DMZ Vol. 2: Body of a Journalist [Paperback]

Brian Wood (Author), Riccardo Burchielli (Illustrator), Kristian Donaldson (Illustrator), Lamb Of God (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 7, 2007

America's worst nightmare has come true. Having neglected the threat of anti-establishment militias, the U.S. government is in danger of losing control. Middle America has violently risen up, coming to a standstill at Manhattan or, as the world now knows it, the DMZ.

Matty Roth, a naïve, aspiring photojournalist, lands a dream gig following a veteran war journalist into the heart of the DMZ. Things soon go terribly wrong, and Matty finds himself lost and alone in a world he's only seen on television.

In this volume, Roth's star power as a wartime reporter rises both within and outside the DMZ and the embedded journalist lands the break of a lifetime: an interview with the infamous leaders of the Free Armies.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Readers might assume that they're watching a report from Baghdad as they see a suicide bomber massacring a ragged urban crowd gathered for a clean water distribution in this dark political satire. Actually, the scene is New York City, front line in a full-scale civil war between Free States rebels and the U.S. government. The main focus is Matty Roth, a kid who thought he was entering the city as mere assistant to a veteran reporter but who now finds himself an agonizingly "embedded journalist" with more power and responsibilities than he ever wanted. For Matty and readers, there's no longer any safe distance from the violence. At the same time, however, the residents of the DMZ feel unexpected, growing satisfaction at what they can do now that they've been violently freed from a government's sham protection, with only themselves to rely on. Wood's scripts present the characters' mingled pain and hope well, but Burchielli's outstanding art really sells the story by intensifying familiar urban grunge into a Third –World–like battle zone. He has a good sense of the city as a sniper-haunted landscape, from deserted streets to a maimed Statue of Liberty. This book is a disturbing, challenging success. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

On the Ground (2006) established DMZ's premise: Manhattan is a demilitarized zone in a near-future war between the U.S. military and the antiestablishment Free Armies. Body of a Journalist delves deeper into life in the urban no man's land as protagonist Matty Roth serves as a go-between in efforts to free his former boss, a renowned journalist who's been kidnapped by the Free Armies. Wood's portrayal of the struggle to survive during wartime resonates in the current political climate, and Burchielli's artwork, like the devastated Manhattan it depicts, is stark and grungy yet exciting and compelling. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (February 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401212476
• ISBN-13: 978-1401212476
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.5 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #105,388 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brian Wood released his first graphic novel, Channel Zero, in 1997 to considerable critical acclaim and has continued to create at a brisk pace ever since. Focusing almost entirely on creator-owned projects, he's become one of the most important indie creators of the last decade. Standout books include his The Couriers and Channel Zero series, Demo, Local and Supermarket. He's earned multiple Eisner Award nominations and editions of his work have been published in close to a dozen foreign markets. Currently under an exclusive contract for DC/Vertigo, Wood continues to write his unique brand of iconoclastic creator-owned work with DMZ, Northlanders, Demo and The New York Four.

Brian lives with his wife and daughter in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Getting Better All the Time, October 7, 2007

By 

Andrew Shaffer "Author, Blogger" (Iowa) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: DMZ Vol. 2: Body of a Journalist (Paperback)

Volume 2 of Brian Wood's Vertigo series provides some insights into the civil war that's divided the country and explains how Manhattan morphed into "DMZ." The bullets and bombs still fly fast and furious, and journalist Matt Roth goes from reporting to the story to becoming the story. The artwork, by Riccardo Burchielli and fill-in artist Kristian Donaldson, is nothing short of amazing--one of the better pairings of writer and artist(s) in some time in the comics world. "Body of a Journalist" is better as a whole than the first collection, although I give both collections the thumbs-up.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost As Good As Vol. 1, June 2, 2007

By 

S. Blais (Davis,CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: DMZ Vol. 2: Body of a Journalist (Paperback)

DMZ is an amazing comic and I'm so glad I got into it. As fun as read the 2nd set for DMZ: Body of A Journalist, it just didn't strike me the way the first one did. By no stretch of the imagination am I saying it was bad, far from it. I gobbled up every page with my eyes as quick as possible, and was left wanting more. I enjoyed meeting the odd group of people in the first Volume more, even though the story in the second seems a little more fleshed out.
If you like reading DMZ Vol. 1, DMZ Vol. 2 will satisfy you just fine.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This series is highly excellent!, March 16, 2007

By 

Matthew Senne "literate fellow" (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: DMZ Vol. 2: Body of a Journalist (Paperback)

Volume 2 is, if anything, better than Volume 1. How this came to pass is beyond my reckoning, but let me just say that Brian Wood can WRITE and Riccardo Burchielli has a difficult name to spell. Also, he can DRAW. Seriously, these guys bring a richly detailed world to life with gritty violence, complex characters, and highly topical political issues.

The storylines in this particular book delve deeper into the governmental involvement in the DMZ and give us a brief glimpse of the Free States fighters. And if the violence doesn't turn you on, I guarantee you that there is sex. Not enough? Someone's head gets shot with a bullet. Deal with it!

This volume wraps up with a recap of the places and people of the DMZ - literally a travellers guide to a warzone. Well worth the wait.