Index

The Word

May 1, 2008

Caught in the DMZ

Adam Messinger

I've seen artistic freedom that runs rampant over a city. I've seen vegetarian restaurants on the top of buildings. As people ate there, they ignored the sight of a ravaged city below them. Where is all of this, you may wonder? It is in the DMZ, an ongoing comic series from Vertigo.

Recently I cracked open the first graphic novel, DMZ: On the Ground, which contains the first five issues.  Writer Brian Wood throws us right into the life of journalistic intern, Matty Roth.  Matty has become part of a top notch broadcast crew that is sent into the middle of a battle zone sparked by America's second civil war.  Their arrival is met with sniper fire and in the scrambling retreat, Matty is left behind.  He watches as his crew's helicopters get shot down right before his eyes in the middle of Manhattan, a.k.a The DMZ.  This is the story of Matty's survival.  Wood sets up a great supporting cast in no time and throws Matty into a situation that has infinite possibilities.  We follow Matty as he learns how to survive with constantly being under gunfire while attempting to be an onsite journalist with the equipment left behind.  One scene, where Matty follows a medic around the city for a day, is particularly tear-jerking as they encounter children with severe war wounds.  The effectiveness of this scene is greatly due to artist Riccardo Burchielli's rough, but cartoon like pencils.  Burchielli's art gives Matty's world cohesiveness; much like it is in actual place with consistency and landmarks.  No matter where Matty is put, whether it be the main city, the snowy confines of a mythical militia, or all over the place, Burchielli's art never fails to breathe life into the scene.

This creative team gels perfectly. When Wood steps in for art on the news footage scenes, it flows seamlessly.  They define the character of Matty and the DMZ in an interesting fashion that make the book hard to put down.  This title just cements my impression of Wood as must read name in comics.  DMZ is another notch in Wood’s belt alongside such greats as Local (Oni Comics) and Supermarket (IDW), two other must reads. All of the above mentioned are strictly for adults though with heavy violence and adult language, if you are 18 or above and a comic fan then pick this up now!  It should go without saying that this gets a 5/5.

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Feb. 28, 2008

Poison Candy Tastes Better Than the Healthy Crap!

Adam Messinger

David Hine is a rare type of writer. The few X-Men books of his that I had read were sub par at best but then a little project came along that completely shocked me. This project, Silent War was great. It was so great that, in this reader's eye, it made up for all of his past blah-ness. So a couple of weeks ago, when I saw he had a manga coming out, I was surprised, intrigued, and nervous all at once. Changing mediums from comics to manga could have been a train wreck but after reading Poison Candy volume 1 I am sad that I have to wait for volume 2.

Hine crafts a nice science fiction story around Sam Case. Sam is a teenage musician unknowingly infected with a fatal disease that has become a world wide epidemic among people his age. Sam realized something was wrong long before the doctors told him, because most teenagers can't randomly gain telekinetic abilities and protective force fields. These newfound abilities are results of the same virus that is killing him. When you add the government going after him with a man who claims to be able to cure him, you've got a solid combination. Hine does a nice job of moving the story along with a great balance of action and character development. Within in reading the first few pages, my jaw dropped in shock.as to what was so shocking, you should read it for yourself and find out. As one of manga's more cynical readers, I was entertained from front to back by Hine and artist, Hans Steinbach. Steinbach provides some decent visuals for the story, but in a few panels I had to stare for a little bit to figure out what was happening. There were also a few panels where Steinbach diverts from the solid, serious style and goes into the extremely exaggerated reactions that I hate so much in manga. As much as I liked Poison Candy, this title is clearly for older audiences because of strong language, lots of fun and bloody violence, and teenage sex. Poison Candy earns a 4/5 stars.
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Jan 2008

2007 King's Top 5 Lists

Top Five Boxed Games
  • Descent
  • Killer Bunnies
  • Zombies 2nd ed
  • Marvel Heroes
  • Settlers of Catan
Top Five Collectible Card Games
  • Naruto
  • Magic the Gathering
  • Yu-gi-Oh!
  • World of Warcraft
  • Pokemon
Top Five Collectible Miniature Games
  • Dungeon & Dragon Miniature Game
  • Star Wars Starship Battles
  • HeroClix
  • Axis and Allies
  • Horroclix
Top Five Comics
  • Countdown DC
  • Dark Tower Gunslinger Born Marvel
  • Captain America Marvel
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer Dark Horse
  • Detective Comics DC
Top Five Graphic Novels of 2007 at King's
  • Moon Knight The Bottom
  • Civil War
  • Road to Civil War
  • 300
  • Walking Dead vol 1 Days Gone By
Top Five Manga Series
  • Naruto
  • Bleach
  • Death Note
  • Dragon Ball Z
  • Fruits Basket
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