Anyone reading this? Bought the first two trades because it looks awesome. Volume 4 is out next week. If I like Vol. 1, I'll be getting #3 and 4 right away.

Is it a finite series? (I hope so)


EDIT: I have changed the thread title to "I am reading DMZ" to reflect the new "I am reading..." status of this thread.

"We're gonna rock it from the delta to the DMZ!" -Robin Williams

Brian Wood said he's shooting for 60 issues.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/ ... i?id=13104

I like it. I'd rank it right behind Scalped as my favorite Vertigo book that I pick up monthly.

I really like their debut album, released in 1978.

Finite = big selling point for me. Great news. Great link, too, Ron. That "Local" mini sounds really compelling.

I'm not familiar with Scalped. What's the hook?

Local does sound good, waiting for the trade on that, and Woods' Northlanders series. You might want to try Demo also. That was the book that hooked me on Woods' work. It's a collection of 12 self contained stories about people dealing with super powers in the real world. I know that sounds cliche, but trust me, it isn't. Really fantastic book.



Borrowing from Brian K. Vaughan, "the best Native American crime noir you're not reading". If you like Brubakers Criminal, you'd probably like this one.

Some more info, and a money back guarantee on the first trade here:

http://www.scalped.info/

And you can read the first issue here:

http://www.dccomics.com/media/excerpts/7722_1.pdf

Scalped has been getting some nice plugs from the professionals (a la the BKV one above). I think I noticed it on a few year-end lists. I haven't read it myself...

I've been with DMZ since the beginning. The premise, the politics, the setting, the characters are great. Storywise, I've found it a bit uneven. The latest arc has been individual character pieces. Not bad, but just okay. That said, I'm sticking with it through the next big arc at least and likely onwards (especially if it is finite).

Tangent... I've been getting the Preacher trades (finally!). So far so good. The Angelville (?) arc was awesome.

All right, I'm going to grab an issue or two of Scalped and see if it grabs me.

Hopefully it doesn't scalp you...

Or say good morning.

ZING!

I have read and enjoyed DMZ but cash flow problems have meant it has been cut from buy list.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1401210627/?tag=imwan-20

DMZ Vol. 1 - On The Ground

Hmmmm. 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 has become 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 it is doing to the civilians there.

Sounds like a great concept. 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? (Since I own the first three, keep reading I will …)

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, yet that sense of being there was inconsistent. When they nail it, they nail it – but they don’t always nail it.

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.

Maybe I’m spoiled. I just finished reading Y: The Last Man and the Ennis/Dillon Hellblazer run. They feature the art of Pia Guerra and Steve Dillon, respectively, two FANTASTIC storytellers who are near masters at having their characters “act” and guiding the reader through the story.

Burchielli, not so much.

It doesn’t help that the coloring is so damn muddy. Everything is washed out in this muddy reddish hue, so few things really POP from the page. I understand the color choices, but this book really could have used more contrast in that regard. Maybe this is why the issue set in Central Park during the winter looked best.

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. Happily, it does get better (as if this post I’ve finished Vol. 2), but thus far it’s not quite fulfilling the potential of this fantastic premise.

More on that when I write-up the second volume.






*a bit disheartening to read, actually, because this idea isn’t too far off from an idea I’ve been working on with a collaborator.

Great review Taft. Really sums up my feelings toward the first arc (and some later issues too). I STILL feel this book should be better than it is. When things come together, Wood nails it. Unfortunately, the execution rarely delivers that payoff. Its an okay book with a great premise. Not my favourite book, but always enough to keep me coming back (even if it is just the promise of something deeper).

Oh, the art has grown on me and the current arc started strong.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1401212476/?tag=imwan-20

DMZ Vol. 2 – Body of a Journalist

"Got to admit it's getter better ..."

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

In fact, it was a step up enough that if Volume 3 holds steady, I’ll probably go ahead and get the fourth trade, too.

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. It’s 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!” Matty is frustrated with the war, but I don’t feel any real humanity or emotion there, just F bombs.

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 the title is very spotty in that regard. He 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. They strike a great tone and give us the insight into the world and characters DMZ desperately needs. 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, I feel like the F bombs add very little to this book. At best, it's distracting.

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, or at least tone it down.

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

Still, if I’m bitching, don’t let 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 here that could have used more exploitation, but nonetheless were enjoyable to read. We’ve got some new characters, some political intrigue, betrayals and double-crossings, and the sense that something larger is at work. It took a while, but we start to tap into the series’ potential. We get into some ideas and some (at times too overt) political commentary.

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

Negative as most of this may have sounded, there was enough here to like that I will indeed be reading volume 3. (In fact, as of this post I’m almost finished with it.)

Again, great review. Bang on.

I'm trying to recall the next arc. Is that 'Public Works'? It's not a bad one either.

Yeah, it's Public Works. My reaction to this one has thus far been more favorable than the first two.

Still on the fence about buying Vol. 4.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1401214762/?tag=imwan-20

DMZ Vol. 3 - Public Works

Got a bit tied up with things and dropped a few of these "I am reading" threads. Since I just got Vol. 4 in the mail, figure I ought to catch up.

Let's make this short and to the point.

DMZ continues to improve. Public Works gives us a more focused story, much more clear and direct than the somewhat scattered, uneven initial arcs. The story focuses on a (very, very, very) thinly veiled Haliburton + Blackwater. Somehow, though, Wood manages to not come across as too heavy-handed. Quite the feat.

Matty continues to be barely likeable, 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.

This was pretty good stuff. While I'm still not married to this series, I'll go ahead and read the fourth trade. If it continues its upward climb, I can see this going from a bunch of unfulfilled potential to something very cool.

The series meandered a bit after 'Public Works'. The current arc (one issue in) looks to be interesting.

That's not completely fair. 'Friendly Fire" (the next arc) is pretty solid. It was the four issues that focused on other DMZ inhabitants that I found bland.