Right now there is social revolution that I have not seen in my 25 years of being alive. Millions of people all around the globe are participating in the #OccupyWallStreet protests, aimed at taking back control from privately funded businesses with close, bribery-based ties to state and government. Even though riots and protests in Greece and other parts of Europe have been going on since the Summer, not to mention the recent uprisings throughout the Arab world, this is only the beginning, and in the United States it is all emanating from New York City.
Brian Wood is a master of the craft. Heavy metal on paper. I have been reading both Northlanders and DMZ, Wood’s long running but soon ending series from Vertigo, and the anger in them is fierce. There is a constant recognition that control is out of bounds, that someone above pulls the strings and the more in control you feel, the less you really are.
In DMZ Matty Roth is led by warring factions, including the U.S. Government and it’s military allies, as he searches for meaning and purpose in a not-too-distant future world war the country has been split by a small, but powerful, civil war. As the series reaches it’s conclusion little has changed: treaties we’re signed but the bombs still fall, instead of houses for the displaced resorts for the wealthy are erected. Increasingly relevant as we enter 10 years of non-stop war with no end in sight.
Northlanders is much more locally based, following tales of individuals caught in a time when civility is a rare breed. Invading Christians from the South, family grudges, and individualistic greed antagonize heros bent on living just and orderly lives among the swamp of this ever-changing world. Every page oozes with the anger for the perfection we will never know, the lost age of the forefathers, the sulking admission of existence in a tarnished world. Northlanders #45 is just another chapter in this odyssey for the soul.
The fourth of a nine part story, ‘Conversion 999‘ joins a fifth generation daughter from the founding family of Iceland. The Haukson’s are violent and wealthy, leading a large private army as well as controlling most of the business on the island. A bitter family feud has disrupted the lives of citizens who could care less, and at this point lines are being drawn in the sand, literally, and our heroine must take up the sword to end the war men never could.
The story moves briskly, a new scene every 2 or 3 pages. There is a deep plot of conspiracy afoot, with tensions running high. Between the large plot movements are very heartwarming scenes of family bonds and diligence, not to mention fiery orders that send chills up the spine. The feud has gone on long enough, blood will be spilled. The action sequences are largely implied or off panel, but no less brutal in thought.
The art is sharp and to the point, never wasting a panel, with very thought out angles giving us panoramic takes of small conversations that provide a larger scope to view this family from. There are several small beats, a smile turning to darting eyes, a kind friend coming for conversation shifting to a conniving general in the blink of an eye, that spell out the thoughts of the characters with no inner dialogue necessary. Backgrounds range from dark, moody conversation pieces to lush forests and long beaches. The tiny details build this world that I can’ stand to see go in a mere 20 pages.
In a time of anger take a moment to examine our ancestors. There are far too many examples of uprisings and territorial takeovers to began naming randomly, instead think about the individual and the decisions that are made in situations like these. More than most other writers, Brian Wood, a resident of New York City, speaks to the voice of the young in a voice that they didn’t even know they had. It is aware of the red tape and technological dependence that shackles us to the world we are fighting, lashing out at a society they never wanted to be a part of, aware of the underground that is always accessible but harder to live. His raw stories of Northern Europeans in pre-civilization are prime examples of the strength we should all wish upon this new generation.
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