A Close Look at DMZ Part 11: Matty Comes First

"The Island", despite how tonally different it feels, serves a valuable service: it allows the series to time jump the two months between Parco Delgado being elected and taking office without having to find something for Matty to do in Manhattan during that period of limbo. When Matty returns following his absence he's confronted with a new status quo. As with the first story arc of the series, Matty takes us on a journey that shows us the changes. And there are a lot of changes.

The following contains spoilers for DMZ 37-40.

Gold Rush

Matty returns to a changed DMZ in the wake of Parco's election. Parco has consolidated his authority in a section of Manhattan, established checkpoints for going in and out, and issued identification that's needed to get through those checkpoints. But the change that surprises Matty most is waiting for him in his apartment in Chinatown: Zee, having found the guns Matty started carrying in "Blood in the Game", has left both him and Parco's territory.

Matty wastes no time getting back in touch with Parco, but what he finds isn't the high energy block party environment he left behind. At first Matty finds himself doing grunt work outside Parco's inner circle. Soon enough, after Matty gives up on the low level minutia he was saddled with, Parco brings him in. But it's not for the media and advisory role Matty had during the campaign.

There's an urban legend in the DMZ about a stockpile of gold that Chinatown liberated from elsewhere in the city at the start of the war. People have looked for it but never found anything. Parco wants it to finance a power base for his administration. He's convinced Wilson has it, and he wants Matty to get it. Parco still has Matty's mom as an advisor; what he needs from Matty is the access Matty has throughout the DMZ. Parco assures Matty that he can still be the heart of the movement even as Parco and Matty's mother are the face of it. Like Matty did so many times during the campaign when Parco appealed to his ego, he accepts.

Matty leads a team of Parco's men into Chinatown and meets with Wilson who won't have anything to do with Parco. But Wilson is willing to make a deal with Matty. He'll turn over a portion of his gold so Parco will leave him alone. In the middle of Matty and Wilson's negotiation a squad of Parco's men, sent without Matty's knowledge, try to take Wilson. They fail. In the end Matty, his men, and the extra squad leave with bags full of gold. But before Parco can send extra security as escort, the group is ambushed from a nearby roof.

DMZ 39

The only one left alive is Matty, and things are not looking good--until artillery takes out the shooters. Immediately after, Matty is surrounded by Free States troops led by Free States Commander. Parco made a deal with them that Matty knew nothing about, and they've been contracted to escort Matty back to Parco. Along the way some of the Free States men get greedy and discuss taking the gold from Matty by force. To preserve the mission Free States Commander kills his team. Free States Commander and Matty reach Parco's people. They take most of the gold. Free States Commander takes what's left and drives it and Matty to Central Park where they meet up with the Ghosts.

The Ghosts have a nuclear bomb. Soames won't say who they got it from, but they took possession early in the war and buried it in the park. Parco has made a deal to buy it for gold and an agreement that the Ghosts get a 30 year lease on the park and some surrounding areas. The Ghosts will be fully autonomous.

DMZ 40

While Matty is waiting for the Ghosts to load the bomb he has a conversation with Soames where he expresses frustration at being left out of the loop. Soames suggests that Matty decide what he wants out of his arrangement with Parco. To that end, once he has the bomb, Matty goes off grid making Parco sweat his missing bomb for four hours. When he does make contact again Matty gives him a list of demands for his further cooperation. He wants Parco to fire his mom, give him full security clearance and diplomatic credentials, and allow him to pick his own security detail. Parco agrees.

The Governor of Parco City

Despite Parco being democratically elected to his position, his behavior is less a leader who wants to establish a peaceful relationship with his neighbors and more a military strongman--something consistent with the Che Guevara vibes he had during "Blood in the Game". After the election he wastes no time fortifying a section of the city ("Parco City") with his own militia and requiring his own form of identification for people to enter and move about within it. Outside his perimeter DMZ residents are on their own. Then Parco declares the troops and personnel of the United States, the Free States, and Trustwell enemy combatants and gives them 24 hours to evacuate their forces from Manhattan. Following that he tries to steal money from another DMZ leader (one with his own territory and armed manpower) and uses part of what he gets to buy a nuke.

The Ghosts' sale of the nuke for the promise of ownership of Central Park is a continuation of the idea Matty gave voice to in "Blood in the Game" of the Manhattan DMZ becoming a sovereign territory of some kind. Writer Brian Wood doesn't add any implication that this could lead to further balkanization of the United States. In 2009 the idea of the country breaking apart wasn't something anyone really took seriously. Fast forward to 2022, and it's not uncommon to hear people on the far fringes of the political divide (and sometimes not so far) toss out the idea of some kind of national divorce. Given that mere political polarization is leading people to that notion as a solution in peacetime, it seems unlikely that if some third part of the country declared itself independent during a civil war it wouldn't lead to further sectional break-ups.

DMZ 40

I also found myself viewing Soames as laughably naïve (if not plain old stupid) after this issue. Parco doesn't have the manpower to secure more than several square blocks of the city, but Soames believes he's somehow going to maintain independence and enforce this deal. And this despite knowing that Parco is already in bed with the Free States. I don't know if Wood intended this to be the impression of Soames readers should walk away with, but it was mine.

Her Heart's Just Not In It

Matty returns home from his time on Staten Island (and wherever he went afterward) to find Zee already gone. I've argued several times that Zee is the heart of the DMZ--what she believes in is good for the city and what she doesn't is neutral or bad depending on the veracity of her opinion--and Wood's answers in interviews can be seen as pointing in that direction. So Zee's departure on its own would have carried with it ominous undertones. But punctuating that departure with a major split in ideals between Zee and Matty (whose actions, in contrast to Zee, seem to reflect what actually happens in the DMZ as opposed to what's best for it) portend dark times ahead. Rather than Parco ushering in some grand future for the city, his ascent may be dooming it.

It's All About Belonging

At the end of "Body of a Journalist" Matty expresses his belief that, after a year in the DMZ, he finally feels like he belongs (though on the very next page he tells Kelly that he believes Zee still views him as an outsider). Later, in "Blood in the Game", much of Matty's coverage is motivated by his sense of solidarity with the DMZ; by this time he's ceased to be an embedded reporter and is basically a local--or at least that's how he views himself.  We also saw in "Blood in the Game" how Parco was able to use Matty's desire to be truly a part of the DMZ and not a "tourist" to manipulate him into lending the candidate his credibility (eroding it somewhat in the process).

DMZ 38

It's this very sense of belonging that Wilson attacks when Matty comes to him looking for the gold, and in a way it motivates Matty for the rest of the arc. Matty had already started giving into his growing ego in "Blood in the Game", and when he returns to work for Parco he's not interested in doing whatever Parco's organization needs done. He wants only high level, inner circle activity. As soon as Matty thinks he's got it he finds himself completely out of the loop when he's confronted by a second squad chasing the gold, an escort from Free States Commander, and a nuclear bomb purchase. When all is said and done, the demands Matty makes of Parco are based entirely on his ego as a DMZ insider--the very thing that Parco and Wilson attacked.

A Comic Book Full of Frowns

The DMZ is an unhappy place in "War Powers". The anger is palpable. And while Wood drives much of that through the dialogue, artist Riccardo Burchielli puts it on full display with a parade of characters awash in negativity.

DMZ 37

This is most noticeable with Parco, Matty, and Wilson (though in the few panels that we see Zee she looks absolutely pissed). Wilson might be the most surprising of the three. His depiction has certainly been the most varied in the series. Burchielli has drawn him as quirky and sly throughout the series. Kristian Donaldson depicted him as friendly and happy in issue 20 (though Wilson was drunk for most of his scene). But his meeting with Matty in issue 38 as they discuss the gold is the first time he's looked truly dangerous since Danijel Zezelj drew him in issue 25 (the Wilson solo issue). Burchielli's choice to not lean heavily into that sense of danger earlier in his work is a benefit here as Wilson's appearance now makes a greater impact. This is the visual equivalent of something I've repeatedly complained that Wood's narrative can no longer do effectively because he went so big with his stories early on: the raising of stakes.

Matty, on the other hand, is someone we've already seen hostile several times, most recently in "Blood in the Game" as he moved deeper into Parco's campaign. While there were moments where optimism won out (such as when talking to Zee about the prospects of long term independence for the city), Burchielli frequently drew him as a man with anger practically dripping off him. This is the depiction of the character throughout the entirety of this arc--not surprising given that he spends all of "War Powers" motivated by the satisfaction of his own ego in the face of people who are denying him that.

DMZ 37

Ultimately, though, it's Parco's appearance that offers the most striking example of this visual mentality. There is a panel in DMZ 37 that includes a two-story tall banner of Parco in a suit. He's not quite smiling, but there is a beneficent look to him. Burchielli captures the appearance of a man who wants to help others--a man who is facing a great challenge but is also offering hope. And at no time does Burchielli draw Parco himself with this same expression (or one remotely similar). Throughout "War Powers" Parco is an angry man given to flashes of disappointment, disapproval, and near militancy. The contrast Burchielli provides between the myth and the man speaks volumes about the character and will be an important thing to remember going forward because Wood has stated in interviews that, at least in his mind, Parco did originally set out to do good.

For an index of all Close Look at DMZ entries, jump back to the landing page here, and for an issue-by-issue commentary check out Twitter @theronscomics #BWRBDMZ.

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