DMZ #69

Written by Brian Wood
Art by Riccardo Burchielli

My, but sometimes a twenty-page story can feel very short.  In this issue, Matty Roth continues his good-bye tour of Manhattan before both he and us, the readers, leave it forever.  Matty knows that he's going to be detained (or perhaps disappeared) as part of the deal he arranged with the US government, but is using his remaining time to finish organizing his notes and to visit each of the 'Five Nations' of the new New York.

We travel with him first to Chinatown, where the residents are holding a memorial service for Wilson, their leader and protector through the years of conflict.  Wilson was always one of the more interesting characters in this comic - he seemed almost other-worldly at times, but there was an issue that focused on him about a year ago (I think) that revealed a great deal about his character.  What I like in this part of this comic (aside from the terrific crowd scenes drawn by Buchielli), is the way in which Matty wrestles with his feelings for Wilson, and the surprise he feels upon learning that Wilson viewed him as a friend, as opposed to a convenient partner at times.

After that, Matty and Zee make their way to Parktown, the region surrounding and including Central Park.  It was the way Wood made use of the Park in the earliest issues of this comic that helped solidify my loyalty, but now the Ghosts who looked after it are gone, or in the case of Soames, ghosts of their former selves.

Perhaps its indulgent to spend the last five issues of a series running this long saying good-bye to characters and locales, but being the sentimental creature that I am, I'm enjoying it a great deal.