posted 02-14-2001 01:34 PM               

If you're looking for a straightforward narrative, this is not the book for you. The book jumps around, and often there's only a tangential connection between the narration and the action being drawn on the page. Like I said, though, this is a book you experience -- thematically, it's all tied together. The action, drawn in stark black-and-white, with heavy inks and think lines, amplifies the narration. Snippets of broadcasts -- both those from outside American borders and those that have been scrubbed by the Clean Act -- illustrate the depths to which America has sunk. And as the book draws to a close, Wood uses an interview with Jennie, and Jennie's reaction to her notoriety, to demonstrate how easy it is for a revolutionary message to be co-opted by the mainstream.

The real genius of this book is in its design. The black-and-white art is blended with black-and-white photo (or at least photo-like) images of cameras, guns, subway signs, traffic signs, bank logos and other objects -- the realism of the images, blended with the more abstracted illustrations, actually creates a surrealism that draws you into the distorted environment Wood has created. (I doubt I'm reading too much into the physical similarity between the camera and the rifle that keep making appearances, but maybe I am.) Small slogans like "Progress backwards" and "Bomb the system" are buried throughout the book -- little snippets of anti-propaganda propaganda. There are pamphlets and ads that you're encouraged to photocopy and distribute, promoting Channel Zero and its fight-the-power message. It's the artistic/visual equivalent of the barrage of ideas Grant Morrison presents in The Invisibles, and it's just really cool. So is Channel Zero.

(Edited to fix Amazon link and add a few details.)