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62nd out of 252 books
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38 voters
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DMZ, Vol. 2: Body of a Journalist (DMZ #2)
by
Brian Wood (Goodreads Author),
Riccardo Burchielli
America's worst nightmare has come true. Having neglected the threat of anti-establishment militias, the U.S. government is in danger of losing control. Middle America has violently risen up, coming to a standstill at Manhattan or, as the world now knows it, the DMZ. Matty Roth, a naive, aspiring photojournalist, lands a dream gig following a veteran war journalist into th...more
Paperback, 168 pages
Published
February 7th 2007
by Vertigo
(first published January 1st 2007)
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Given away (to Craig?)
See also my review of the first volume.
Most of the book deals with the abduction of a journalist and the ways in which the government tries to use his experience as a propaganda tool, but this kind of forced drama just seems to squander the potential of the book's central idea.
I guess it's "urban," or "street," or "gritty and realistic" to have the government be willing to kill innocent people as an excuse to fight...more
See also my review of the first volume.
Most of the book deals with the abduction of a journalist and the ways in which the government tries to use his experience as a propaganda tool, but this kind of forced drama just seems to squander the potential of the book's central idea.
I guess it's "urban," or "street," or "gritty and realistic" to have the government be willing to kill innocent people as an excuse to fight...more
First off, the bad news: When volume one ended with photojournalist Matty Roth standing stupefied at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel – this being the border separating the DMZ and the USA from the Free States of America on the mainland – I was fully anticipating his journey in the heart of darkness. Much to my surprise, volume two picks up weeks (if not months) later with Matty back in his Manhattan digs, continuing to report from the front lines in the DMZ. Oh, how I wanted to Wood to take u...more
The second volume of DMZ finds Matty Roth back in the warzone that is Manhattan, reporting from the front lines of America's second civil war. In doing so, he has to try to avoid becoming the story - and, as both the military and the residents of the DMZ want to use him against each other, it's difficult to do. Matty has to balance surviving against staying true to his journalistic integrity and avoid becoming a weapon in the war.
Much like the first volume, DMZ continues to be a grit...more
Much like the first volume, DMZ continues to be a grit...more
Enjoyed the personal story and many of the politics, but the back story of the history leading up to this point is spotty at best and ludicrous at worst. One must believe that everyone in the mountain states is a gun toting libertarian to swallow the premise that no one stood up to the free armies as they started their campaign. As someone who has lived much of their life in Wyoming (and a big chunk in New York as well), I just don't see it going down the way it is portrayed here. There are e...more
The second chapter of Wood's DMZ ups the ante by digging into the news media's specific role in the conflict between the FSA and the USA. Wood, who I seem to remember having a background in design and in the media, uses this story to explore the blurry lines journalists often find themselves in war zones. And since this is New York, a war zone not commonly expected, the results are compelling and incredible to experience.
I like how Wood teases out more and more backstory to how the FSA...more
I like how Wood teases out more and more backstory to how the FSA...more
The first volume was a pretty basic introduction to the world of DMZ Manhattan. The reader--and Matty--were literally dropped into the middle of a war zone and left to basically figure things out as we went along.
This volume gets more interesting, with two real story arcs. Matty's story, of playing all sides and trying to stay sane and healthy and keep the DMZ from getting invaded, is a great place to pick up with. It's interesting to see how he's grown, both as a person, a report...more
This volume gets more interesting, with two real story arcs. Matty's story, of playing all sides and trying to stay sane and healthy and keep the DMZ from getting invaded, is a great place to pick up with. It's interesting to see how he's grown, both as a person, a report...more
The second volume of DMZ has Matty becoming less of an outsider to the DMZ and becoming and important part of the DMZ.
DMZ is very much inspired by the way media covers War. Probably most influenced by the first Gulf War in the way that you could tune into it and see firsthand combat unlike any other War or conflict before it. The second volume of DMZ primarily deals with the politics of of being a journalist embedded in a War Zone.
Matty discovers in this volume that he is...more
DMZ is very much inspired by the way media covers War. Probably most influenced by the first Gulf War in the way that you could tune into it and see firsthand combat unlike any other War or conflict before it. The second volume of DMZ primarily deals with the politics of of being a journalist embedded in a War Zone.
Matty discovers in this volume that he is...more
Characters in this story are either a) pissed off about the war and running around with guns or b) stoked about their careers and home tofu businesses that are a result of this neat post-apocalyptic-like lifestyle. Again, I have to wonder where the broken, traumatized people are in this war zone. The final issue with notes on the neighborhoods and people of the DMZ appears to be a way of showing off all the neat background story the author created for the series. The back story on Zee is inte...more
Enjoyable story line that is completely plausible which is what makes the exploration of these ideas so interesting. The way the people on the island have broken into little factions or tribe like groups is how people are going to react when things go down. I firmly believe people with similar backgrounds and interests will group together for comfort and safety. I also appreciate the mention of little gardens tucked away here and there in order to maintain self sufficiency and supply food ...more
America is in the midst of a civil war, and New York City is a battle ground popularly called the DMZ. Matty, who grew up a privileged annoying richwhitestraightable guy, is still pretty privileged and annoying in the DMZ. The plot is weak and certainly not novel. The art is typical Vertigo--lots of harsh lines, cross-hatching, gratuitous female nakedness (without matching sexy male nakedness). An obese woman in a bikini is blown apart in the opening scene. There's a whole page of a guy get...more
First of all, no matter how high I suspend my disbelief, I still can't get with Brian Wood's notion that apocalyptic war zone NYC could also serve as some hippie vegan organic utopia. Second, the protagonist here -- one Matty Ross -- has to be the dullest major character I've seen in recent comics. All he does is scowl, vomit, and explode with diarrhea. And finally, there's DMZ issue #12, entitled "New York Times" (ha ha), which is supposed to be a homemade Lonely Planet guide to post-...more
Whatever reservations I may have had with the first volume completely evaporated by v2. Brian Wood's story comes completely into its own here and segues into an original and poignant war story. The role of politics in the DMZ is fascinating and the depth of the main characters grew by leaps and bounds over the first collection. I'd probably have given "Body of a Journalist" a 4.5 rating if I was able, but the last issue, "New York Times", which is essentially a travel guide t...more
A post-9/11 story that features a war zone in New York, cool young people, uncool older people (except for quirky, elderly men) and people seeking to be "real" and "urban".
It is essentially post-apocalypse lite where shortages are hinted at but people still seem to be able to live in an urban landscape that would be reliant on expensive utilities to maintain.
I guess that for the writer it is actually a utopia, where young people are freed from the cons...more
It is essentially post-apocalypse lite where shortages are hinted at but people still seem to be able to live in an urban landscape that would be reliant on expensive utilities to maintain.
I guess that for the writer it is actually a utopia, where young people are freed from the cons...more
The first volume of DMZ was good, but I think it got in it's own way a bit, what with all the ground work it needed to lay down to establish its world (and the series at large). However, vol 2 was the shit! Matty is a great protagonist, and the supporting characters are all wonderful as well.
I wasn't sure about this series at first. The premise didn't sound like anything I could get into. Yet, here I am anxious to get my hands on volume 3. DMZ gets some good buzz, but nothing on the...more
I wasn't sure about this series at first. The premise didn't sound like anything I could get into. Yet, here I am anxious to get my hands on volume 3. DMZ gets some good buzz, but nothing on the...more
The plot thickens. Matty, our journalist-hero--and hasn't it been a long time since those words were used in the same sentence?--becomes a pawn trying to stay alive between warring factions. There's a veteran journalist, presumed dead, that suddenly turns up alive as a bargaining chip in a deadly military stare-down between the "Free Army" and the American "defenders." It's makes me want to read more. One of the stories was written and drawn by Brain Wood (usually confined to...more
I feel bad giving this book such a low rating, but the truth is that I, personally, don't enjoy it all that much. It's good, don't get me wrong, but as I was reading it, I was getting such an Iraq, Afghanistan, anti-war, 'War on Terror'-type message that it was starting to bug me.
I'd much rather give this book a 2.5/5, because two, to me, feels too low, and three too high.
Ultimately, this series, this book, isn't for me. It's good, but I'm finding the political message ...more
I'd much rather give this book a 2.5/5, because two, to me, feels too low, and three too high.
Ultimately, this series, this book, isn't for me. It's good, but I'm finding the political message ...more
This takes the set-up of the first volume and expands it to hook you in, having our main character being played by both sides of the Second Civil War.
If I can pick out a possible complaint, it's the last issue in the trade, which is interesting to a point, but I'd imagine would be off-puting for some people if they're reading it more for the characters then for just how exactly Manhatten would fall and sorta pick itself up after being blown up to hell, espicially if they were reading...more
If I can pick out a possible complaint, it's the last issue in the trade, which is interesting to a point, but I'd imagine would be off-puting for some people if they're reading it more for the characters then for just how exactly Manhatten would fall and sorta pick itself up after being blown up to hell, espicially if they were reading...more
Set about a year after Volume 1, this contains a multi-issue arc (#6-10) in which Matty gets stuck liaising between the FSA (Free States of America) and the U.S. government. Things get even more complicated, and dangerous, than expected, and Matt comes into his own more -- and becomes more a part of the DMZ.
Wilson tells Matt, "You're the symbol now" [not Viktor Ferguson, the renowned journalist Matty was interning for when he first arrived in the DMZ] and argues, I remembe...more
Wilson tells Matt, "You're the symbol now" [not Viktor Ferguson, the renowned journalist Matty was interning for when he first arrived in the DMZ] and argues, I remembe...more
This book, which collects issues #6-12, deals a little more specifically with the second civil war that has turned Manhattan into a no-man's-land. The origins of the war are certainly implausible - and it's definitely odd that Matty Roth remembers 9/11 as a more poignant, disrupting event than anything that has happened since (in his country, where New Jersey and west has been taken over by militias). Wood has certainly still left the rest of the country as a blank slate. We know what life is...more
Another good volume. Burchielli's art matures, though Wood's writing is still stuck in this weird neo-hipster phase. He has decent plotting skills, and the characters (though almost uniformly unlikable) have depth, but he feels the need to pepper everything he writes with references to very hipster-ish tastes, something that dates the series far more than the political situation that defines the story.
While we're on that topic...at least at the beginning, DMZ is a comic that is very ...more
While we're on that topic...at least at the beginning, DMZ is a comic that is very ...more
This is volume 2 of Wood's DMZ series, which I believe currently has three volumes. Or rather three trade paperbacks I should say, because I think it started as a comic. The premise of the series is that Manhattan is a de-militarized zone between the Free States Army (FSA), a sort of Michigan Militia on steroids, and what remains of the United States. In the first volume, fresh-faced journalist Matty Roth ends up stranded in the DMZ, only to find a vibrant culture and community manages to sur...more
A great followup to Vol. 1, Body of a Journalist goes deeper into the shadiness of the government and its collusion with the media in covering up the atrocities it commits during the war. It reflects a lot of what's been happening in reality, with the government trying to "win hearts and minds" while it blows tons of innocent folk up. Very graphic at times but it has to be to get readers to really think about the purpose of war and the thousands, if not millions, of lives destroyed by ...more
As dystopian fiction goes, this one's better than the Tim Burton Planet of the Apes; but not as good as Brave New World, Max Headroom, the original Planet of the Apes, Blade Runner, The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Idiocracy, Wall-E, Y: the Last Man, Zardoz, or the James Franco Planet of the Apes.
Reprints DMZ #6-12. Matty Roth finds someone alive who he thought had died and becomes a target himself. The DMZ is an entertaining series. It might feel a little derivative in theme to Transmetropolitan, but the intentional "over-the-top" of Spider Jerusalem was a little too much for me to handle. The DMZ stories are a little grittier and more realistic. The first story arc is good and the back-up story about Zee and basic layout of the DMZ are helpful.
DMZ is one of the smartest, most politically astute graphic novels out there at the moment. Set in a future America in the middle of another civil war, it explores the role of journalists, terrorists, corporations, and the government in wartime. It offers no simple answers to the issues it raises, but shows how truly complex they are and how no one may ultimately be right. It's challenging, provocative reading, and it's worth adding to your pull list.
This is a great series. I love alternate history/future/whatever, and this posits that illegal militia rise up against the government and are successful due to the armed forces being largely overseas. The official US has been pushed back to the land east of Manhattan, leaving the island a no-man's-land - the DMZ. One journalist is accidentally abandoned there and starts to learn more about what's really happening.
The world building in this series is nothing short of incredible. I'm continually astounded, and the NYC setting only enhances the pleasure I get out of it. When I finished reading this volume, it actually took me a few moments to remember that I wasn't, actually, living in the middle of a warzone -- which says something about the power of the images and prose. I can't wait to read more.
Yhdysvaltoja repivä sisällissota on tehnyt Manhattanista ei-kenenkään-maan, jolla ihmiset kuitenkin yrittävät elää parhaansa mukaan, vesipulasta kärsien ja tarkka-ampujien luoteja vältellen. Journalisti Matt raportoi muulle maailmalle elämästä demilitarisoidulla vyöhykkeellä. Laadukkaan sarjakuvan toisessa kokoelmateoksessa käsittellään muun muassa median asemaa ja merkitystä nykyajan konflikteissa, joissa "totuus on tuolla ulkona."
Brian Wood is fast becoming one of my favorite graphic novel writers. DMZ, in addition to providing a rip-roaring story line, asks some hard questions about patriotism, freedom and loyalty. It is the rare work that can combine an engaging cast of characters, a lull-impervious plot and sharp social commentary. And people say graphic novels aren't serious literature...
This particular iteration of the DMZ series notes worthy attention for just one single issue that is collected within it. The story and characters and world all bind together to make the story what it is, and the final issue which is nothing more than Matty Roth's 'Guide to the DMZ' is nothing short of awesome.
For those who want more details, this covers the story of Matty finding out that the lead reporter and general all-round douchebag who abandoned him in the DMZ is not in fact d...more
For those who want more details, this covers the story of Matty finding out that the lead reporter and general all-round douchebag who abandoned him in the DMZ is not in fact d...more
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