Cover to ‘Briggs Land: Lone Wolves’. Art by Matthew Woodson/Dark Horse Comics
By Brandy Dykhuizen. Briggs Land: Lone Wolves #1 is a TV-ready book that explores how deeply people are inclined to bend the nature of laws to suit their own agendas.
As so many of our country’s citizens are quick to take polarized views on interpretations of The Constitution and its amendments, this is certainly a timely theme. Brian Wood demands that we think a little harder about the line between defending the very rights on which our nation was founded, and asserting that the laws of the land somehow don’t apply to you. In a political climate that has only served to embolden radicals and outliers, Briggs Land can make for a slightly uncomfortable read.
However, if you’re able to get behind its on-the-nose survivalist themes (and the fact that pluralizing the phrase “lone wolf” immediately renders it an oxymoron), there is plenty of action to enjoy.
The Briggs family’s plot encompasses a network of old trails in the Adirondacks, once used for smuggling contraband across the Canadian border. Exploration of these paths proves irresistible for the younger Briggs’ and strangers alike. Unfortunately the Briggs clan doesn’t play well with others, and even the most minor of intrusions is considered an act of war.
Much like a Cormac McCarthy novel reads almost like set directions within a screenplay, Briggs Land is champing at the bit to grace the small screen. Attractively drawn characters wend their way through harsh terrain, using only their wits and heavy artillery to navigate ego-fueled tensions.
Briggs Land imbues its secessionist parable with a distopic severity, and it doesn’t waste time with nuance. The cataclysmic motivations for the issue’s unsavory deeds are buried deep. The Briggs don’t need a natural disaster to excuse their actions. They are all too ready to get down and dirty to defend what they see as their right to ignore the law. Naturally, when it comes to such topics, your mileage may vary.
Dark Horse Comics/$3.99
Written by Brian Wood.
Art Mack Chater.
Colors by Lee Loughridge.
Letters by Nate Piekos.
6 out of 10
