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Nobody rocks a party like a Staten Island party-until some jackass has to go and ruin it for everyone.

So it seems that our guide through a New York City ravaged by violent separatist conflict, intrepid reporter Matty Roth, is out of work at the moment. His usual contacts in the media are giving him a lukewarm reception after his involvement with the newly-elected Parco Delgado, so he’s shopping around for new outlets and new stories, which brings him to Staten Island. The Island has stationed on it a force of U.S. Army soldiers with a very radical approach to dealing with a war against their fellow Americans, one which could be described as…well…un-soldierlike. They don’t fight. In fact, they apparently get together and party down something fierce with their ‘enemies’ in the Free States militia. Kind of a nice idea, isn’t it?

What really makes this storyline so compelling is how real it all feels, how you can draw the parallels between this piece of fiction and the real world and play a game of ‘what if’ as you read. The life of a soldier always makes for a fascinating story, even in (perhaps ESPECIALLY in) times of peace or simply little activity, and more and more writers are catching on in all media, particularly now that there’s a war on that touches all of our lives in one way or another. Just catching glimpses of what Matty sees as he wanders through a house party speaks volumes about these men and women and the way they cope. You get to see them as everyday people, ones not too different from the rest of us, lurking beneath armor and fatigues and hardened exteriors, and most amazingly, ones who have decided to disobey for the sake of a peaceful outcome to the chaos all around them. It’s exactly the kind of material Roth was searching for (even though all the best parts are ‘off the record’), and it’s a perfect story for this series.

This two-parter brings in the artistic talents of Kristian Donaldson, who has worked before with writer Brian Wood on Supermarket. Kristian is at the top of his game here- every last page is stunning, from the almost photo-realistic establishing shots to the emotive figures to the dramatic use of shadow. His style is crisp and clear, at times stylistically conjuring bits of Paul Pope and Jamie Hewlett. The storytelling flows wonderfully, combining with Wood’s engrossing narrative to make the end product one hell of a page-turner that you can’t put down. Compliments must be given as well to colorist Jeromy Cox, who also made incredible use of lighting to enhance the overall feel, and is responsible for some beautiful sunrises and sunsets in this issue.

DMZ is a comic that needs to exist right now, and I’m so glad that it still does. It examines the political without getting preachy, and like good journalism it lays everything out for us- the good, the bad, and the ugly, while exposing the humanity underneath. It’s also a love letter to New York, a place that Wood is obviously very passionate about, and gives us a glimpse into it that lands between the Disney-fied tourist trap and the bleak world of the gritty cop drama, revealing what life is like at street level, and what makes it a home for millions of people who would fight until their dying breath rather than live anywhere else. There’s nothing else out there like it right now, and that should be reason enough for you to go and check it out.

DMZ #35
“The Island” part one of two
Written by: Brian Wood
Art by: Kristian Donaldson
Color by: Jeromy Cox
Letters by: Jared K. Fletcher
Cover by: JP Leon
Published by: DC/Vertigo

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