A review by lukeisthename34
DMZ, Vol. 12: The Five Nations of New York by Brian Wood
5.0
Our world is changing, and so part of it more than America. As we see unrest like we've never known, many people worry that a situation of 'civil war' is on the horizon, if not already being fought in a virtual way online and through ideals. Many wonder what a war within the US would look like. What would start it? What would it mean? Who would fight for what?
In the twelve volumes of DMZ, the questions are answered and the path is so clearly laid out for us to observe that we only ignore it at our own risks.
The truth is in war, there are no winners. There are no American ideals worthy of killing each other over. There are no clean hands and unbridled souls should it ever come to this. Wood makes this clear. There are no happy endings to be had. There is only blood, guilt and confusion.
From the start we rooted for Matt Roth as he became that rarest of journalist. One that wanted to tell a story, even if it cost them their lives. One braver than those of us who sit back and read and watch and tut-tut over what we partake from the media at large. But for Matty he became more than a reporter. He became part of the story, part of the war, part of the heartache and then, its greatest causality and saddest martyr.
But, and this is where Wood really speaks truth, Matty ends up deserving every bit of what comes to him. Matty, becoming something more, something dishonest to himself, changes his own being and the outcome of the war.
There is a scene in an earlier volume where Matty orders an attack that accidentally kills a group of innocent people. In my mind, everything that lead up to that moment, and everything after, no matter how good or bad, sums up why Matty could never be the 'hero' again.
This is the truth Wood conveys. There are very few 'observers' in a war. There are profiteers, there are schemers, there are those thirsty for money or blood (you decide which is worse)and those that think they are none of these but are secretly all.
Matty learns this at the end, that there are moments that change us beyond a point of no return. It's the moment that we are all in now. As someone else said, this series was a love letter to New York, but I also view it as a cautionary tale to us all.
Everyday we throw a jab at someone else about a topic; abortion, gun rights, gay marriage, food processing. Whatever it is, we don't listen. We speak in memes and threats and all knowing declarations of what the future will hold if 'we don't act now' or 'we don't delay action'. We're pulling ourselves apart over nothing and eventually, we'll pull so far apart we'll never rebound.
DMZ gives us a peak at what a war inside America will look like. Dark. Ugly. Unrecoverable and tragic. But it also gives us a peak at what we can be. Zee. A woman that never stops fighting for the health and well being of others that she barely knows.
For all that Matty could have been in the story, Zee is. This is what we must make a choice as Americans. Do we want to pretend to have high ideals that we are willing to die (but more willing to kill) for? Only to have those ideals change and morph as it benefits us?
Or do we want to do everything we can to protect those around us? Even if that means laying down our own lives?
We have three choices before us and Brian Wood lays them out so perfectly I can't imagine a better way to summarize all of this.
1) Pick up a 'pen' Document the world as it goes around us with a camera, a blog, a Facebook page. Tell the story as impartially as we can, which is perhaps impossible since there is a school of thought that even being impartial is being partial. Matty found this out in every corner of NYC.
2) Pick up a 'gun'. A gun can be a real gun, or a gun can simply be harsh words that seem so absolute that they might as well be carved on our tombstone. A gun can be a lack of communication with those we disagree with. So you may pick up that gun (or by your deeds force another to do so) and see where that takes you. Matty found this out with thousands of deaths on his head.
3) Pick up 'another'. Find those that need it, and help them rise. Speak to the rival. Hear out the opposing viewpoint and concede where possible. More than that, put yourself in harm's way. Stand between the proverbial 'sniper' and the downed 'target'. Bandage the wounds that need healing, and never leave your bag behind.
DMZ ends in a way that is both noble and heartbreaking. We know the wages of war and what they can cost us. Will we accept the gift that Brian Wood has given us with the foresight of what war in a city in the US would look like? Or will we close the book and just move on back to Twitter to yell at someone about some minor difference of opinion?
That's up to you.
Long live the DMZ.
In the twelve volumes of DMZ, the questions are answered and the path is so clearly laid out for us to observe that we only ignore it at our own risks.
The truth is in war, there are no winners. There are no American ideals worthy of killing each other over. There are no clean hands and unbridled souls should it ever come to this. Wood makes this clear. There are no happy endings to be had. There is only blood, guilt and confusion.
From the start we rooted for Matt Roth as he became that rarest of journalist. One that wanted to tell a story, even if it cost them their lives. One braver than those of us who sit back and read and watch and tut-tut over what we partake from the media at large. But for Matty he became more than a reporter. He became part of the story, part of the war, part of the heartache and then, its greatest causality and saddest martyr.
But, and this is where Wood really speaks truth, Matty ends up deserving every bit of what comes to him. Matty, becoming something more, something dishonest to himself, changes his own being and the outcome of the war.
There is a scene in an earlier volume where Matty orders an attack that accidentally kills a group of innocent people. In my mind, everything that lead up to that moment, and everything after, no matter how good or bad, sums up why Matty could never be the 'hero' again.
This is the truth Wood conveys. There are very few 'observers' in a war. There are profiteers, there are schemers, there are those thirsty for money or blood (you decide which is worse)and those that think they are none of these but are secretly all.
Matty learns this at the end, that there are moments that change us beyond a point of no return. It's the moment that we are all in now. As someone else said, this series was a love letter to New York, but I also view it as a cautionary tale to us all.
Everyday we throw a jab at someone else about a topic; abortion, gun rights, gay marriage, food processing. Whatever it is, we don't listen. We speak in memes and threats and all knowing declarations of what the future will hold if 'we don't act now' or 'we don't delay action'. We're pulling ourselves apart over nothing and eventually, we'll pull so far apart we'll never rebound.
DMZ gives us a peak at what a war inside America will look like. Dark. Ugly. Unrecoverable and tragic. But it also gives us a peak at what we can be. Zee. A woman that never stops fighting for the health and well being of others that she barely knows.
For all that Matty could have been in the story, Zee is. This is what we must make a choice as Americans. Do we want to pretend to have high ideals that we are willing to die (but more willing to kill) for? Only to have those ideals change and morph as it benefits us?
Or do we want to do everything we can to protect those around us? Even if that means laying down our own lives?
We have three choices before us and Brian Wood lays them out so perfectly I can't imagine a better way to summarize all of this.
1) Pick up a 'pen' Document the world as it goes around us with a camera, a blog, a Facebook page. Tell the story as impartially as we can, which is perhaps impossible since there is a school of thought that even being impartial is being partial. Matty found this out in every corner of NYC.
2) Pick up a 'gun'. A gun can be a real gun, or a gun can simply be harsh words that seem so absolute that they might as well be carved on our tombstone. A gun can be a lack of communication with those we disagree with. So you may pick up that gun (or by your deeds force another to do so) and see where that takes you. Matty found this out with thousands of deaths on his head.
3) Pick up 'another'. Find those that need it, and help them rise. Speak to the rival. Hear out the opposing viewpoint and concede where possible. More than that, put yourself in harm's way. Stand between the proverbial 'sniper' and the downed 'target'. Bandage the wounds that need healing, and never leave your bag behind.
DMZ ends in a way that is both noble and heartbreaking. We know the wages of war and what they can cost us. Will we accept the gift that Brian Wood has given us with the foresight of what war in a city in the US would look like? Or will we close the book and just move on back to Twitter to yell at someone about some minor difference of opinion?
That's up to you.
Long live the DMZ.