CONAN THE BARBARIAN
"...it's already abundantly clear that Wood and Cloonan are building a quality adaptation of a landmark tale." - IGN
"Wood, Cloonan, and Stewart are an exemplary creative team, and Dark Horse deserves credit for bringing them together for this book. There’s an effortlessness in their collaboration that makes reading a pleasure. With an excellent first issue under their belt, their collaboration is already leaving its unique mark on Conan..." - CBR
DMZ
"DMZ [is] the pre-eminent example
of a growing fashion for comics and graphic novels about, or inspired by,
the Iraq war." - The
Independent
"...Matty [is] one
of the best characters in comics... Wood is a tremendous writer... DMZ
is unrelentingly angry and mean, smart and shocking. Riccardo Burchielli's
artwork is the perfect complement, using simple layouts and a great eye
for facial expressions as well as backgrounds to keep the pace up. This
is one hell of a collection." - "The DMZ stories manage to combine
the tough, thrilling character of golden age war comics with sharp and
complex analysis of the big questions underpinning the modern age of politicized,
commercialized warfare. DMZ keeps getting better and better." - BoingBoing (2)
"Wood's captivating
series... combines the thrill of a summer blockbuster with the dire realities
of war and dose of social/political commentary. Must-see series!"
- USA
Today
"...striking realism...
increasingly relevant..." "[DMZ] show[s] how violence and uncertainty
effect not only society as whole, but also individuals on a hauntingly
personal level." - IGN
"A well-written
combination of Sydney Pollack's "The Absence of Malice" and
HBO's "The Wire"... an outstanding discourse on the role the
media plays during times of political upheaval. ...if this series continues
to produce at such a high level, it could easily go down as one of the
best Vertigo titles of all time." - IGN
"...so smart, so
thought provoking...the perfect mature comic... books like DMZ are the
future of the comic book industry" - IGN
"...residents of
Manhattan often feel at odds with the rest of the country, the comic book
series DMZ magnifies that anxiety with its radical premise... DMZ sits
alongside Vertigo's other successes: Y the Last Man and Fables."
- NEW
YORK TIMES (and the Book
Review)
"DMZ is incredible.
It is addictive and brutal, and a perfect antidote to the flag-waving
Fox News broadcasts of the War on Terror. Wood and Burchielli have created
something special, something that gets beyond the body counts and the
headlines of setbacks and failures." - CHICAGO
SUN-TIMES
"Brian Wood's DMZ-one
of the two best new comics about Iraq-offers a potent portrait of a city
torn by civil war. But the city isn't Baghdad; it's New York, sometime
in the near future." - SLATE
"The gritty comic
book DMZ lies somewhere between a postapocalyptic nightmare and a bizarre
tribute to Gotham tenacity... With a stark visual style that matches its
narrative punch, this grim graphic novel from writer Brian Wood and artist
Riccardo Burchielli measures up to any summer blockbuster." - TIME
OUT NEW YORK
"Wood and Burchielli's
excellent series... equal parts compelling drama and cautionary tale,
filled with inspired little touches. Casting Manhattan as a combination
of Baghdad and post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans is Wood's most brilliant
move, putting our own citizens through the same trials that civilians
in those bombed-out and battered cities face today." - SAN
FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
"The dramatic images
recall the nightly news, and stories of warzone life ring true. A-"
- ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
"Wood and Burchielli
gut-wrenchingly portray the chaotic reality of life in a war zone."
- WASHINGTON POST
"Burchielli's outstanding
art really sells the story by intensifying familiar urban grunge into
a Third World-like battle zone... This book is a disturbing, challenging
success." -PUBLISHERS
WEEKLY
NORTHLANDERS
"As addictive as HBO's Rome..." - New York Magazine
"...another creative victory for writer Wood, who's quickly emerging as one the medium's premier scribes. Like his best work, Northlanders takes you into a well-researched, richly realized world that illuminates politics and culture without getting bogged down in history-book stuff... Northlanders [is] Vikings finally done right!" - Entertainment Weekly
"As Brian Wood continues to flesh out his uncharacteristic journey into the sword and sandals genre, Northlanders becomes more and more compelling... This turn of events proves perfectly poetic and continues to push the book into less familiar and more cerebrally intriguing directions." - IGN
"Amid all the enjoyably bloody battles and desperate sex (gorgeously rendered by Davide Gianfelice), Wood cleverly plays with the philosophical and religious shifts overcoming not only Sven, but the cultures clashing all over the world during the Dark Ages." - Time Out New York
"...the author manages to instill a fascinating existential dilemma in between all the hectic violence. The relationship between Magnus and his daughter holds an immense amount of potential as Wood sets up a dynamic straight out of "Lone Wolf and Cub." - IGN
"Brian has done his homework before starting the series, the book largely maintains a very modern feel in its structure, pacing and dialog. It may be a point of contention for other reviewers, but I feel the lack of archaic dialog and modern feel make it that much more accessible and allow you to enjoy what is really outstanding within." - The Escapist
"He comes from the land of the ice and snow in the year A.D. 980 and Sven of Orkney is hell-bent on a mission of vengeance to get back the money his uncle stole from him--and that's just the beginning of this frozen Norse saga that's tougher than Conan and bloodier than 300." - Creem Magazine
"..substantial and vibrant... Northlanders is a major work by a serious writer." - CBR
"...even more proof that the author is one of the best character writers in the industry." - IGN
THE NEW YORK FOUR
"Brian Wood has mastered the art of writing female characters." - BUST Magazine
"As in Local and DMZ, indie superstar Wood shows great skill in writing extremely appealing and occasionally infuriating female leads. All four of the college freshmen at the center of this tale are well realized, but it’s shy, sheltered Riley who is the focus of this girlcentric offering. Riley’s life is packed with drama as she meets up with her estranged older sister and struggles to balance school, family, and a mysterious new boyfriend—whom she has never met but texts to the point of obsession. Kelly’s art, filled with expressive, idiosyncratic faces and figures, matches Wood’s indie street cred with gritty depictions of the Lower East Side. He captures actual New York locations with nearly photographic accuracy, matching Wood’s affection for the city, itself made obvious by the passages of hipster, travel-guide stuff packed into the story. Despite a disturbingly ambiguous ending, this graphic novel will delight readers on the cusp of discovering their own independence." - BOOKLIST
"With Demo, Local, DMZ, and, now, The New York Four, [Brian Wood]'s proving himself able in writing well-rounded youth characters within very different contexts. And when he and Kelly team up you should take notice." - Mondo Magazine
DEMO
"The stories in DEMO are incredibly diverse... about the rottenness and the wonder of being young, the endless redemption available and the endless difficulty of achieving it... There isn't a single story here that I didn't love, that didn't make me think, that didn't thud home in my heart" " - BoingBoing
"Gone are the supervillains and secret schools, and instead you have the things real teens care about: friends, first loves and the need to get away from everyday life. It's less bombastic than Wood's run a few years back on Marvel's Generation X but it is scarier and much more human than mainstream comics usually dare to be. Grade: A" - VARIETY
Wood took a risk with Demo. It is hard to categorize exactly what the trade is – what it tries to accomplish. The short slice-of-life format becomes more emotionally captivating than nearly any ongoing series I have come across. Every single story made me stop, made me think, made me grasp at straws in order to relate. Demo isn’t a pick-me-up – meaning don’t read it if you are feeling fragile – but it is a must-read no less. There is something for everyone to connect with in Demo, and it acts as a reminder that we are all more human than we care to believe. - Girl's Entertainment Network
"touching... breathes with a sense of space and life rarely seen..." - ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
"wonderfully different... what the X-Men would be if they were created today." -CBR
"Wood creates really mature comics... because his characters find themselves having to grow up and see the world in entirely new ways." - Teen People
"It's that kind of book of short stories: each one sets you up for the next, and it all hangs together in a meaningful way... like a demo tape." - Graphic Novel Review
"Buffy the Vampire fans will be right at home as the problems of teen angst manifest themselves as super-powered metaphors. " IGN.com
LOCAL
"Wood, author of the hugely popular comic DMZ, has created a contemporary ballad to the idea of the open road. It's both frightening and freeing to see how identity can be as fluid as location. Megan moves from state to state, dealing with roommates and dead-end jobs and looking for an existence that befits her intelligence and desire for authenticity. She's not a lost cause; she simply chooses, for personal reasons, to drift a while." --NPR - Best Graphic Novels Of 2008
"Brian Wood is the master of the single-issue comic, which is infinitely harder than the ongoing story the way writing a short story is infinitely harder than writing a novel. Every detail must be loaded with meaning, and any missing piece can bring the whole house of cards down. He’s found his artistic match in Ryan Kelly, and together they’ve created one of the most complete portraits of a person that I’ve read not just in comics, but anywhere." - Bust Magazine
"Even though each story could technically stand on its own, they're best read in one breathless sitting... A-" - The Onion A/V Club
"If you want to know what a quality indie looks like read [Local]... One of the best ongoing indie comics of the last 3 years" - Blair Butler / G4TV
"Wood ingeniously sifts through the grit of the ugliest human emotions and depicts relationships that rustle them to the surface. Local’s vignettes are buoyed by [artist] Ryan Kelly’s sense of movement and thick painterly lines." -Playboy.com
"So big ups to Wood and Kelly. They’re working in some kind of magical synchronicity, they’ve got a concept the biz has never seen, and they’re at the forefront of the movement to revitalize the standalone issue in comics... In fact, at three issues in I’m confident enough in the series to start thinking of it as an early frontrunner for best miniseries of ’06." - AICN |
