DMZ Part 4: Which True Scotsman?

By Theron Couch

on September 30, 2024

DMZ steps back from war story intensity following “Body of a Journalist.” The series is an exploration of character, culture, and ideas more than anything else. It’s easy to lose sight of that when one side or the other is dropping bombs on the city. Fortunately DMZ often breaks up those intense moments with smaller stories, and that is exactly what happens with DMZ #11-12.

Following “Body of a Journalist” the series gives us two stand-alone stories–sort of. The first of these is also the first issue not told from Matty’s point of view. “Zee, NYC” is a flashback issue that introduces us to the person Zee was before Manhattan was the DMZ. The second issue is a unique entry in the series. It is told from Matty’s point of view but is basically a guidebook for the DMZ.

“Zee, NYC”

Told in flashback, DMZ #11 is a big picture overview of Zee Hernandez’s life right before the war. She was a med student working at St. Vincent’s Hospital. New York City was already a dangerous place in the lead up to the evacuation. The city had been dealing with bombings for weeks. Zee often sleeps at the hospital, and much of her time working is spent dealing with ugly triage situations in the aftermath of the ongoing violence.

New York’s evacuation day approaches. The hospital staff is going to be relocated to frontline positions. Zee is assured the hospital’s patients will be moved in advance of the medical team’s departure. Convinced that some of the patients will be abandoned, Zee resigns. The evacuation, much as Zee expected, is chaotic and ultimately incomplete. Many evacuees are left to their own devices as transportation workers abandon their jobs. Almost half a million people are left behind.

“Zee, NYC” is more character study than anything else. But it also fills in a lot of local history–namely how New York City became the isolated and fought-over DMZ. Wood establishes that ordinary Americans were already perpetrating violence on each other. The city was still nominally under United States control, but divisions and tribalism were already forming. These are hallmarks in the DMZ. But it also suggests that this civil war isn’t as simple as the Free States versus the United States. In some ways it’s every American for themselves.

Ironically, patriotic jingoism over who is a real American underpins this fracturing because both sides think that about themselves. Matty encounters that sentiment in his dealings with both the United States and Free States. Everyone views themselves as a “real American” in relation to the other side and thus they are justified in prosecuting the conflict by any means necessary.

DMZ #11 is drawn by Kristian Donaldson. It’s the first time the series features an artist other than Riccardo Burchielli, and it feels appropriate for what is effectively an origin story/prequel issue. In a general sense, Donaldson’s art is softer. She draws less facial detail as compared to Burchielli, and that choice ultimately plays into a visual representation of how much the DMZ has worn on Zee.

“New York Times”

DMZ #12 is a straight up guide to the DMZ. Matty is introducing his in-universe readers to notable people and places in an attempt to dispel the unflattering ideas people outside the city have–such as the one that envisions DMZ residents surviving on pigeons and rats.

Some of these entries, such as the one about the Gohsts, are call-backs. The Chinatown entry significantly changes the way the reader interprets Wilson. A description of a street battle fleshes out how the Free States use proxies and asymmetrical warfare strategies to gain advantage in fights. There are hints of future characters and even a major reference to an event that serves as the basis for the upcoming “Friendly Fire” story arc.

The guidebook issue is handled almost entirely by Brian Wood with only Jared K. Fletcher contributing with letters. Wood drew roughly 60% of the issue before scanning that work in and finishing the rest of the art with Photoshop. The format creates an illusion of on the fly, almost amateur work that fits in nicely as a piece of in-universe media.

Final Thoughts

DMZ #11-12 are just what was necessary after “Body of a Journalist” and before the upcoming intense arc “Public Works.” There are no stakes in DMZ #12–for that matter, there is no actual story. And the stakes in DMZ #11, despite the big picture moment the story is set against, are entirely Zee’s–what she owes other people and what she owes herself.

Like DMZ #5’s “Crosstown,” there is no real message or argument in these issues. “Zee, NYC” comes closest in a reminder that self-righteously claiming to be a patriotic or a “real American” doesn’t make someone right–including oneself. This was a fine thing to keep in mind in 2006. It is far more relevant today.

Consider the fictional president seen in DMZ #11. The character makes more sense now than it ever did before. Post 2016, the easy association with the absurd fictional portrayal and a real life figure is Donald Trump. He is probably the most overt when it comes to attacking an opposing side while claiming he represents a true America. But just because he’s the most overt in his self-righteousness doesn’t mean he’s alone.

Today, every election is seen as existential by all sides. Being respected within organizations or demographic groups sometimes requires a uniformity of thought and opinion. And all of that is reinforced by echo chambers of association and media. A lot of people believe what they believe and do what they do because they’re told to by others who make loud claims about their particular group’s righteousness.

The characters in DMZ–the titular DMZ itself–are caught between two sides of a conflict, each fighting a war over their own “no true Scotsman” fallacy. In DMZ #11, Zee effectively rejects both sides and spends years helping people in the city. She never claims to be an authority on anything or right in any objective way. What she says comes only from her. If “Zee, NYC” is telling us anything, maybe it’s telling us that.