February 17, 2009

DMZ: Friendly Fire & DMZ: Hidden War - Brian Wood

DMZ: Friendly Fire (V. 4) & DMZ: Hidden War (v. 5) continue the story of Matty Roth, aspiring photojournalist, and his pursuit to cover the civil war between the US government and the Free State Rebels. Ignoring the threat of the anti-establishment militias, Middle America has gone to war against the US government with Manhattan as the DMZ. Matty ends up in the DMZ, discovering things aren’t always what they seem.

V. 4 Friendly Fire looks at a case of friendly fire, day 204 as it’s called, days in the war. Matty interviews a soldier on trial, and others who were there, trying to discover the truth. What is the “real truth” and is there one? What “justice” would be fair? Is a trial enough, or a guilty verdict? Matty has lots of questions but does he get answers?

v.5 the Hidden War looks at various people in living in the DMZ. Their past before the war and their lives now during the war. We see how the war has changed them, how ordinary people, caught up in bad situation deal with everyday life.

I’ve enjoyed the series, though these two volumes have not been the strongest. The artwork suits the story, gritty, dark colors and Matty being the newbie to the scene doesn’t have anything to prove except that he can do this, he can bring the stories of the war to the world outside the DMZ.

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