Written by: Brian Wood
Art by: Mack Chater
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Briggs Land has a very interesting premise, and it’s probably why the series is already in development as a TV show at AMC. We follow Grace Briggs, the Briggs family matriarch as she takes control of an anti-government secessionist movement in the United States from her husband. Briggs Land is about a hundred square miles of land in Upstate New York near Albany and Lake George which houses fellow anti-government and often racist folks coming to leave the United States while staying in the United States. It’s a book that’s looking to take on the current political climate with a healthy dose of female empowerment.
There’s a lot of story that’s covered in this fast paced first issue. We get a lot of exposition, but it’s done well because the first couple pages set up a interesting character and scenario that make you really want the backstory behind it all. It’s also done as dialogue between two FBI agents and helps flesh out the personality of them.
The fast paced issue goes from Grace Briggs telling her husband (who’s currently in prison) that’s she’s taking control of the family, to her catching up with her three sons and making the journey back to Briggs Land. It feels like a one hour pilot condensed down to around 30 or so pages. Which makes sense considering the comic is being written with a TV series in mind.
I do hope future issues slow things down a bit and focus more on character development and showing the relationships between them. The youngest son of the Briggs family, Issac, is the one that supports his mother the most, but we don’t really find out why. There are glimpses in their conversation of about how their father is never around, but i wish i didn’t have to wait till the TV show to see more character interaction. The long ride back to Briggs Land would have been perfect to establish the relationship between Issac and Grace.
The other two brothers are set up in interesting ways and given unique personalities. Again, i wish we get more character moments as i don’t understand the family dynamics at play here. In fact, i think the character looks told me more about them than the actual dialogue or lack of thereof. The oldest brother looks like Javier Bardem, so i know he’s going to be a brutal and batshit insane villain.
Overall, this is a good start to an intriguing premise. I wish more time was spent fleshing out the Briggs family, considering how important every member is about to be as sides are going to be taken, but the story is going in very interesting places. I just hope character development isn’t left to the TV show in hopes of getting through the series quickly and getting it primed for the adaptation.
