DMZ #53 – Review

by Brian Wood (writer), Riccardo Burchielli (art), Jeromy Cox (colors), and Jared K. Fletcher (letters)

The Story: While the situation in the DMZ worsens, Matty tries to survive his encounter with some unhappy Delgado relations.

What’s Good: As you might expect, MIA has proven to be a real downer of an arc.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that of course.

For instance, look no farther than the issue’s ending, which is a perfect fusion of a smaller, personal tragedy with a larger, more overarching catastrophe.  In a massive bombing, New York City loses a landmark in a catastrophe that also causes Matty to lose one of the landmarks of his time in the DMZ and his life in general.  NYC loses an icon and Matty loses a friend.  It’s a perfect blend of the public and the private.

That’s a theme that goes through much of this issue.  All of the DMZ is united in destruction.  As Matty dives for cover, so too does the faceless host of Radio Free DMZ on the other side of town.  This is a theme that Wood has continually returned to, and it’s always a good one.  It’s also well used by the unifying, desperate voice of the radio transmissions.

Perhaps more powerful than anything else, however, is Matty’s new-found role.  Well, perhaps “newly realized” is more apt.  Matty realizes that he is not a power player or an active participant; he’s a historian.  It’s an empowering moment of self-recognition and a great direction for Matty, and the comic in general.  Best of all is how Wood makes it clear that this is exactly what Matty’s role has been all along.  Though he didn’t realize it, he’d been fulfilling this function through it all, even between his loftier ambitions.

On art, this is some of Burchielli’s best work in a while.  He puts out a ton of emotion.  His explosions are awe inspiring in scale and unity.  Meanwhile, his illustrations of Matty are really well done, particularly when he juxtaposes Matty across the comic’s run, comparing his various physical profiles.  While Wood’s script emphasizes his perpetual role as record-keeper, it’s Burchielli’s art that really makes this realization hit home, drawing together and fusing the various Matty Roths of the past with that of the present.

What’s Not So Good: The introduction of Rose Delgado and Matty’s encounter with her and her goons introduced in last month’s cliffhanger was somewhat underwhelming.  I expected Rose in particular to play a bigger part not just in this issue, but in this arc as a whole.  In the end, Wood seems merely to use Rose as a means to an end.  After having Matty tortured, she is the one who makes Matty realize his role as the record-keeper.  Judging from this issue, this was Rose’s sole purpose.  The rest of it is just padding.  It’s very strange to see this encounter with a character, and a force, so major be so cursory and fleeting.

Also, a minor note, but Wood really is constantly flirting with self-pity on Roth’s part.  He never fully dives in, thankfully, but once in a while, there’s the odd caption or line of dialogue that’s just a little too heavy on the self-loathing, in this case the caption on the last page.

Conclusion: A really strong issue of DMZ.

Grade: B+

-Alex Evans