Brian Wood – Comics + Graphic Novels

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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The Professional Germophobe, originally uploaded by brianwood.

We were killing time this morning in Babies R Us and were offered a free portrait in their “Kiddie Kandids” studio, which is their version of a Sears Portrait Studio. Why not? Good for a laugh. We chose a lovely background, and the only prop Audrey wanted – and wouldn’t let go of – was a large bottle of Purell. The ladies running the place were horrified when we wouldn’t stop laughing. My little germaphobe.

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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DMZ, another year of stories: 264 pages.

Northlanders, another year: 264 pages.

Demo, six issue miniseries: 132 pages.

The New York Four, the sequel book we signed contracts for, will happen this year.  I’m chatting with DC about format still, but assuming right now it’s not any shorter or longer than the first book: 144 pages.

Something Unannounced: 176 pages (might possibly bleed into 2010, but hopefully not)

I have some ideas I’d love to see done, DMZ specials, a short graphic novel, etc.  But that’s all in the theoretical category right now.  I can guesstimate 100 pages, since I fully intend to at least start on something shortly.

2009: give or take 1,080 pages of comics written.

Unless I die.

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I found a bunch of people on Facebook from my high school years, and with that a lot of photo albums of old local punk rock and hardcore bands that I knew.  Here is a picture of, I believe, local NYHC-style band COLORBLIND, playing some random street in Burlington, VT.

I love the mix of skaters, punk rock kids, rednecks, and assorted losers milling about.  Pretty much par for the course.  Somewhere, I have an old cassette copy of the COLORBLIND demo…

(found on Jason Damien Us’ page)

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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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LOCAL- Washington, D.C., originally uploaded by funrama.

Another masterful drawing of Megan from our book LOCAL. © Ryan Kelly.

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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The start of the four-part, post-election, Parco Delgado-flavored WAR POWERS story.

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“I’d like to thank those who’ve listened and enjoyed the story, and since those who don’t like it won’t ever be satisfied, let them enjoy their own misery – Amen.”

- The Saga of Gongu-Hrolf

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NPR’s Best Graphic Novels of 2008

This graphic novel in 12 short stories follows punky dreamer Megan McKeenan as she roams America. Each short represents a different year in a different city, as she takes odd jobs, gets into creepy relationships and lives the extended childhood of many 20-somethings. Though she often lies and gets into dodgy situations, Megan approaches people with the instinctive wisdom that only young wanderers have. 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.

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cover+northlanders_16, originally uploaded by brianwood.

(© Massimo Carnevale)

This is for the final installment of “The Cross + The Hammer”.

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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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More Megan Please, originally uploaded by funrama.

© Ryan Kelly

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DMZ #39
Written by Brian Wood
Art by Riccardo Burchielli
Cover by John Paul Leon
“War Powers” part 3 of 4. Deep in Chinatown, Matty strikes it rich – at least for his bosses. Now he has a long fight back through the war-torn streets of New York. What’s the money for, anyway? And what “game changer” does Parco have planned?
On sale February 11

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NORTHLANDERS #15
Written by Brian Wood
Art by Ryan Kelly
Cover by Massimo Carnevale
“The Cross + The Hammer” part 5 of 6. Magnus’ past is revealed, and if you thought it was impossible for him to get more dangerous, he just did. But Ragnar’s tightening the noose, and Magnus is running out of room to maneuver. Thousands of men fight on a battlefield in Clontarf while these two men wage their own game of death.
On sale February 25

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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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I bought Audrey a Fisher-Price toy digital camera last night, and here are some of this morning’s shots:

1. IMG_0018, 2. IMG_0022, 3. IMG_0005, 4. IMG_0036, 5. IMG_0038, 6. IMG_0025, 7. IMG_0010, 8. IMG_0023, 9. IMG_0032, 10. IMG_0008, 11. IMG_0040, 12. IMG_0037, 13. IMG_0004, 14. IMG_0015, 15. IMG_0039, 16. IMG_0019

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Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, last summer.

Full size here, here, here, here.

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…wandering… sick as a dog and my malaria pills are kilometers away… this gun jams sometimes so I must pick my targets carefully… perhaps the jeep down there has petrol in its tank…

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