DMZ, Vol. 1
On the Ground
Written by Brian Wood
Art by Riccardo Burchielli
DC Comics/Vertigo
Cover price: $9.99

Though I was disappointed with the lack of effort they put in to the trade itself, I do believe I have found what may go down as one of my favorite stories ever. I’ve hopefully got a handful more decades to go in life, so we’ll see how that goes, but the first trade of Vertigo’s DMZ is definitely something all of you should have on your shelves.

This first volume collects together the first five issues of Brian Wood‘s brilliant story of life in a DMZ. However, his twist, which I instinctively love, is that the DMZ is the island of Manhattan, and America is once again at war with itself.

Brian Wood is definitely setting himself up as one of the Naughties (apparently the term we’re using for the 2000’s) greatest comic creators, both writing and illustrating his and others’ work. He’s worked on video games such as Grand Theft Auto and Max Payne, created DMZ and other critically acclaimed works such as Local, and does his own covers as well as covers for other creators.

The story follows young Matty Roth, a photojournalist who in his first role as an intern for the Liberty News Network is dispatched into the DMZ with veteran reporter Viktor Ferguson’s crew. Immediately upon landing, the whole team — including bodyguards — are shot to pieces, all except Matty, who manages to get away with a whole heap of equipment (a story device I’m willing to live with).

Many stories are told about life within the DMZ, but nothing comes close to the reality that Matty discovers. He is immediately thrust into life within Manhattan, and finds himself completely blown away by the lives that the people are living.

Zee Hernandez is his first friend, and though he quickly makes a mess of things, we’re left with the distinct feeling she’ll be playing a part in the future.

Matty very quickly becomes well known throughout Manhattan, and his press credentials and fake press jacket quickly get him access to everywhere and friends with many more. Without the experience of a trained journalist (maybe why I like him so much), he begins to report from within the DMZ, the only journalist to do so.

Riccardo Burchielli‘s artwork is really very nice. DMZ was the Italian artist’s first comic book in the U.S., and he made a big splash doing so. He has a really traditional comic style, with muted colors and a large attention to detail throughout. The starring faces give me a bit of trouble in their crudeness, but given the amount of faces overall, I’ll give Riccardo a pass on this one.

Either way, DMZ is definitely something you should all be reading. The single-issue number is at 32, with a possible limit of 60 planned by Wood, so grab some of the trades and get in to it! And thanks to my new rating system, I can give this book the credit it deserves.

Story: the story gets a 5, easily, for being massively unique and supremely well executed.

Art: the artwork gets a 4, because Zee’s face really creeps me out at times!

TPB-ness: the TPB-ness gets a 3, as it really is just the bare bones, with no covers or anything other than an introduction by Brian Azzarello.