Brian Wood – Comics + Graphic Novels

This volume collects issues #29-34, the election storyline from last year.  It’s good, but don’t take my word for it… how about Greg Palast’s?  He’s the investigative journalist who, among many other things, single-handedly exposed the 2000 and 2004 voter fraud in Florida and Ohio.  Here’s a scan of his introduction.

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(click for entire article)

Ryan Kelly’s arc ends with issue #16, and you have some great artists coming in on issues #17 and 18. What can you tell CBR readers about those two issues?

These are two single-issue stories, two one-shots. The first is an ambitiously titled story called “The Viking Art of Single Combat,” and it’s just as ambitious in deed as in word. Using a 22-page swordfight as context, I run down the theories and tactics used during that time in history. I imagine a cross between the visuals of Vagabond and the language of something like Warren Ellis’s “Crecy,” but probably more detailed than that. Certainly wider in scope. Something for the History Channel set. Vasilis Lolos is drawing that one. He’s drawn “Pirates Of Coney Island,” “The Last Call,” “Pixu,” and “5,” for which he won an Eisner.

The next is “The Shield Maidens,” which takes the folktale of the Valkyries, the women warriors, and grounds it firmly into reality — takes the mythology right out of it. As you can imagine, it deals with the women of a village and what they do when all the men have been killed in a siege. We’ll have Danijel Zezelj drawing this.

Any chance of characters from earlier arcs making a return appearance? Sven, perhaps?

Sven will return, under the title “Sven The Immortal,” and of course Davide Gianfelice will draw it. I hope it’ll be soon, within the next six months, but it all depends on the schedules. Right now I have issues #19 and #20 of the series planned for Sven.

What do you have planned for “Northlanders” later this year?

After these short stories, I am working on an outline for the next longer arc, which will be at least six issues and possibly eight. I had started gathering information and writing notes for what I thought could be a prose novel about the Black Death, but for a variety of reasons I am starting to think this idea would be better served as an arc in “Northlanders.” It couldn’t be about the Black Death, since that happened way later, but I found some records of minor outbreaks and sicknesses I could use as a starting point. Like I said already, this would be set in what is Russia today. I believe Leandro Fernandez is going to draw it.

(click for entire article)

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DMZ 4
21/01/2009
DC Comics
Un quatrième album pour la série de Brian Wood, un brillant auteur, illustrateur et designer graphique qui a longtemps travaillé dans l’industrie du jeu vidéo (GTA, Max Payne…). À ses côtés, le très prometteur Riccardo Burchielli (John Doe). Le jeune journaliste Matty Roth, correspondant à New York, zone démilitarisée en proie au chaos dans la guerre civile qui ravage l’Amérique, procède à contre cœur à l’interview d’un soldat responsable d’un massacre à l’intérieur de la ville. Il apprend aussi comment New York est devenue ce qu’elle est, à travers le regard d’un enfant qui a quitté le Midwest pour se retrouver en plein cauchemar. Une série qui envisage le futur pour mieux s’interroger sur le présent.
Format : 170 x 260, 128 pages couleur.

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Click here for the full article, with answers from Jason Aaron, Brian Azzarello, G. Willow Wilson, Jock, Cliff Chiang, David Lapham, and Will Dennis.

WHAT WORK FROM 2008 ARE YOU THE MOST PROUD OF?

Brian Wood: LOCAL. The best thing I’ve done, and hopefully the first of many Ryan Kelly collabs. And the first NORTHLANDERS book, which not only got me out of my comfort zone but did the same for a lot of people who thought they knew what a comic book about Vikings was.

WHAT WORK ARE YOU THE MOST EXCITED ABOUT FOR 2009?

Brian Wood: A few upcoming NORTHLANDERS one-shots should be excellent, if only for the artists we have lined up coughRissocough. Seeing how the new DEMO books come out, and writing issue #50 of DMZ. 50! Reaching fifty issues of a series is sort of like when I hit 30 years of age. I never thought I’d make it that long.

WHAT’S YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION?

Brian Wood: I don’t make them. Each year, each week, each day I just try to make forward momentum, and improve in everything if only a little bit.

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LOCAL by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly – I could have put a bunch of stuff up here by Brian Wood but I chose Local just because of it’s amazingness and massiveness. Although I feel like I specifically relate to Brian’s stuff because we came from similar music scenes, I think anyone could relate to it. Some of the best writing out there.

Brea Grant, actor, here.

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Link to Blair Butler running down her Best Of 2008, giving both Local and Northlanders second-place spots in their respective categories.

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Back when years only had three numbers in them, men lived or died by sword and superstition. After years of blade brawls, Sven—the lead of Brian Wood’s Viking drama Northlanders (DC Comics/Vertigo, $9.99)—decides to change his warrish ways and return to his family’s estate in Orkney. But in the first collected volume of this ongoing series, Sven finds that returning home can be the most displacing (and violent) journey of all. 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. (link)

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Found here.  I hope he does more of these.

Local #1: “Intense and beautiful, as any story set in Portland should be. One scene, four outcomes. I want this girl to win & I want you to read this!”

Local #6: “Why do I care this much for Megan? The emotional torment is real. I can feel her sincerity even as she does totally retarded things.”

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DMZ #37 Review
by Daniel Crown

The map is redrawn as Matty finds a new governor in charge of New York.

December 10, 2008 – With all of the uncharacteristic optimism swelling within sympathetic liberals these days, Brian Wood finds himself at odds with a unique, mostly conjectural set of complications. As the balance of power has shifted in the United States, and a small number of the previously disenfranchised find themselves temporarily appeased, politically charged fiction has arrived at a crossroads of sorts. Wood himself has felt inclined to speak out on the issue, conveying his own personal conflictions, while at the same time attempting to calm down some of the doomsayers who seem ready to write off such stories as suddenly inconsequential. Personally, I don’t get it. Sure, ostensibly, DMZ has always been a book best suited for the apathetic, but to imply this title loses any of its luster under the umbrage of inflated ideology is horribly nearsighted, and mostly absurd.

If anything, the incongruity between the quivering conditions of the American economy and a sudden, unprecedented influx of hope, imbues DMZ with an even greater sense of pertinence – particularly in regards to the rise of power of Parco Delgado, as well as the inconsistencies that continue to wage war on Matty Roth’s conflicted psyche.

As left-leaning citizens (such as myself) are so quick to anoint the President-elect as the “cure to what ails ya”, Wood presents a stark contrast, which constitutes the worst-case scenario. What if the figurehead of hope and change falls victim to the procedural snares of executive privilege? As Delgado’s first mandate sends Matty into immediate conflict with a group of hostile-allies in Chinatown, Wood draws an interesting corollary to an applicable phenomenon.

To this point, Matty has never felt the pressure inherent in trust. Seeing as though the reporter literally took up arms for Delgado, he stands to look foolish if the newly appointed leader fails to deliver. As a former independent, Matty is overtaken with malaise and confusion, the previously prevalent apathy, which used to dictate his decisions, resurging into alarm from the threat of any eventual let downs.

For those people still flying high with hope over recent events, this book might just ground you into a more feasible, more constructive stream of thought. Instead of basking in the glory of the turning of a page, Wood uses “War Powers” to call for a movement of pronounced accountability- a refocusing of attention towards holding trusted officials to their word. This remains true even within admiration.

In the end, DMZ is nothing more than entertainment; but that said, its success remains wholly contingent on its ability to stimulate debate. And while recent events have most likely swayed the title a bit in direction, they certainly haven’t sapped it of its prevailing value. DMZ remains the perfect book for the political reader and a fun monthly reminder of the medium’s unique ability to spur thought-provoking conversation.

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I was shown a couple blog posts last night just before bed, which had me up for a few minutes thinking.  I’ll share them with you, and add my thoughts.

Both from a blog called Are You A Serious Comic Book Reader? the first mention of DMZ occured in the comments section of this post about a recent issue of Cable and a torture scene:

Is it just me or does it feel really cynical and played-out to be dealing with torture stuff now that Obama’s president? I know that’s silly but it’s sort of my feeling now towards this or ‘DMZ’ or whatever else

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i think that’s like, another reason it irked me–obama’s in, the argument is over, the pro-aggressive interrogation crowd lost this time. i mean, obviously this comic was penned months before the election took place, but still. and seriously, if DMZ doesn’t declare itself irrelevant and wrap up, i’ll never buy anther DC comic again!

I am assuming that last line is hyperbolic, but its an interesting thing they are suggesting – that the election of Obama signifies such a potential for Things To Be Different Now that examination of the last 8 years is played out or irrelevant?  I had some of these same thoughts a few weeks ago, right after the election, wondering how DMZ was going to be perceived… and more specifically, how I was going to write it from now on.

The blogger followed up on this with a new post.  It’s a good post, looking at the first issue of the current DMZ story THE ISLAND, and wondering how this shift in the overall story matches up to the election of Obama and what everyone hopes will be a permanent change for the better in both this country and in Iraq (I apologize for the clumsy summary, guys — everyone should go read that blog entry in full).

What I concluded about the future of DMZ (the series and the story) is that it will largely be unaffected by Bush going out and Obama coming in.  My cynicism is still in full effect, since it is my job to look at politics in the most cyncical way possible… and I don’t think any of us expect that, come January 20th, Obama will flick a switch and everything from that point on will get better.  From his FISA vote to the hawkish people he is appointing, to his pro-war stance on Afghanistan and Pakistan and promise to ramp UP the war there, things in these areas will no doubt stay very much the same or perhaps get worse.  And we have a long, very messy process still to complete in regards to Iraq.

Iraq is very important to DMZ, not just how it connects to us as Americans, but how the struggling government there is, well, struggling.  I’ve felt for some time now that DMZ has more in common with the Maliki government than it does with anything else, and I’ve been increasingly looking to that for inspiration for future storylines.  I don’t expect that to change.

And with all due respect to these two bloggers, they are looking at a very incomplete picture.  THE ISLAND is a two-part story only, sort of a breather before we get back to the main storyline featuring Parco Delgado and the new Manhattan government.  It’s not the start of a fundamental new shift in the series’ focus.  No doubt current events will continue to shape DMZ as a series, just like it always has.  As well written as that blog entry is, it misses the mark just a little bit.

Some points:

DMZ makes sort of an easy target because the stances it has taken have tended to the non-controversial in the sense that they comport neatly with those of the country’s nascent pseudo-anarchist anti-war movement.

I am pulling this line out for a couple reasons.  One, that I dislike any sort of broad, sweeping generalizations of my work, and two, I am not sure I even understand this.  I agree that DMZ has, by and large, not stirred up controversy, and I put that down to when the series debuted.  It came along after public opinion was mostly recognizing the war as a failure and the Bush Admin as inept (to put it very kindly).  Had the series debuted in 2002, things would have been very different*.  Also, “pseudo-anarchist”?  Everyone I know is anti-war, and they come from all walks of life and political backgrounds.  I’ve said early on that DMZ is an anti-war book… anti- not just THIS war, but war in general, and I would sincerely hope, and demand, that everyone on planet earth should be anti-war, in a very fundamental way.

(* I think of when CHANNEL ZERO came out (1997), incredibly harsh against Rudy Giuliani and his policies, and no one cared.  When I revisited those exact same themes in JENNIE ONE (2002-3), I was blasted by all kinds of people, friends too, for daring to take a shot at “America’s Mayor”.)

Wood’s attention to the shifting winds of American politics doesn’t begin with “The Island.” The recently concluded series about the election of the populist hero Parco Delgado is at base a story of the power of the human spirit in the face of incredible tragedy. The fact that Parco’s story is most emphatically not Obama’s does nothing to lessen the series’ prophetic power.

I appreciate this, seeing the clear distinction between Obama and Delgado (the tendency for a lot of readers to make that immediate connection baffled me, and I always wondered how much it had to do simply with the the color of their skin?) and again, this storyline is just getting started.  I look back and see that I wrote the first issue of the Parco-Election story in January of this year, so I probably had it plotted out in October or November of ‘07, well before Obama was on his way.  The solicitations for this arc called Parco a “Che Guevara”, and I’ve since refined my description of him to equal parts Hugo Chavez and Al Sharpton.  Just look at this photo, and you’ll make that connection.  “The power of the human spirit”, indeed… but to what end?  Parco will likely be a part of DMZ from now until the series concludes.

Obviously I don’t find DMZ irrelevent now, and I don’t think that thinking/talking/examining the impact of the Bush Regime is played out, or overly cynical (at least not any more cynical than what’s at the foundation of the book’s very premise).  And certainly this story, the story of the last 8 years of American policy is far from over, even as we move into year 9.  I think I can safely say, as much for myself as anyone else, that the instant DMZ starts to feel played-out, I will kill the book.

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“[DMZ] is a brilliant news report from inside America’s skull screaming into the future.  A future closer than you think.” – Greg Palast, from the upcoming DMZ Vol. 6

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I think I kept these guy on the phone for well over an hour with my nonsense.

Listen here.

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Northlanders #11 Review
The Vikings struggle to contain the citizens of Ireland.
by Daniel Crown

Brian Wood’s approach to is an incredibly risky one. By constantly jumping perspectives and eras, the author runs the risk of losing some of his base readership at the first sign of trouble, as there are no residual endearments to carry his audience through any potential rough patches. Luckily enough, he’s yet to take any serious missteps, and “The Cross + The Hammer” seems geared to become his most entertaining arc to date.

Switching gears to the end of a Viking dominated Ireland, Woods latest introductory installment, ostensibly, serves as a long chase scene. Yet somehow, 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.”

Despite its heavy tilt towards action, “The Cross + The Hammer” feels much smaller in scale than “Sven the Returned”, in that it drops Shakespearean dramatics in favor of an analytical look at ancestry and family obligation. Brigid’s reluctant involvement in her father’s campaign is at the same time inspiring and disturbing. In the span of a few pages, Wood sets the stage for an investigation into the extent of loyalty, as well as the moving contradictions that family allegiances can pit against one’s personal view of morality.

Speaking of diversity, I’m mildly surprised by how well Ryan Kelly drew this story. Not that I doubted his talent in anyway, it’s just that the only exposure I’d had to the artist was his work on Local, which is comparatively grounded in nature. This is a far cry from introspective Indie comics, and Kelly makes the transition seamlessly.

Though in retrospect, his adeptness for this sort of story should have been obvious. Considering the inner-debates swelling within the character of Brigid, Kelly may have been the perfect choice for this arc, in that his experience with more understated stories has given him the tools to convey emotions without descriptive dialogue. Brigid’s reluctance is painted all over her face, becoming apparent long before Wood expounds on the subject.

For those of you who haven’t picked up Northlanders to this point, now would be a perfect time to start. This arc is already showing signs of the sort of sensibilities that make Wood’s stories so relatable, even when epic in nature, providing even more proof that the author is one of the best character writers in the industry.

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“The Association Fumetterie Italiane (www.AFUI.it) presented this afternoon in the prestigious hall meetings in the building of the Chamber of Commerce, the second edition of the prize PFUI… Award for the comic of the year: DMZ by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli…”

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Here’s the complete Local #3, available on MySpace.

Here’s the complete Local #6, with commentary text written by Ryan Kelly and myself.

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“Real-life politics has played a huge role in my work, from the Rudy Giuliani ‘Quality Of Life’ regime in the ’90s to the W. Bush legacy of war, torture, illegal politics, occupation and terrorism. But this morning it was impossible to get up after a long night watching election news and put myself into the necessary pessimist headspace to work on the latest ‘DMZ’ script. It’s been a long eight years in this country, where things unimaginable only a few years before that have been committed in our name, flying in the face of our own Constitution, domestic and international law, not to mention common sense and decency. It’s impossible not to get excited even at the idea or possibility of a change, and the fact that Obama was elected so quickly and with such surety is amazing, just absolutely world-changing. As cliché as it sounds, nothing will be the same from this point on.

“So while my writing on ‘DMZ’ has trained me to look at politics in the most cynical way possible, for today at least I just pushed the keyboard back and enjoyed thinking of the best-case scenario instead.”

— Comics writer Brian Wood, who created the Vertigo title “DMZ” about a modern day American civil war, found it hard to muster the requisite cynicism to script the gritty series the morning after the Obama victory (MTV)

“Real-life politics has played a huge role in my work, from the Rudy Giuliani ‘Quality Of Life’ regime in the ’90s to the W. Bush legacy of war, torture, illegal politics, occupation and terrorism. But this morning it was impossible to get up after a long night watching election news and put myself into the necessary pessimist headspace to work on the latest ‘DMZ’ script. It’s been a long eight years in this country, where things unimaginable only a few years before that have been committed in our name, flying in the face of our own Constitution, domestic and international law, not to mention common sense and decency. It’s impossible not to get excited even at the idea or possibility of a change, and the fact that Obama was elected so quickly and with such surety is amazing, just absolutely world-changing. As cliché as it sounds, nothing will be the same from this point on.

“So while my writing on ‘DMZ’ has trained me to look at politics in the most cynical way possible, for today at least I just pushed the keyboard back and enjoyed thinking of the best-case scenario instead.”

— Comics writer Brian Wood, who created the Vertigo title “DMZ” about a modern day American civil war, found it hard to muster the requisite cynicism to script the gritty series the morning after the Obama victory (MTV)