Publisher: DC/Vertigo

Rating: 18+

Release date: February 10, 2010

Verdict: 10/10

For the last four plus years, Brian Wood has really made a name for himself at DC’s adult comics line, Vertigo. His work was already pretty cool before he got there; Just check out his graphic novella series from AiT/PlanetLar, The Couriers, with artist RobG, or his various Oni Press series Local (w/Ryan Kelly) & Demo (w/Becky Cloonan). But since Mr. Wood has made Vertigo his home, he’s created some of my favourite books month-in and month-out.

The first long form creator owned series Brian created for Vertigo was the modern civil war drama, DMZ (short for De-Militarized Zone), starring Matty Roth, an unintentional journalist, who is now considered the “voice” of the DMZ. This series takes place in Manhattan in the not too distant future. The kicker about this series is that the Manhattan it takes place in, is a Manhattan that is front and center in a second American civil war. It’s a high concept series, and in all honesty, it was a book that I thought would be cancelled before its 25^th issue. Now don’t get me wrong. That statement wasn’t a bash on the series. It’s just that it today’s comic book climate, high concept series don’t always get a fair shake. Just look at series like American Century, American Virgin, Testament, etc. All of these books were from Vertigo, and all had a hook. AND ALL OF THEM WERE PREMATURLEY CANCELED. The fact that this amazing book has made it to issue #50, gives me hope for all the funky concept series that Vertigo publishes (Air, Unknown Soldier, The Unwritten, to name a few).

So what was issue #50 like? Not only were there some fantastic guest artists along for the ride (see artist list), but the story was one of the best that Mr. Wood has ever written in the pages of DMZ. When last we left the DMZ in issue #49, Matty had been responsible for a horrifying tragedy. Issue #50 doesn’t so much pick up where #49 left off, but really acts as an inside look into Matty’s life and role in the current DMZ. The issue is appropriately titled Notes from the Underground, and that’s exactly what it is. We see snippets from stories that Matty has been collecting since he came to the DMZ. Stories like Matty acting as a kind of go-between for an NGO that represents a massive telecommunications outfit that has no real idea what the war is about and what the situation on the ground is; Matty meeting with an insanely rich resident who has taken it upon himself to hide and protect various priceless works of art that were stuck in Manhattan when the war started, but is now at a crossroads as to what the next step will be; Matty meeting with and secretly recording a very high security conversation with the leader of the Free States of America (our first glimpse of him) at his hideout in the woods of New Jersey; and Matty having lunch with the most powerful warlord in Manhattan, the ruler of Chinatown, Wilson. All of these stories plus one page interludes by comic book legends like Jim Lee, Lee Bermejo, Philip Bond, Eduardo Risso, and Dave Gibbons.

What I find crazy about this 50th issue, is that it can possibly act as introduction to the series. You get way more out of it if you’ve been reading Wood’s DMZ since day one, but you can pick up this issue and then proceed to get into the book from this point on. Since I’ve been doing these reviews for our favourite site, thecomicbookshoppe.com, I have yet to give a 10/10. Well, that is the case no more. This issue was my top pick this week, and it shouldn’t be missed. BRING ON THE NEXT 50!! J