Iraq: How a daring new generation of graphic novelists view the art of war

This is the explosive opening of a comic book series, also named DMZ, by New Yorker Brian Wood, and it's the pre-eminent example of a growing fashion for comics and graphic novels about, or inspired by, the Iraq war. DMZ began life in 2005, but next month it comes of age with the publication of a new collected edition. In it, Wood tells the story of a war-ravaged city through Matty Roth's eyes, as the stranded journalist comes to know and love the DMZ and its inhabitants. The setting is New York, following a hazily explained second American civil war; but, of course, it's also a sideways representation of another horribly real urban battleground.

"I started to develop DMZ shortly after the Iraq war began in 2003," Wood explains. "I remember thinking 'I'd better get this book off the ground and running fast, because the war's gonna end soon.' My editor was scared that the subject matter would be old news. Of course, we were completely wrong. When the book came out I was worried that I might get hate mail, or people telling me I was un-American. But by the time the book actually hit the stands, most people were on the same page; the public was against the war. Soon, a lot of other graphic novels critiquing the war started to come out; now it's like we're preaching to the choir."

Today's broad countercultural coalition in the US is often motivated by frustration at the news coverage of the Iraq conflict and its aftermath from traditional media outlets. In such a climate, comic books thrive by reflecting the public bad mood, and they remain streets ahead of many of their rivals in the creative industries. While authors and filmmakers have taken their time preparing fictional responses to the war, comics are a relatively immediate form. In theory, says Wood, "you can write and draw a comic and see it on the stands three months later. A movie can take years."

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