DMZ #38

Written by Brian Wood
Art by Riccardo Burchielli

War Powers continues with another very strong issue. Matty's disillusion with Parco Delgado grows, as Matty is dumped in the position of having to acquire the urban legendary Chinatown Gold from his friend Wilson. That goes okay - it's good to have friends - but then when Matty comes under fire, the identity of the people that Parco sends to extract him is a big surprise to him.

Even though this is the 2nd part of a new story arc, the beginning pages of this issue provide a detailed description of the new status quo in New York, making this a perfect place for new readers to dive in to this incredible series.

Woods seems to be increasingly focusing on themes of power and trust in this comic. As Matty was slowly embraced by the DMZ community, and especially by Zee, I always found it ironic that the military contractors worked for Trustwell. More and more, it doesn't seem like a coincidence. Now it is Matty's trust in Parco that is being put to the test, and we are beginning to wonder if Delgado's sudden appearance in the political scene wasn't something maneuvered and planned from the beginning. There are a lot of layers to this book, and I find that as it continues, I enjoy digging deeper and deeper into it.