This week’s capsule reviews are of Captain Britain #10, DMZ #39, Green Lantern Corps #33, Batman & The Outsiders Special #1, Nightwing #153 and Incognito #2.

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Capsule reviews from the Comics Daily team, including Amazing Spider-Man #580, DMZ #37, Mirror’s Edge #2 and X-Men/Spider-Man #2. Continue reading »

It’s been a while since I looked at DMZ, and there’s a lot to say about this issue, the second in the latest arc, “Blood in the Game” which, after a series of done-in-one character spotlights, returns the focus to Matty and his new friend – the Che Guevara-meets-Hugo Chavez figure, Parco Delgado.

There’s an uneasy ceasefire in the DMZ – something the series has never seen, which creates an immediate sense of tension. Matty can’t believe his story about Delgado has been rejected, but Zee explains why, calling it a “press release” – seems like Matty has lost his journalistic objectivity, and we later see that Delgado is willing to exploit that. However well-meaning he might be, you just know this isn’t going to end well.

After all Matty has been through, his simplistic view of the situation in the DMZ has been shattered and put back together so many times that he’s lost the plot a little. Delgado seizes upon this, encouraging Matty to actually choose a side once and for all, and Matty literally embraces the certainty he craves. It’s to his credit that despite all this, Wood remains detached from the situation - the reader is never lead to believe one way or the other whether Matty’s doing the right thing or not.

With Matty having chosen Delgado’s side, the still-unaware Liberty News once again tries to get his father to talk to him – you might remember that, at the start of the series, Matty was a spoilt rich kid who had to struggle out from under his father’s shadow. I saw the big cliffhanger twist coming only seconds before it arrived – the issue ends with Matty’s MOTHER getting in touch. Once again, the sense of family and what that means proves to be a strong theme in Wood’s work.

Seeing Wood take on a specific kind of political figure in Delgado may well prove the high point of the series. DMZ’s complicated politics have set it well apart from the herd. The dissection of characters and situation is as incisive as any broadsheet, if not more so. It’s almost hard to believe this kind of story is coming from someone who, as far as I know, has never been in the military at all. Still, Wood is always serious about his research, and between this and Northlanders, he’s displaying a range that would make some writers gnash their teeth in envy. At this rate, DMZ is going to make a lasting impact in the comics landscape, and deserves some serious recognition from the wider media as well.

DMZ #27 once again features guest art from Nathan Fox, and continues the “Hidden War” non-arc concentrating on various new and supporting characters from around the DMZ. Under the spotlight in this issue is the DMZ’s own club DJ, Random Fire, who finds himself just angry enough with the world to make some seriously bad decisions.

At the start of the issue, Random Fire’s set is bumped in favour of DJ Grendel, a celebrity DJ who has moved in to the DMZ to do a “dangerous” live webcast. RF discovers that he’s manipulating the situation for his own popularity, planning to stage an atack during his set, and he’s just angry enough that when the chance arises to stop it, he jumps at the chance. As ever, the politics are vivd and the characters realistic in their motivations and decisions. A large part of DMZ’s appeal is the well-realised world it’s taking place in, and the recent issues have exemplified that by telling stories largely removed from the main cast.

Wood’s solo issue, #12, which was a magazine-like “guide” to the DMZ in the style of say, Timeout, has clearly proven a goldmine for ideas, as club Rezurrection, which appeared on fliers in that issue, finally makes a grand entrance here as the focal point for the action (and my nerd credentials would be at stake if I didn’t mention that it’s got the same name as the club from Wood’s debut work, Channel Zero.)

Still, it’s also fair to say that the ongoing plot of DMZ is also a big draw. This arc has been great, and next issue about the Central Park “Ghost” has me particularly excited because they were always a neat concept, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ready to pick up Matty’s story and see how the larger series arc is shaping up. Granted, everything contributes in its own way, but with an arc focussing on a DMZ Guevara/Chavez analogue around the corner, it’s hard not to get excited for a return to whatever passes for normalcy in this series.

It’s a big day for DMZ as it starts its third year. This is a real milestone to anyone who remembers the days when the comic was conceived as being around 24 issues long (the current target is somewhere around 60)  because any issue from now on should taste extra-sweet.

For this arc, entitled “The Hidden War”,  Wood is once again proving his mastery of the single-issue format by telling the stories of individuals and side-characters living in the DMZ while the main cast largely sit it out. This issue specifically focuses on Wilson, the former gangster who now runs Chinatown, and shows us how he got where he is today in a story stretching right back to the start of the war and ending shortly after the series begins. As one of the series’ more colourful characters, it’s good to see what Wilson’s story is, and ultimately what drives him.

Guest art for this issue is provided by Danijel Sezelj. It has a brilliantly bleak feeling, and a sequence where a bomb explodes, leaving the art temporarily black and white before the colour slowly fades back in is a masterful use of the comics form. Unfortunately, based on the preview pages that were posted on Newarama’s Blog it all should’ve looked so, so much better. The printing job has left the pages incredibly muddy and it’s a real shame to see the art suffering from it.

While I’m thinking about it – DMZ #25, and in fact this entire arc (which began in #23) is a good place for anyone to join the series in progress if they’re interested in it. Because they’re all single-issue stories, they give you an excellent flavour of the series and of Wood’s writing without needing you to know any of the backstory. You should give it a try if you haven’t.