A few weeks back we spoke to Brian Wood and Mack Chater about their new series Briggs Land: Lone Wolves, which spins out of the Briggs Land storyline. They made strong points as to how this series is so relevant today. The first issue was filled with tension and foreshadowed a war between the FBI and the Briggs family. That story progresses this week!
So what’s it about?
The official summary reads:
When Isaac Briggs went overseas to war, he shed his quiet, reserved personality for something fiercer and far more nationalist than the rest of his family are prepared to deal with.
Why does this book matter?
Did we mention this is going to be a TV series on AMC? They took notice because Wood and Chater are so good at capturing very realistic and human characters. It’s easy to see the events in this story happening especially in a world that’s seemingly gone mad these days.
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
Yep, this is normal…
This is the type of slow boil story that’ll make you feel uneasy even when a little girl walks to a shed. Sure, she’s got a machine gun slung over her shoulder, but still, the storytelling by Woods and Chater is unmistakable. Like a powder keg ready to explode, this series will have you on edge in the best of ways. From cover to cover I was on the edge of my seat and not sure what might happen next. It’s clear things are going to explode, but there’s still a peace about the people.
While the story progresses–the family has kidnapped two outsiders to protect themselves from the US having a reason to storm the fort–Isaac Briggs continues to be a strong character as he’s seemingly the main character of this story arc. He’s back from the army and is not very pleased with how his family has protected their border. You can tell Woods is playing around with the concept of a war-torn soldier making sense of the world when he gets back to America, but how would they act when the Briggs Land has made the law even more gray? Later in the issue, Woods has him interact with a surprising character and you can gather how he thinks in a clear way. This is the type of comic you’ll want to read if you love dissecting how characters might be thinking.
Chater’s pencils continue to draw the actual land in Briggs Land in a believable way. Clothing looks realistic too and there’s always strong ink work on every page. Key scenes with characters thinking or speaking always seem to capture the expressions well enough to give the reader a chance to gather what is going on too.
It can’t be perfect can it?
While the art is solid for the most part I did find a few panels looking slightly awkward here and there. It’s the strange elongated neck of Grace in one panel and James’ somewhat flat looking face in another. It’s mostly consistent, but it threw me off here and there.
Is It Good?
Tension filled and hard to put down, Briggs Land: Lone Wolves is an exciting powderkeg that’s worth a look.
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