Demo: The Collection

I wasn't sure if I'd like this, but I found it cheap. Wow. This blew me away. Like a more poignant, creative and realistic Heroes. The 12 issues collected here are each stand alone stories. The artist changes her style with each one. Such a cool, fast read. If you can dig black and white, intelligent indie book, you'll dig Demo. And catch up now, because the author announced recently that volume 2 will be coming out soon thru Vertigo.

I read a lot of graphic novels -- actual stories, not just compiled superhero comics -- and I rarely come across anything this literary. Most of these twelve stories could easily have been published, without pictures, in a "little" magazine somewhere. The intriguing thing is how they evolve, first to last, from "NYC" and "Bad Blood," which actually are about not-necessarily-super powers with a Rod Serling twist, to "One Shot, Don't Miss" and "Breaking Up" and "Damaged," which will stay with you a long, long time. And the last panel of the last story will truly grab you by the throat. Amazing writing.

I read these stories when they were coming out as single issues a few years back. Picking up the collection, I forgot how compelling and different each story is. The major theme linking all of the stories is people with a dilema and some "power" that pushes the story to explore themselves. Each chapter is a stand alone story, yet a common idea runs through the whole book-that no matter what gifts we have about us it's how we use them. Some stories are happy, others depressing, but all have an air of truth that most of us can relate to. I enjoy the rough, punkesque feel that some of the tales have. It's an atmosphere of being an outsider regardless of the situation and how the individual deals with it. Becky Cloonan's art is wonderful and changes in regards as to what the situations is. It can feel like manga, independent, or stylized but never repeats any of the other chapters. She amazed me by doing so much with so few pages. Wood's writing is quick, to the point and doesn't weigh down the flow. He reminds me of what it's like to be younger, struggling with growing up, fighting the world and ourselves to become something more. Each story plays up emotions ranging from love to hate to empathy to pride and more. Imagine a story where superpowers take a backseat to the heart and that is Demo.

With DEMO Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan present an amazing set of dark stories with brilliant black/white art. Each story is short but telling, as we see several teens coping with the rougher side of having superpowers. This is much better reading and art than can be found in the similar Marvel comic NYX. I highly recommend this collection over the mainstream's version as it has more grit and more heart.