Under the backdrop of an American Civil War between the U.S Government and the Free States, Manhattan is now a no-man’s land. Enter Matty Roth, photo journalist-intern who gets stranded in NYC. The island is an armed camp divided and subdivided by neighborhoods, streets and buildings. Colorful characters roam freely.This has an Escape From New York meets Mister Rogers Neighborhood vibe as Matty explores NYC and meets up with a variety of armed and dangerous characters.Mr. Rogers: Hi neighbor. I

So years ago I tried this series and didn't like it at all. Now that I read a lot more Brian Wood stuff and enjoyed a lot of it I decided to try this series again. Is it good? Well...Matty Roth, our main hero, is stuck in a battleground. On his first mission as a intern he enters the city only for most of his crew, well all of it, to be killed. No spoilers, this happens in the first 15 pages, and the rest of the story is him remaining in the city trying to be a journalist. Through the various ne...

It's Civil War, Dude... Cool!The premise sounds interesting enough: "With overseas wars bogging down the Army and National Guard, the U.S. government mistakenly neglects the very real threat of anti-establishment militias scattered across the United States. Like a sleeping giant, Middle America rises up, sparking a second American civil war."The problem is this would not be a Brian Wood story if it wasn't seriously lacking in substance and trying way too hard to make up for it with hipster chara...

Excellent. So good, in fact, that I almost didn't go back to work from my lunch hour. Been a long time since i've considered faking a flat tire for a book. ;) An excellent story, set in Manhattan of the future, when there is a civil war going on, and a young journalism intern is left behind in the dmz. I can't wait to read the next volume! Great art, fantastic story.

Love the core concept, and seen as a complete series it's probably great (i'm reading it). But, as a stand alone book, the author could have ended it better (it's a chapter, doesn't have the feeling of a partial ending). The artwork is great and suits the storyline perfectly.

In the not-too-distant-future, a new civil war has erupted between the United States of America and the secessionist Free States Army. Both factions have declared the island of Manhattan a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), leaving those inside to fend for themselves. An intern with Liberty News Network, Matty Roth, has elected to live in the zone and document life inside the war-torn Big Apple.As the opening trade in a lengthy series, On The Ground does a great job establishing the conflict, as well as

It seems odd to me that the latest batch of 'sophisticated', 'mature' titles so often leave little to the imagination, as if the reader cannot be trusted to arrive at their own conclusions. It's a shame to see such a lack of subtlety in a medium which responds so well to a light, suggestive touch. I don't want to be one of those guys who talks about how 'the old days were better', but I just find most newer titles to be lacking in depth and complexity.In the book's opening, there is a shot of th...

America goes through another civil war and the line is drawn on the Eastern seaboard, the de-militarised zone is the island of Manhattan. Matty Roth, an intern for a popular news outlet, is sent to the DMZ to assist the seasoned reporters collect stories but his group are ambushed and he finds himself the sole survivor. He decides to stay and do what he can in documenting the lives of the surviving peoples on Manhattan. Welcome to DMZ. I think Vertigo put out the best comics series out there and...

Given away (to Craig?)I picked up this book (and the second volume) based on reading a couple very positive reviews, but when push comes to shove, I'm not too terribly impressed with it.It's a neat idea, certainly. America is in the midst of its second civil war, and New York is right on the dividing line between the federal government and the Free States movement, with Manhattan serving as the titular demilitarized zone. But despite the many glowing reviews from a variety of major news sources

Surprisingly prescient with all the CHOP (the autonomous zone formerly known as CHAZ) stuff going on, Brian Wood’s ‘07 leftist revolutionary fantasy enjoys a well earned fresh read for our chaotic times. What happens to a pasty faced and naive journalist who finds himself dumped into a war zone that is the recently civil war enflamed New York? Read to find out but, Mr. Woods (at least for this volume) has a penned a solidly enjoyable read of a modern Dante, with a Beatrice to boot, sandwiched in...

It's decent, the art is pretty good and the story is quite nice. I like the Civil War environment and it gives the vibe of a journalist stranded in a war-zone, the characters are decent our main boy Matthew is okay, I guess, he is nothing amazing in terms of a character not noteworthy. I would say the one that steals the show is Zee, she would be an awesome main character, much more interested in her than Matthew she has the brave yet irreverent energy that I quite like in a character.

There's something quite American in fantasizing about total destruction of known social environment. The amount of dystopian YA fiction these days is staggering. That's not to say that DMZ is somehow a YA book, but it still follows the same logic. Within the context of present-day US culture, concept of full scale war on domestic soil is a terrifying one. Popular culture knows this and milks it well. It stands to reason, seeing as the last time that happened was during the Civil War. For rest of...

Ok, I dunno if this was the tipping point in my education, but this was the FIRST graphic novel that actually sucked me in similar to how I immerse myself in novels. I really think it was the art that instantly hooked me. I am relieved, because I thought I would never "GET" graphic novels, but this one I HAD to know what was gonna happen next, I really was interested in the characters (and cared about them for once) and the world really drew me in. I love loved it, and I will be instantly purcha...

This was OK, but based on all the rave reviews I was expecting something more. I like the basic concept of DMZ, and will probably continue to read more of it, even though I wasn't crazy about the first volume (which comprises the first five issues of the DC/Vertigo series).DMZ takes place in Manhattan in a near future in which Middle America (a.k.a. "The Free States") has declared war on the rest of the country (a.k.a. "The United States of America") and pushed east all the way through to New Je...

A hundred million years ago, when I was in high school, I thought war was cool. And maybe even rad. I read stories of warriors from prior eras and about the glory and honour found in a battlefield death for a good cause. I licked my chops in adulant glee while devouring films like Red Dawn and Edge of Darkness. The thought of dying and killing for the good of the homeland was a relishment. I was, in fact, a moron.Sure, I had been sold a bill of goods, the lie that war is glorious and that dying

What a great concept - something right out of a movie John Carpenter should have made. DMZ is ongoing series about life on Manhattan island during the second Civil War - this one a battle between the Free States (everything from New Jersey inland) and the United States (now just Brooklyn, Queens, and the rest of Long Island).This is story of Matty Roth, a kid with connections in the still strong US media, getting a job as a cameraman for a Pulitzer prize winning journalist. Matty is left behind,...

America is going through its second civil war, the country split between the US Government and the FSA, the Free States. And lying smack in middle, is the demilitarized zone previous known as New York. This is the setting of Brian Wood & Riccardo Burchielli's DMZ, Vol. 1: On the Ground. This is where rookie reporter Matty Roth finds himself in, following a FUBAR insertion where his whole team, including the Pulitzer prize winning team leader were killed. Overtime he grows into the role of a seas...

I returned graphic Novel last month ( tht ended up on my shelves by mistake) and well I found myself hurrying for a choice in a vast Public store, with th aid of friends.. Various choices presented there, but I was in the constant pressure of 2 friends. Finally I found myself holding 2 choices, and recalling how I was " " in dystopian/war mongers scenarios I tuoght I might as well give it a try. But several factors left me unsutisfied. For once, I lik'd the premise that War was moved in the U.

It was pretty hard to maintain my acceptance of the premise. Basically, it appears Manhattan is a demilitarized zone between the so called "Free States" and the rest of the United States after a second Civil War has broken out. A famous journalist is going into Manhattan to see what life is like there and gets killed, leaving only his first time intern alive to carry on as a journalist. There's no explanation really of who is who, the Free States and the US. I couldn't really picture an American...

I really enjoyed this Volume 1 of DMZ, collecting issues 1-5. Civil War has been raging in NYC for 5+yrs now, and a kid gets the chance of a lifetime to accompany the Pulitzer-Prize winning photo-journalist into the DMZ in Manhattan and document life there. Well shit goes sour fast...our boy (Matty) finds himself flung headfirst into what's really going on there, and sees that it is nothing like what they tell the rest of the world. The story is interesting, and I always enjoy Dystopian/Post-Apo...