbling reality for the main protagonist. But no less addictive. Wood gives the world Matty Roth, and like a variety of other main protagonists I’ve fallen in love with, the dude is immensely flawed. Starting off as a young idealistic journalist thrust in way over his head, I’ve been given the privilege of watching him make one poor decision after the next.

Brian Wood doesn’t fucking flinch.

It’s lame to say, but DMZ fucking moves me. I vibrate when I’m flipping through the pages. I get goosebumps. The storyline – of a country divided, of a man with ideals corrupted in the pursuit of them, of the basic nature of people, hits home. It’s rooted in war and politics, but Matty Roth like every good character can resonate uncomfortably close with the person reading it. As I race through the pages, a feeling of foreboding comes over me, ’cause I don’t see a happy ending coming for Roth. I’m behind in the issues, so maybe I’m terribly wrong, but I don’t think I am.

Brian Wood doesn’t fucking flinch.

I know that with the ridiculous rapidity that I’m burning through the pages I’m sacrificing proper analysis. I try and stem the tide of my enthusiasm for finding out what happens next and break down prose and paneling. I can’t help myself though. That’s the beauty of the narrative: it’s a roller coaster ride stuffed to the gullet with intellect. As intelligent and incisive as Wood and artist Riccardo Burchielli are in their work, this is very much a mainline shot of adrenaline.

The shit is gripping.

In a life overrun with school, the only thing I’ve gone out of my way to indulge is this comic book. It’s gripping in the truest sense of the word. The protagonists flourish and the investment is enormous. It isn’t just some preachy moment of didactic instruction: the government is bad, paramilitary groups are evil, the media sways public opinion. All of this bullshit is muddied, everything is humanized. The discomforting shade of gray that the human mind so desperately wants to reject is made prominent.

Gray is uncomfortable, gray requires analysis. What makes the character of a man? Of a people? Of a country? Their intentions? But what if their intentions lead them to spill blood? Their actions? But what if their actions stem out of something they couldn’t have expected?

All of this is thrown into play, and the comic thrives all for the better because of it.

If you haven’t checked this shit out, I can’t encourage you enough. Bite the bullet and spend $12 on a trade through Amazon. You’re welcome.