Title : ‘New York Times’
Writer : Brian Wood
Art : Brian Wood
Letters : Jared K. Fletcher
Editor : Will Dennis
Wow.
Just how much DMZ is a labour of love is clearly shown by this one-shot, written and drawn by Brian Wood and providing a breathtaking insight into the reality he has created through the series ‘DMZ’.
For those of you coming in late, DMZ postulates a world of the immediate future where the United State is rent by a civil war, with both sides currently seemingly in a quasi-stalemate.
New York City has become a neutral zone, with the majority of the population evacuated, and the remainder scrabbling out a living as best they can.
With this issue, Matty Roth, the journalist main character, sets out the day-to-day circumstances and living arrangements for the inhabitants of NYC during the time of war.
Something that is often forgotten when thinking about places like Baghdad and (previously) Beirut is that, although they are war zones, people still have interests, hopes and inhabit their lives within these conditions. Brian Wood sure as heck hasn’t forgotten it, and this issue lives and breathes the new reality that is this city.
There are restaurant reviews, personal profiles, descriptions of danger zones and descriptions of poetry, in one of the most creative endeavours I have seen in some time.
Even if you have no interest in the ongoing series, and couldn’t care less what happens to Matty Roth, this issue is captivating, for the simple reason that you cannot help but be captivated by these characters inhabiting this hellish world, but still keeping their sense of humour, personal flaws and above all their humanity.
I was initially skeptical about this series, but it has leapt from strength to strength after an initially patchy first arc, and it is now offering some of the finest high-concept story-telling out there, which I would put on a par with ‘Ex Machina’.
Brian Wood handles his own art duties for this issue, which mainly consists of background art and personal portraits of the inhabitants of the city. Its rough and scratchy, but perfect for the mood being created.
This book is very much the epitome of a perfect ‘jumping-on’ point, and, as is apparent, it has made me extremely excited about the future of this series.
