Some real value to this Home…
Creative Staff:
Story: Brian Wood
Art: Mack Chater
Colors: Lee Roughridge
Letterer: Nate Piekos of Blambot
What They Say:
Grace Briggs looks for alliances where she can, both to stave off the out-of-state Aryan Nations moving into her territory and to maintain the integrity of Briggs Land in the face of legal troubles. ATF agents Zigler and Nolan, who are conducting a terrorism investigation into her family, may be Grace’s best bet.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Briggs Land has been a tough and interesting read the last couple of months as we watch how the real world is changing and there’s that sense that this may seem quaint in some ways compared to what’s to come. I talked the last time about how this feels like an offshoot of the TV series Banshee and that’s still sticking in my mind as we see the deals going on here and the growth of the cast and elements that are moving into the area. Wood knows what he’s doing here and unfolding everything at a solid pace but it’s Chater that continues to delight the most in presenting this rough and raw world, particularly with how Roughridge brings it to life through the muted colors that has its own oppressive feeling about it.
We saw some of what’s going down in order to secure things in the area with the push made to take over Hillson’s store and that ended up putting Bud in a really bad place in the hospital. Being the person she is, having Grace visit him is definitely as she’s trying to do this as quickly and effectively as possible to cement her power and position, especially since a lot still think Jim’s pulling the levers. While Caleb wasn’t able to get it done since Bud’s so damned stubborn, that forces her into another position – one that I can see being tied to a way to push back against her husband and the federal government that she’s now trying to play off of in order to further secure things. It’s a wheels within wheels moment, though how far her plan goes remains to be seen.
What she has Caleb call in to deal with the situation, possibly to give them some cover, is a fairly intense element of the Aryan Nations. They’re kind of amused by what Caleb wasn’t able to get out of Bud that they need them to do it, but there’s some layers to why Caleb can’t go further and the need for outside force. There’s some grim stuff going on in order to force Bud to do it all “willingly” and the frustration and fear that he shows is definitely intense as he realizes just how boxed in he is. Not that you really can stand behind him in a lot of ways considering what he did for Briggs over the years through the store, he’s no angel to be sure, but it’s something that really shows just how far and how cruel they’ll go to take down those that they need to.
In Summary:
Briggs Land feels like it’s going in some expected directions but I can’t help but wonder if there’s a twist or two in the offing that I’m not quite seeing yet. I like what Wood is doing and the way it focuses on a few different things while still keeping to the main idea. I also really love that he gives Chater time to showcase the environment they’re all in, particularly the scenes of nature where we see Grace hunting or just soaking up the scenery. This team is firing on all cylinders and I’m really interested to see how it plays long term and what kind of big and defining moments are ahead of us as we see what Grace is doing and what’s still to come for her to deal with.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: December 21st, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
