If you’ve never read the Vertigo comic book series DMZ by Brian Wood and Riccardo Burchielli, you’ve missed one of the better series to hit comic store shelves in recent years. It’s also serving as the basis for the new HBO Max series starring Rosario Dawson, Benjamin Bratt, Rutina Wesley, Mamie Gummer, Nora Dunn, Henry G. Sanders, Venus Ariel, Jade Wu, Rey Gallegos, Agam Darshi, and Juani Feliz. The pilot is directed by Ava DuVernay, who also executive produces the series for showrunner Roberto Patino. This should appeal to fans of shows like THE WALKING DEAD and THE HANDMAID’S TALE, but will hopefully fare better than another recent adaptation, Y THE LAST MAN, which didn’t seem to get a fair shake on FX. . The story involves a second American Civil War that divides the United States population into the United States of America and the Free States of America, and considering modern day politics, this doesn’t seem that far-fetched of an idea now.
In the near future, America is embroiled in a bitter civil war, leaving Manhattan a demilitarized zone (DMZ), destroyed and isolated from the rest of the world. Leaping off the pages of the popular comic, “DMZ” chronicles the harrowing journey of fearless and fierce medic Alma Ortega (series star Rosario Dawson), who sets out on a harrowing journey to find the son she lost in the evacuation of New York City at the onset of the conflict. Throwing gasoline on the flames of that conflict is Parco Delgado (series star Benjamin Bratt), the popular — and deadly — leader of one of the most powerful gangs in the DMZ. He wants to rule this new world — and will stop at nothing to secure that outcome. In this adrenalized and expansive drama which examines a stark political and cultural divide in American society, Alma must contend with the gangs, militias, demagogues and warlords that control this lawless no man’s land. In doing so, she becomes the unlikely source of what everyone here has lost…hope.