DMZ (de-militarised zone) is the story of America's "second civil war" - a violent split between the US governed states and the so-called 'free' states... slap-bang in the middle of which is the former Manhattan island. Trainee journalist Matty Roth finds himself stranded there - the only surviving reporter in the city. Does he try to get out to safety... or does he stay and try to get the story of those still living in the DMZ to the outside world? Well, there wouldn't be much of a book if he just buggered off, would there?

Read the full review at my blog. ( )

This is basically a post-apocalypse or post-collapse scenario, in NYC, and a look at how the city and its people function afterwards, as told from the perspective of a young, twentysomething inexperienced journalist.

I think the violence and language are too gratuitous, and too casual, even for a book set in a war zone. In some ways it's coming from that 'guy' mentality, and it makes the book read a little like a blockbuster action movie. But the parts that explore the city and its denizens and how they are coping are fantastic and mostly make up for the rest.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to get into a new ongoing comic series, as well as to anyone who likes post-apocalyptic fiction or fiction that explores cities. ( )

http://www.piruett.se/2007/09/24/sams... ( )

There's a civil war going on in North America. Long Island belongs to one side, New Jersey belongs to the other, and Manhattan is the DMZ. A young reporter gets stranded there and has to find a way to survive, and hopefully send back some exclusive news.

The comic's first impact is a visceral reminder that war is real, and that modern war happens to everyday people in the place where they live. Amid the horrific vision of a bombed-out lower Manhattan, you're forced to remember that the realities of bombed-out Baghdad (and countless other places as well, but especially Baghdad) are just as close to home.

Premise aside, the book's plot and characters are interesting enough to carry you through the first few issues. Future installments will tell whether they're meant to function as your guide through the nightmare landscape of urban war, or will exist as independent entities in their own right.

Original post on "All The Things I've Lost"

graphic novel, New York, post-apocalyptic fiction