Category Archives: Brian Wood

April 7, 2015 · 6:36 pm

Review: REBELS #1

If Brian Wood were a high school teacher, he’d be the one any kid could turn to. Wood is at his best when he’s writing about rebellious youth, and just plain rebels. That’s why it’s brilliant to have him on this unusual comic book project. For those who read comic books, when was the last time you read a compelling comic book series set in the American Revolution. Never? Well, here it is.

Wood loves to get his readers deep into the story. He succeeds here as we can’t help but root for Seth, a boy with a very distant father. And then nothing is ever the same again. It turns out that his old man is keenly interested in killing redcoats. And he means to teach his son all he knows. And, before it’s too late, he might even get to express his love for his son.

In the first issue of “Rebels,” we begin a six-chapter arc, “A Well-Regulated Militia.” It is all about the education of one Seth Abbott. Wood does a fine job of laying out Seth’s journey as he, lucky for everyone around him, finds his voice. In time, Seth becomes a man who matters and who can contribute to the rebel cause.

Art bt Andrea Mutti perfectly compliments Wood’s script with authentic settings and characters. It’s very important to Wood to get you inside the story and he certainly succeeds with that.

Yes, if Brian Wood were a high school teacher, he’d be more concerned with a student understanding a subject than whether he or she got an A. So far, “Rebels” has got an A and it looks like it will maintain it.

“Rebels #1” is available as of April 8. For more details, visit our friends at Dark Horse Comics right here.

THE MASSIVE #13 Review

Brian Wood’s “The Massive” takes on Manhattan in Issue 13. And we are off to an awesome start with cover art by J.P. Leon.

I saw “World War Z” over the weekend and, while I hesitate to make much of any comparisons, it is safe to say that “The Massive” is going to deliver for you that dystopian fix in a more substantial way than this movie. Now, I did enjoy the movie but it was more about action than delving into a world on a deep level. As is too often the case, I assume you’ll find a more coherent plot in the novel. “The Massive” manages quite nicely to geek out a fully realized world in a comic book format and leaves you ready for even more details.

You can say that Mr. Wood has taken these dystopian tropes around the block a few times already but he seems to always be good for a new take on them. “The Massive” has so far been moving along steadily and convincingly. It’s doing what its reader base expects and it won’t disappoint new readers.

In the first of a three-issue story, “Americana,” we find the crew of The Kapital, the ramshackle vessel on its valiant journey in a post-everything world, on the heels of a baddie in a submarine. He’s made his way to what is left of Manhattan, which is nothing. The Kapital’s captain asks the punk chick on board for advice, since it is assumed she’s a city rat steeped in secret knowledge. She asks him if going to see a show and then crashing on some guy’s couch qualifies as valuable intel and then gives him a kindly smirk.

Garry Brown does a beautiful job of bringing out the gritty reality of seeing one of the great cities on the planet reduced to a heap of flooded and useless junk. Grim and intense coloring, by Jordie Bellaire, and urgent and blunt lettering by Jared K. Fletcher, punctuate the data that ensues throughout, urgent news like the nation’s capital has been forced to relocate to higher ground in Denver. Cut off from the military, vital intel, and basic infrastructure, the nation’s capital is on very shaky ground. Yeah, this is geeked-out dystopian fun.

“The Massive #13” is out on June 26. If you’ve been considering checking out “The Massive,” this is an excellent jumping on point. Visit our friends at Dark Horse Comics.

DARK HORSE COLLECTS BRIAN WOOD’S CHANNEL ZERO

If you’re into comics, there’s a very good chance you’re a fan of Brian Wood. Here’s your chance to get the comic that started it all. Oh, yeah, you’d also most likely be a fan of Becky Cloonan too.

Watch for CHANNEL ZERO. The press release follows:

DARK HORSE COLLECTS CHANNEL ZERO!

THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION OF BRIAN WOOD’S FIRST SERIES!

December 12, MILWAUKIE, OR – Out of print and unavailable to readers for more than three years, Dark Horse Comics is giving new life to a critically acclaimed classic with the complete collection of Brian Wood’s Channel Zero!

DMZ and The Massive creator Brian Wood launched an all-out assault on the comics medium in 1997 with Channel Zero, an influential, forward-thinking series that combined art, politics, and graphic design in a unique way. Hitting on themes of freedom of expression, hacking, cutting-edge media manipulation, and police surveillance, it remains as relevant today as it did back then.

The Channel Zero collection contains the original series; the prequel graphic novel, Jennie One (illustrated by Becky Cloonan); the best of the two Public Domain design books; and almost fifteen years of extras, rarities, short stories, and unused art. Also featuring the now-classic Warren Ellis introduction and an all-new cover by Wood, this is the must-have edition. A blistering take on media control in a repressive future America!

“Channel Zero is literally the start of my comics career, the first proper comic I ever made, and as such as informed everything that’s come after it, especially DMZ and the upcoming THE MASSIVE.” Tells Brian Wood. “It also put me and Becky Cloonan together, helping build a creative partnership that has lasted a decade. This edition here is the definitive one, including everything worth printing, including a color section that includes the original covers to the single issues.”

Praise for Brian Wood & Channel Zero:

“Wood’s message is clear enough: apathy is the real enemy, and it is harder to fight than any totalitarian government.”—Wired

“It’s about anger as a positive force of creation…Someone’s remembered what comics are for. Meet Brian Wood.”—Warren Ellis, award-winning writer of Planetary

“Dramatic Black and White visuals…Controlled sense of rhythm.” — I.D. magazine

“Your handbook for the media revolution.”—Eyeball magazine

“Strangely prescient… lucid and sharp” – Matt Fraction

“A seemingly endless barrage of powerful art” – Newtype USA

“Fascinating… this is a paranoid future Grant Morrison could not conceive of” – Comics International

The Channel Zero Collection is on sale May 30^th, 2012!