Scalped #60 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (artist), Giulia Brusco (colors), Sal Cipriano (letters), Mark Doyle (associate editor) & Will Dennis (editor)

The Story: The end!  Who dies, who lives and what will happen to the reservation going forward?

A few things (with SPOILERS): 1). Honestly…confusing first few pages. – I honestly don’t know what happened in the opening sequence.  I read it three times and still don’t know who killed Catcher: Dash or Agent Nitz.  I guess the second sequence is more likely true since Nitz does end up dead, but there’s nothing to indicate that Dash’s brutal killing of Catcher is imaginary.  There really should be something that makes it clear what happened.  Or I guess it’s possible that somehow this is all due to Catcher’s quasi-mystical status and I’m just trying to be too literal, but I really hope that isn’t the case.  Scalped is best when it is just a gritty crime story and the supernatural is left out of it.

Scalped #59 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (artist), Giulia Brusco (colors), Sal Cipriano (letters), Mark Doyle (assistant editor) & Will Dennis (editor)

The Story: Realizing that violence solves nothing, Catcher, Dash and Red Crow enter into group therapy to resolve their differences.  Haha….no….

Review (with minor SPOILERS): What did you really expect?  Everyone knew that Scalped was likely to end in a bloodbath and this is it: THE bloodbath.  Most of the issue consists of a gunfight right out of a John Woo or Robert Rodriguez movie: dual pistols, rapid fire, better marksmanship than you’d see in real life, dogs (instead of birds)….

The only unsatisfying item about this shootout it’s that we don’t get the resolution.  In some ways, I really was hoping for the big death(s) to happen in this issue leaving the finale to deal with the aftermath.  Aaron is a gifted writer, but I can’t imagine how he’s going to deal with the violent fates of Dash, Catcher, Red Crow and Agent Nix and still have time to visit Carol or Officer Falls Down for a quiet moment.

The other thing that was slightly off in this issue were Catcher’s dogs.  Maybe it’s me personally, but I’ve never quite understood this pack of dogs and what they’re supposed to symbolize.  I understood his old horse, Fetsus, just fine… But these dogs have never worked for me so I never like it when they play a roll as big as they play in this issue.  Scalped is such a grimy and grounded story and it doesn’t help to start weaving in some supernatural elements.  The horse wasn’t so bad because most of the time, Catcher was just riding the horse.  But every time we see the dogs, there’s this waft of supernatural that feels out of place.

Scalped #58 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (artist), Giulia Brusco (colors), Sal Cipriano (letters), Mark Doyle (associate editor) & Will Dennis (editor)

Review (with SPOILERS): Things just aren’t going to end well for our characters, are they?  The lesson of Scalped seems to be: you reap what you sow.  Most of the characters in this series have behaved amorally and it’s all coming back to bite them.  The only question in my mind is whether Jason Aaron is going to leave anything standing at the end, so that we can imagine a Prairie Rose Reservation after the final page of issue #60.  Or do they all die?

Starting from the opening scene, we see Agent Nix brutalizing a newspaper box over the news that Red Crow is going to walk free now that the state’s star witness (Dash) is himself wanted for murder.  Nix has been burning to nail Red Crow for decades and along the way, he’s broken laws, used good people and been a total ass.  Would anyone say that he deserves to be rewarded by sending Red Crow to jail?  This is a dude who deserves whatever he gets.

How about Carol?  I love Carol as a character, but she hasn’t been an angel.  We’ve seen her in a sympathetic light, but she’s pumped gallons of drugs into her veins and used her daddy’s exalted position to live a decadent life when others on the reservation are living in squalor.  Plus, we have the whole thing with the pregnancy. There aren’t any “right” decisions for a pregnant woman who doesn’t want the baby, but if she hoped to have Dash and Red Crow be part of her life afterwards she needed to either tell them or make sure she could take the secret to her grave.  Not sure Carol deserves to be happy.

Red Crow?  Although he has a roguish nobility to him, he’s like Tony Soprano.  Everyone loved jolly old Tony, but he was really a despicable human and so is Red Crow.  The guy has killed people, had people killed, run drugs, run guns, used political corruption to enrich himself…  Sure, he’s had an old man’s spiritual awakening, but Red Crow can’t just have a happy retirement.

Scalped #57 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (artist), Giulia Brusco (colors), Sal Cipriano (letters), Mark Doyle (associate editor) & Will Dennis (editor)

The Story: Haha!  Did you really think there’d be a happy ending?

A few things: [with SPOILERS]

Shit’s about to get real! – Last issue was very unexpected as we leapt forward a few months, but it also painted an almost idyllic scene for the denizens of the Prairie Rose Reservation.  Probably no body thought we’d end this series on a calm note, so this issue isn’t a huge surprise.  Plus, we really can’t have a happy ending for Dash like at the end of Shawshank.  He’s done too many bad things along the way and they’re starting to bite him in the ass. Eventually your sins won’t stay buried.  I like the figurative idea of Dash’s sins being dug out of a shallow grave by a pack of stray dogs that then drag them all over, for everyone to see.   It’s like the dogs are saying, “Look!  He’s not a hero!  He’s a bad man too!”

Catcher. – What an odd character Catcher is!  On one hand, I thought he was dead when we saw his horse stomping on him a few issues ago.  But, he is clearly back and acting as some kind of avenging angel for the Reservation.  He’s also changed his animal totem from a scrawny old horse that seemed to have a moral code, to a pack of dogs that are intent on exposing and punishing sin.  I’m sure that more clever readers will be able to put all the figurative stuff together better than me, but even with my literal brain it is still pretty cool: Catcher is washing the Reservation clean.

Red Crow. – In some ways, Red Crow is more the central character of Scalped than is Dash.  He’s also a more moral man than Dash at this point, but as much as he loves Dash, he loves his daughter more.  I love the way Guera draws Red Crow.  I mean, he’s an older guy….so he can’t maintain washboard abs and he’s going to have some floppy skin on the backs of his arms, but every image of him just exudes power.  Even as a 60-something man, he doesn’t look like anyone you’d want to get into a scrap with.  It’s really a pleasure to see an artist who can draw something besides generic superhero bodily perfection.

Scalped #56 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (artist), Giulia Brusco (colors), Sal Cipriano (letters), Jock (cover), Mark Doyle (assistant editor) & Will Dennis (editor)

The Story: Surprise!  It’s not what you think.  A surprising jump forward for the soon-to-end series.

A few things: [with SPOILERS]

1. Whoa!  Not what I expected… – The first page features a classic Scalped scene: Dash walking Red Crow into the Prairie Rose Reservation’s police station and locking him up.  In true Scalped fashion, it’s grimy as hell: Dash is bleeding all over (from his fight with Shunka) and he’s barefoot and in his underpants.  Then we jump ahead 8 months?!?  That is not at all what I expected.  But I must say, it opens up a lot of story-telling possibilities for Jason Aaron.  One thing Scalped sometimes lacks is the time to let events breathe.  By 8 months ahead, these characters are moving on with their lives and making some rational decisions rather than simply reacting to whatever horrible thing has just happened: curb stomping, drug overdose, abortions, eyeball removals, etc.  Let these folks catch their breaths.  But, I’m sure we haven’t seen the last dead body in Scalped either….

2. Carol is back.  Yay! – I’ve had Scalped on “my list” to review for a year or so now and I’ve been steadily banging the drum for Carol to come back.  To me, she is the soul of this series and I wasn’t going to be happy with the finale unless Carol’s story was tied up.  So, I’m very much looking forward to seeing how she and Dash resolve things.  Do they end up together?  Or has too much happened and are they too damaged for that to happen?  Or did they only love each other because of the stress of the moment?  I’m pulling for the two of them to end up living in some quiet oceanfront town, but I doubt that’ll happen.

3. Not the fat chick! – What I really didn’t get is the fact that if Dash is fooling around with this new community organizer lady (have we ever seen her before?) just to show how emotionally unsettled he is?  That he can’t notice that Carol is standing right there?  That he’s so desperate for any human companionship after years of being undercover that he’ll take up with a woman who really isn’t his type?  Dash doesn’t care about the reservation, so why shack up with a community organizer?  And was this a one-time hook-up, or has he been fooling around with this lady for a while?  I couldn’t really tell.

Scalped #54 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (artist), Giulia Brusco (colors), Sal Cipriano (letters), Mark Doyle (associate editor) & Will Dennis (editor)

The Story:  Someone dies, Dash still can’t talk and there’s a lot of double-crossing going on at the Prairie Rose Reservation.

Five Things: 

1. Beginning to thin out the supporting characters.  You could think of Scalped as being like a balloon: Jason Aaron has to make it big and expansive, with lots of supporting characters to make in interesting to look at (like blowing up the balloon), but the POP won’t happen without losing something.  We’ve had so many supporting characters in recent issues….almost too many sometimes….but that begins to take care of itself here.  What’s cool is that the deaths aren’t just done for shock value: Each dies in a way that either enhances a central theme of the series or propels another character further along their own arc.

2. You can be either strong or good, but not both.   The single honest man is a pretty common trope in gritty crime fiction.  Throughout the run of Scalped, Officer Falls Down has been the “honest man”, but he’s also kinda weak and knows his place.  It’s a very different scenario with Sheriff Karnow who has gone from being a slime-bag to being “born again”.  And….that’s the problem.  Not only is Karnow now an “honest man”, but he’s attacking his new self-identity with the vigor of the “born again” and that isn’t going to fly in the world of Scalped.

3.  Double crosses!  Of course, Red Crow is smack in the middle of everything as he is playing Shunka and Dash against each other.  There isn’t much more to say about it, but the triangle formed by those three men is pretty explosive.  I’ve always said that I really miss Carol (Red Crow’s daughter) over the last ~10 issues, but she would detract from this trio by reentering right now.

Scalped #53 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (art), Giulia Brusco (colors), Sal Cipriano (letters), Mark Doyle (associate editor) & Will Dennis (editor)

The Story: Is it curtains for Red Crow after last month’s cliffhanger?

Five Things:

Full SPOILERS appear below….

1. Shunka is the main character of this issue.  It all starts with the resolution to last issue’s cliffhanger where it looked like Shunka and two hired thugs were going to kill Red Crow (due to Red Crow’s attempt to shut down his criminal empire).  The first time I read through this, I actually didn’t like the scene because when Shunka shoots the other two thugs it seemed like it was just a bunch of misdirection (i.e. it only appeared like Shunka was going to shoot Red Crow when he was really rushing to save him).  That seemed really cheap to me.  But, then I looked at the scene again and noticed those two panels of Red Crow staring at Shunka in the aftermath of the shooting and Shunka being unable to meet his eyes and the brilliance of the scene washed over me.  Shunka really was there to kill Red Crow, but he wimped out at the pivotal moment because Shunka isn’t a leader or a man of action.  He’s just a big mean dog on a leash who does what Red Crow says even if that shames him.  And that look from Red Crow tells you that he knows what Shunka’s original intent was.  This is obviously going to be a little hard on their relationship going forward and that’s what leads to drunken Shunka loitering in the junkyard later in the issue.

2). Really nice art by Guera.  I mean, how about nailing a subtle scene like the one described above??  Think of how many artists would struggle with a scene like that.  It also speaks to the relationship between Aaron and Guera that Aaron knows he can put a scene like that in the script and that it’ll turn out well and that it doesn’t need Red Crow to say, “I know what you meant to do, Shunka.  You were here to kill me and the fact that you didn’t makes me almost respect you less.” Guera isn’t so much about the dramatic action scenes, but he always gives you the mood and emotions of the characters.

3. Plot hops around a lot.  Aaron probably needs to kill some characters because this issue just leapt around too much to have a good flow.  All of the scenes seem necessary and important, but there’s just a few too many of them.  OR, this might be one of those times where having an issue be 20 pages versus 22 pages really sucks because the creators have to stuff all the material in without doing appropriate transitions between scenes.

Scalped #52 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (artist), Giulia Brusco (colors), Mark Doyle (associate editor) & Will Dennis (editor)

The Story: The final explosion of violence on the Praire Rose reservation is starting to build.

What’s Good: Scalped is a really hard comic to review in single issues when Jason Aaron is writing one of his normal story arcs because you could sum the entire issue up by saying “the tension builds.”  Because truly, that is the whole point of the issue.  This is the second issue of the story arc and it by the end of it, he has moved all of his game pieces into place, allegiances have formed and now things will begin to spiral towards a gritty and bloody conclusion.  If you’ve read Scalped since the beginning, there is NO consideration of hopping off now because you must see what happens in the end.  It would be like someone watching the entirety of the Sopranos TV series and then turning the TV off with 15 minutes to go in the finale.  And, much like the Sopranos, we simply don’t know what will happen.  Who will die from among these characters: Dash, Red Crow, Shunka, Falls Down, Catcher, Agent Nitz, Sheriff Karnow, etc.

Probably the most compelling thing about this final arc of the Scalped story is the redemption of Red Crow.  We could be headed for an ending where Red Crow is on the side of righteousness and the supposed good guys at the FBI have been so corrupted that it is impossible to root for them.  Agent Nitz is so repugnant!  Perhaps that is what Aaron was foreshadowing in issue #50 when he showed that frontier scalp-hunter who was later scalped himself.  At the time, I took that issue to mean that the white man reaps what he sows by neglecting the reservation, but maybe it also means that you become what you hunt or live amongst.

Oh, and big time finale in this issue!  I won’t spoil it, but it surely looks big.  Although the cynic in me wonders how the suggested big event could happen in issue #52 when the series is ending at issue #60.

Guera and Brusco have really nailed the gritty vibe of this series.  Their art passes the ultimate test of being non-interchangeable with others.  Think of some quality artists out there and ask yourself if Scalped would be the same if they had done the art.  There are a few who would have done it well (Jock), but quite a few artists who I love may not have been able to pull this off.

Scalped #51 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (artist), Giulia Brusco (colors), Sal Cipriano (letters), Mark Doyle (associate editor) & Will Dennis (editor)

The Story: Only 10 issues to go!  Red Crow is trying to go straight, but will his criminal underlings let that happen?

What’s Good: This issue starts a new story cycle and sets up a lot of potential conflicts.  That’s pretty much what you’d expect out of Scalped and Jason Aaron at this point.  Now that Aaron has announced that Scalped will end with issue 60, all long time readers know that we’re headed for some seriously nasty situations and it’s fun to guess what those might be.

The central theme of this issue will probably run though the remainder of the series: Red Crow trying to rein in his criminal enterprise and go semi-legit.  That’s not a new theme in an organized crime story like Scalped, but it sets up some wonderful conflicts among characters that we’ve really grown to love/loathe over the course of the previous 50 issues.  Run through the list of major characters in Scalped: Red Crow, Dash, Carol, Shunka, Falls Down, Dino, Agent Nitz, Granny Poor Bear, etc. and try to find one that you don’t have a strong opinion on!  Will Red Crow be able to go legit?  Will Shunka let him?  What happens when we get the inevitable Shunka-Dash throw down?

Even now, Aaron is just cranking up the character development.  For example, we’ve come to know Shunka as the loyal, but conflicted and bottled-up, enforcer for Red Crow.  He naturally doesn’t react all that positively when Red Crow starts busting his own meth labs, but when told to fall into line, Shunka beats the CRAP out of one of the meth dealers.  It’s one of those situations where Shunka had every right to hit the dude the first time, but then he just pours it on in brutal, Scalped fashion and you can just tell that he is letting out all of his frustrations out on this guy.  Scalped is beautifully brutal at times like this because Aaron and Guera always push the scene for a panel or two beyond the point of good taste.  And I love Scalped for that.

Scalped #50 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (art & letters), Giulia Brusco (colors), Mark Doyle (associate editor) & Will Dennis (editor)

Pin-ups contributed by: Tim Truman, Jill Thompson, Jordi Bernet, Denys Cowan, Dean Haspiel, Brendan McCarthy & Steve Dillon

The Story: It’s an anniversary issue, so we take a break from our regularly scheduled story to enjoy some central themes of the series set in the Old West.

What’s Good: First off, massive congratulations to Jason Aaron, R.M. Guera, Giulia Brusco, Mark Doyle, Will Dennis and all the fill-in artists who have gotten Scalped to issue #50.  That is a real achievement in today’s comic market with a creator-controlled series.  Already Scalped is one of my favorite series ever.  It’s also a special series that disproves the commonly held notion that all comic books are about superheroes and are sold to fat, smelly & bearded men who haven’t adapted to adult-society.  There’s nothing spandex about Scalped.  This is straight-up adult fiction at it’s best.  Bravo guys and thanks!

For this particular issue, we deviate from the ongoing story of Dash, Gina, Catcher, Red Crow, et al and get a story that is largely set in the later 1800’s that deals with the injustices that Native Americans have suffered at the hands of folks of European descent.  Anyone who went to public school in the United States will not find this news, but Aaron finds a way to bring it to us in a special way by showing us a white man who is teaching his son how to scalp Native Americans for the bounty and how this story circles back in a not unexpected, but powerful, way.

Aaron then drags that “you-reap-that-which-you-sow” theme along to show how Native Americans ended up on reservations…. and that while reservations are no cup of tea being on the worst possible tracts of land in the United States and riddled with poverty, substance abuse, crime, etc. that the people who dwell there remain proud and alive and a distinct culture despite all the horrors that have been visited upon them.

The art is standard R.M. Guera goodness.  He excels at the gritty, so I can think of few artists who are better suited for drawing the act of scalping a man alive. Guera also does the lettering by hand.  I love hand-lettering and guess I understand why we dont’ see it much anymore, but it really drives home what an important aspect of the comic lettering can be.  As a treat, a bunch of notable artists contributed splash pages towards the end of the comic.  These mostly served to further excite me that Jordi Bernet is drawing a few issues of American Vampire coming up.

Scalped #49 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (artist), Giulia Brusco (colors), Sal Cipriano (letters), Mark Doyle (associate editor) & Will Dennis (editor)

The Story: Things come to a head between Dash and Catcher.

What’s Good: It isn’t really going to be possible to discuss this issue in a coherent way without getting into SPOILERS, so you’ve been warned.

Part of the greatness of Scalped is that it pays off in a pretty predictable fashion.  Once Aaron starts to establish a conflict between characters, there will be a climax.  It may not happen for a number of issues, but it’ll happen, and when it does, there will be blood splattering everywhere.

When we last left our characters, Catcher was taking our protagonist Dash on a ride to “find the killer” of Dash’s mother.  The only sneaky thing is that long time readers know that Catcher killed Gina Bad Horse, so the whole opening scene is just priceless for its tension.  You’ve got Catcher playing spider who calmly knows that his prey is in the web and Dash being so eager to confront the killer than he can’t read between the lines and see that the killer is right beside him.  Guera really sells this scene with his art: Catcher is the old cowboy, calmly lounged in the passenger seat (he’s along for the ride) whereas Dash is the young buck with the shaved head and earring who is hunched over the wheel in his anticipation to find the killer (he’s driving and thinks that means he’s in control).  You can’t see Dash’s hands, but you just know that he’s white knuckling the wheel.  Great example of writer and artist working together to do something that you can’t do with words or pictures alone!

Of course, it being Scalped, we get a pay off and what could be grittier than a shoot-out inside the cab of a beat up old pick-up on a dirt road on an Indian Reservation?  There’s no John Woo, double-pistol action, diving, trenchcoats swirling in the breeze (or pigeons), just two guys in tight quarters trying to kill each other.

Scalped #48 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (art), Giulia Brusco (colors), Sal Cipriano (letters), Mark Doyle (associate editor) & Will Dennis (editor)

The Story: Dash and Red Crow grow closer, and since you know it isn’t legit, you wonder who is conning who.

What’s good: It has taken a few issues, but Jason Aaron has almost finished moving his chess pieces into place for a ramp up to a climax.  Really, it is no small feat to have done that.  I read somewhere that Aaron had originally intended/hoped Scalped to run through around issue 40 or so.  But he kept going and spent a few issues tying up loose ends and laying some foundation for “what’s next” before getting into story building again in earnest with issue #45.

And, it is a really compelling set-up.  Dash is now Red Crow’s right-hand-man.  Shunka (Red Crow’s enforcer) instinctively hates Dash and feels passed over by Red Crow (who is a father figure to them both).  Agent Nix, who had seemed on his last legs, now has major gas behind him in the form of an anti-terror task force.  And Catcher is up to something…  The interesting thing to me is how all of these characters (with the exception of Shunka) have a powerful connection to Dash’s mother and how important she is for a character who hasn’t had a spoken word balloon in ~30 issues.

But, the big highlight of this issue are the impending double crosses.  The traditional bad guys all have things that make you like them.  Red Crow is very much a Tony Soprano-type figure.  Even though he’s done some despicable things in his life, you get this sense that he really isn’t that terrible of a guy and that he has a lot of regrets.  As such, you feel badly every time it seems like Dash might betray him.  Then you have Shunka who is very much the less-favored “child” of Red Crow.  Shunka has really never been anything but loyal and you feel bad that Red Crow has anointed Dash as the right-hand-man and relegated Shunka to “muscle”.  Then you have the “good guy” Agent Nix who is a colossal piece of crap.

Guera again is really on his game again.  Two things really stood out in this issue.  One is the effective way that he switches from eye-level shots to bird-eye shots to contrast whether the reader is “in the scene” or whether we are just watching (as if from a helicopter).  The other is how well he draws differing body types.  There is a scene in this issue where Dash and Red Crow go to a sweat tent and strip down to have a spiritual experience.  Dash is long, lanky and muscular….really in the prime of life except for the abuse he’s done his body as a drug addict.  I think lots of artists could kinda get that image.  But where Guera shines is with Red Crow.  He looks old.  You can kinda tell he used to be a bear of a man, but time passes, things sag and you get a bit of a belly.  Guera draws him perfectly as being “in really good shape for an old guy”.  He’s the old guy who would have all the old ladies after him.

What’s not so good: I was a little bummed when I finished this issue because I’m pretty sure the explosion won’t happen next issue (the finale of this 5 issue arc).  It was probably unreasonable for me to expect all the build-up and action to happen in a 5-issue arc because that isn’t how this series has been thus far, but I still want to get to the fun part and now I’m pretty sure that’ll be next story arc.

I’m also not a huge fan of the mystical and spiritual creeping into the series as tangible things that the characters can actually see.  We first saw this a few issues ago, when Red Crow looked into a mirror and saw a disturbing sight.  That I could write off as “something Red Crow saw but may not have really been there”, but in this issue we see Dash with a spirit-being next to him in the sweat tent.  I’m willing to trust Aaron as a story-teller and see what he does with it, but I don’t think I want ghosts in my gritty crime story.

Conclusion: The build up is just about done and we should be getting lots of explosion from here on out.  This is a wonderfully written and plotted series.

Grade: B+

– Dean Stell

Scalped #47 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (art), Giulia Brusco (colors), Steve Wands (letters), Mark Doyle (associate editor) & Will Dennis (editor)

The Story: What have Carol and Dino been up to the last few months?

What’s Good: Even though it has been really nice to get back to an ongoing Scalped story a few issues ago (this being #3 in a 5 issue arc after a string of really powerful done-in-ones), this series has missed Carol.  As much as Dash Bad Horse is the main character, Carol has always been the kinda tragic figure of Scalped as you can only look at her and wonder what kind of person she could be if she had better surroundings.

So, it is nice to catch up with her as she has been hanging out with Dino Poor Bear and family so that she can clean herself up from being the crackhead that she was becoming.  Dino is another of the tragic characters of Scalped as he’s basically a good kid who generally makes the right decision and it’s led to him scrubbing toilets in the casino to support his young daughter and having an eyeball ripped out by a torturer a couple years ago.  Nice, huh?

Watching Carol and Dino have a quiet and slow paced issue together just accentuates both of their characters.  Carol is the one who kinda always has a ray of hope in her life (whether she will seize it or not is another matter) whereas Dino is just pathetic.  And as a reader you feel like a real jerk for thinking that Dino is pathetic because of all the characters in Scalped, you’d probably most want to be friends with Dino (or Officer Falls Down, who is also pathetic).

Scalped #46 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (art), Giulia Brusco (colors), Steve Wands (letters) & Mark Doyle (editor)

The Story: The ongoing saga of Office Falls Down and Catcher continues…

What’s Good: I’m mostly just excited that Scalped is back into telling an ongoing story again (with this being the second issue of the arc).  I did love the done-in-one stories that we’ve been served the last few months, but getting back into plotting, deception and intrigue as the essential characters of the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation (who all have their own agendas) start their journey through one of Jason Aaron’s intricate plots is the bee’s knees.

Another good thing is that it seems we’re going to be exploring the character of Catcher a little more in this arc.  Catcher has been an important character all along and he is the biggest of free agents among the main characters.  He’s also the least explored, so I’m looking forward to learning a little more about him.

As for the plot in this issue, we’re in the middle of the arc, so we don’t expect “shocking conclusions”, but the main story deals with Catcher holding Officer Falls Down hostage.  Falls Down is another great character as he is seemingly the last honest man on the reservation.  He’s just a great example of that “honest man” fixture in an organized crime story (which is what Scalped really is).  There usually isn’t any room for such men in these stories, but they are important characters because they are someone you can identify with as a reader.  Falls Down hasn’t gotten much reward for his honesty.

Guera’s art is again just great.  There are a few places where he get’s a little heavy with the ink, but he sells the nasty/gritty/horrible so well that I don’t mind too much.  And an extended B-story in this issue between Red Crow and Lawrence (the Leonard Peltier character) is largely a silent story by Guera.  Glad to have him back after a run of guest artists.

Scalped #45 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (art), Giulia Brusco (colors), Steve Wands (letters) & Will Dennis (editor)

The Story: A new story arc begins on our favorite Lakota reservation.

What’s Good: It’s nice to get plunged back into an ongoing Scalped story.  For quite a few months, we’ve has done-in-ones and short arcs that were around the periphery of the Scalped universe.  They were outstanding stories and we are richer for knowing more about Shunka and Agent Nix, but it is still nice to head back into something that feels a little bigger.  It wouldn’t surprise me if this is the beginning of the next ~30 issue big story in Scalped.

There are lots of points for tension introduced in this issue as Aaron kinda arrays his chess pieces on the game board.  They are all intriguing and really make me anticipated the boiling point(s) that we’ll see in the next couple years.  Probably the biggest development is that Dash Bad Horse seems to be Red Crow’s new right hand man.  His addictions are gone and Red Crow values his toughness and brains.  Of course, that isn’t going to go over well at all with Shunka who seems to be losing his “chief advisor” role for Red Crow and will now merely be muscle.  Shunka seems to be a ticking bomb and the explosion is going to be pretty badass!  There are a lot of other neat angles tossed into this issue that hold a lot of promise for the future.  A few of them are only touched on, leaving you saying, “What the hell was THAT?”  It should be fun!

It is nice to have Guera back on art duties.  The guest artists have all been very good, but this is kinda Guera and Aaron’s series, so it’s nice to have all the characters back to they way they “should” look.  Guera has a very dark and gritty style that is perfect for this series.

Scalped #44 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), Davide Furno (artist), Giulia Brusco (colors), Steve Wands (letters) & Will Dennis (editor)

The Story: As Aaron is resetting the stories in Scalped, we take an issue to focus on the hard-bitten, jackass FBI agent, Baylis Nitz.

What’s Good: Another month, another outstanding issue of Scalped.  I have really enjoyed this series of stories for the last few months as Aaron has stepped back from the hustle and bustle of our favorite Sioux Indian reservation to focus in on some characters who have been around the series since the beginning, but haven’t received a lot of focused character development.  In this issue, we zero in on Agent Nitz.  What we’ve known about Nitz so far is that he’s a man obsessed with catching Red Crow for the murder of two FBI agents back in the 1970’s and it has seemed that Nitz is willing to sacrifice anything (his family, other FBI agents, etc.) to get his man.  His obsession is Ahab-like in its intensity and the level of self-destruction it brings on the man.

What we see in this issue is nothing really new: We knew that Nitz was a nasty son-of-a-bitch and that his obsession did not lead to taking a lot of pleasure with his job.  However, I had no idea the depths that the man had sunk to.  Anyone who has had a friend with self-destructive tendencies will see familiar elements in Nitz’s tale.  And, that is why Scalped is sooooo good.  I can’t identify with the characters in Superman, but I can see familiar things in Scalped.

However, what puts this issue over the top is the twist at the end.  As Aaron was spinning Nitz completely out of control, you are 100% certain that Nitz is going to die.  I had no doubt in my mind and such a death would have been a fitting end for this character.  BUT…Aaron pulls him back from the brink in a very clever way that is going to give this modern day Ahab some serious new mojo.  Ahad just got a really fast boat and some explosives in his hunt for his white whale and the cool thing is that he knows it.

Davide Furno is our guest artist this month and his art is quite good.  In fact, it if very similar in terms of style to RM Guera who is the regular artist on the series.  His faces are a little different the Guera’s, but no one is going to be thrown off by this slight art change and I honestly stopped noticing it by the end of the issue.

Dean’s Drive-by Reviews…

My pull list is way too long, so it seems like every week there are a few comics that neither I (nor any of my WCBR colleagues) has time to review thoroughly, but it still seems fair to give them the praise (or scorn) they deserve.

Skull-Kickers #3 – I was a little hard on the first issue of Skull-Kickers.  I didn’t think it was remotely “bad”, but didn’t see why all the fuss, why it was selling out, why people were able to sell their #1 issues on eBay at a profit before the book even hit shelves, etc.  It just seemed nutty that there would be so much fuss about a book that I thought was fine, but nothing special.  But, guess what…the 2nd issue was better than the first and the 3rd issue is the best yet.  This comic is really about a buddy-pair: rascally dwarf + huge, deadpan, contemplative dude.  There is lots of funny dialog between the pair and that almost makes the overall plot irrelevant.  It’s just fun.  The artwork is gotten better too, going from “fine, but nothing special” to “pretty good”.  If you haven’t been reading this, it might be worth checking out the trade in a few months.  Grade: B

Scalped #43 – THE WORST ISSUE OF SCALPED IN A LONG TIME!!!  Of course, that means it still gets a “B” and shows just how incredible Jason Aaron’s series is.  This seems to be kinda a one-shot with guest artist Jason LaTour and the story focuses on the all-hat, no-saddle Sheriff in the next town over from our beloved (?) reservation.  It’s just a solid story about humanity and heroism and how heroism portrays itself.  LaTour’s art is outstanding and fits with the look of the series, even if he did kinda mess up one climatic panel that shows how the bad guy took down the good guy (I stared at it for ~5 minutes total and am still unclear what happened).  Also, this issue’s story could be an important story element in a coming story arc.  We’ll have to see, but it is certainly worth reading this issue and series.  Grade: B

New Mutants #19 – The good news: I enjoyed this issue, which wraps up the “Fall of the New Mutants” storyline.  The bad news: I had a hard time remembering the events 5 days after reading it.  The title of the storyline is probably overly dramatic, but this story had a neat hook: An army expedition that went to Limbo for years and established a forward base there.  If you like the New Mutants, you’ll enjoy this issue, but it’s probably only for the mutant obsessed.  Grade: C+

Incredible Hulks #617 – I don’t like Hulk’s other son Hiro-Kala so that’s kinda affected my enjoyment of this issue.  And I just didn’t like the dramatic point of this story-arc: Hiro-Kala is flying an entire planet at Earth.  Established bad guys like Doom get to threaten the entire planet, but not newbies like Hiro-Kala.  The story is competently told, well written and the art is good, but I just didn’t enjoy this story arc at all.  Pretty sure I’m dropping this title.  Grade: C

– Dean Stell

 

Scalped #42 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (art), Giulia Brusco (colors) & Steve Wands (letters)

The Story: The finale of the Unwanted story arc.  Will Dash & Carol get back together?  Will Carol keep the baby?  Can Dash and his father unite against a common enemy?   Yeesh, it sounds like a soap opera.

What’s Good: The first 2/3 of this comic are about as tight as it gets.  The set up is incredibly simple: Dash and Carol standing on a snow-covered road.  They haven’t seen each other in months and now that they’re both clean and sober, they have a LOT to say to each other.  But the wizardry in this scene is that Aaron uses the same dialog device he used several issues ago with the elderly couple.  Dash and Gina are speaking to each other, but it is just chit chat little stuff.  The really big thoughts all confined to the narrative text boxes and run as a counterpoint to the entire conversation.  It is almost hard to describe how effectively Aaron pulls this off.  You may have heard of someone like Alex Baldwin having perfect comedic timing?  Well, this is the written, dramatic comic book form of expert comedic timing.  Aaron is really a gifted writer.

Guera also shines.  Scalped is such a nuanced book and it doesn’t lend itself to flashy splash pages, so it can be easy to overlook the art, but the way that Guera captures Dash and Carol as they verbally evade each other is just really something because the facial expressions and body language are as much of a counterpoint to the conversation as the narration boxes.  But, Guera’s real chance to shine is on a silent multi page run where [SPOILER ALERT] Dash is shown cleaning up his drug-trashed home as Carol is at the abortion clinic.  It is crystal clear that these two are turning a page in their lives and Guera sells the hell out of it.

Comics You Should Be Reading

Welcome to a new feature here at WCBR, which will hopefully resurface periodically.

Here we highlight series that we reviewers feel are not getting the readers, or the attention, that they deserve.  These are books that we’ve been particularly enjoying.  These are DC/Marvel books that should be in the top ten, or at least the top 20, in the monthly sales figures, or indie titles that, qualitatively, should be mentioned alongside blockbusters like the Walking Dead, Chew, or Morning Glories.

So, with the intro out of the way, let’s get started!

American Vampire (DC/Vertigo)

Written by Scott Snyder (who is taking over Detective Comics) and with art by the incredible Rafael Albuquerque, American Vampire is the story of a new breed of vampires who arise in the United States in the late 18th century. They can go outside and don’t have much use for old-fashioned, Euro-vampires and their sissified clothes. The story is also a bit of a bonus for history buffs as we have so far touched on the Old West of the 1880’s, Hollywood of the 1920’s and Las Vegas of the 1930’s. Did I mention how awesome the art is?

-Dean

 

Fantastic Four (Marvel)

Before Hickman’s run, I hadn’t had any love whatsoever for the Fantastic Four since childhood. Now FF is my favourite Marvel book and Reed Richards right up there with my favourite characters. This alone should be testament to how good this book is. It’s a book where anything is possible, one that challenges, and shatters, limitations of scope and structure. This is a big book chocked full of big ideas and massive, cosmic hullabaloo. Every issue of Hickman’s Fantastic Four feels like it’s charting new ground with every month’s offering feeling bold, adventurous, and full of life. To top it all off, Hickman also writes all of the characters, especially the kids, fantastically and in a manner that makes them impossible not to love.

-Alex

 

Kill Shakespeare (IDW)

This is a fantastic series, regardless of how you feel about the Great Bard himself. While it does have plenty of references and in-jokes for people familiar with Shakespeare’s work, knowing the plays is not at all a requirement for enjoying the fantastic dialogue, wonderful characters, and constantly twisting plot. The quality of both the writing and the art make this one a no-brainer for anyone’s pull list, and will have a place on my shelf both in single issue and trade form. Well worth taking the time to seek out and sample.

-SoldierHawk

 

Orc Stain (Image)

This is one of the whackiest series out there on the stands right now. The story is pretty basic: The various fractious races of orcs have finally been united under one, all-powerful Orctzar. All that stands between the Orctzar and absolute power are the services of a one-eyed orc who has the ability to crack open anything with his little hammer. But, the story is merely a frame for James Stokoe’s wicked sense of humor and art design. Starting with the art, everything in the Orc Stain world is an animal. The orcs don’t just wear armor…it is all various hard-shelled animals fitted all over their bodies. Ditto for the swords and everything else. The visual look is like nothing else. And the humor is something else. Much of this humor revolves around orcs losing their gronch (with is orcish for “junk”). The comic makes me laugh and admire the art design.

-Dean

Action Comics (DC)

Don’t be put off by the lack of Superman; this is quite possibly the best, and smartest, book DC is putting out. Razor sharp wit, a hilarious supporting cast, and super-polished Pete Woods artwork make this book a must-read. Best of all is the fact that the title is very much a “Paul Cornell” book. It’s funny, it’s action packed, and Cornell writes a fantastic Lex Luthor. Then there’s robot Lois, possibly my favourite new character of the year and the sort of zany, smart-mouthed creation that Cornell excels at. Top this off with a really cool “villain of the month” format that often looks to highlight some of DC’s underused baddies, and you’ve got something that is made out of win… and just a little bit of insanity.

-Alex

Artifacts (Image/Top Cow)

This is an extended 13-issue event that promises to change the face of the Top Cow (Witchblade, The Darkness, Magdalena) universe. While it’s still in its infancy as an event (issue #2 was just released), that’s an advantage for a new reader who wants to jump onboard to this epic story of mystical artifacts and those who which to defend—or claim—them. Ron Marz is doing excellent job of bringing non-Top Cow readers up to speed on all of the players, powers and forces involved in the saga, so not being familiar with the source material shouldn’t be a deal-breaker. Pick up issues #1 and #2 now, and save yourself the trouble of tracking them down when everyone is raving about this series in the next couple months.

-SoldierHawk

 

28 Days Later (BOOM!)

Do you love The Walking Dead? Then you should also be reading 28 Days Later (based on the movie of the same name). It is just that simple. Lots of zombie comics think that zombies (or infected in the case of 28 Days Later) are the main attraction. Smart post-apocalypse stories like TWD and 28 Days (or The Stand, The Road, etc.) know that the true star of these stories is the breakdown of human society and whether decent people have any hope in a land where ruthlessness is a true advantage. Although it is similar to TWD, it has enough differences to make sure that it has original concepts. This is a comic that I’m excited to read every month and it never disappoints.

-Dean

 

S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel)

Part science fiction, part fantasy, part history, all awesome. S.H.I.E.L.D. is a mind bending, time-traveling adventure in which many of the great minds of the Western world—and some great minds who aren’t from the West at all—come together to form the beginning of the S.H.I.E.L.D. that guards the current Marvel Universe. Think a history-based League of Extraordinary Gentlemen with a bit of Marvel lore (and some absolutely gorgeous artwork) thrown in, and you’ll quickly see why, barring something absolutely incredible happening between now and January, this is my choice for best new book of the year.

-SoldierHawk

Scalped

40 issues in with no passable jumping on point save issue one, this isn’t the most new-reader friendly book.  But I’m listing it anyway, because Scalped is just that damned good.  Scalped has consistently been among the very best comics on the stands since it debuted in 2007 and yet, since 2007, it has flown under the radar, in spite of an Eisner nomination and a (now) big name writer in Jason Aaron.  This book is grim, dark, gritty, unrelenting, uncompromising, and so  real that it hurts.  It’s an ugly and dirty book but also one that’s very real and human and even after forty issues, the idea of an American crime story on an Indian reservation is as fresh as ever.  It’s a compelling, and ingenious, mix of noir and social commentary, both sides balancing the other but both also being equally brutal.

-Alex

 

Scalped #40 – Review

by Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (art), Giulia Brusco (colors), and Steve Wands (letters)

The Story: Dash and Carol begin two very different kinds of drug rehab.

What’s Good: It’s always enjoyable when a writer is able to bring together to plots that are dramatically opposite into a single, coherent issue and that’s pretty much what Jason Aaron does this month in Scalped.  Carol and Dash’s portions could not be more different in style, content, and tone and yet it feels only natural that the two occupy the same issue.  They essentially grapple with similar issues of family and addiction, and this allows for interesting parallels to be drawn between two very different stories that conjure very different feelings.

Aaron continues to reinvent Carol, as the character reinvents herself.  I expected this after last month’s fantastic issue, but the character only grows in likability and relatability.  She grows more empathetic still this month, as, for the first time, she finds herself standing on the periphery of a family environment, though a chaotic one.  It’s not a family without problems, nor is it ideal, but Aaron elegantly makes Carol’s trepidation, want, pain, and awkwardness clear as she stands on the outside, looking in, pondering to what extent to accept the subliminal invitation.  It’s muted, but fascinating stuff.  Much of this is due to just how subtly Aaron writes the Poor Bear family; Granny is the anchor that links together these disparate individuals, whether they realize it or not.  Aaron’s writing of their breakfast conversation is a thing of beauty; all the characters seem intent on their own, individual topics of conversation, and the result is oddly dissonant.

Dash’s drug withdrawal is the completely opposite of this warm environment, as Shunka essentially has him go cold turkey in the wilderness.  The result ends up feeling like a Native American, Hunter S. Thompson styled drug trip.  It’s brutal and nasty stuff as Dash goes out of his mind, completely isolated, but, like Thompson’s Fear and Loathing, there’s also a kind of humour to it as well, of a kind that mixes absurdity with schadenfreude.

Scalped #38 – Review

by Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera, Giulia Brusco (colors), and Steve Wands (letters)

The Story: From the Vietnam War to the reserve, a character crucial to Scalped’s history is illuminated for the very first time.

What’s Good: It’s hard to write a comic centred on a character in existential crisis.  The problem is that it’s difficult to have readers be sympathetic with a character with no fixed identity or to understand a character who doesn’t understand him or herself.  Yet somehow, Aaron manages it.

I think it’s largely due to Aaron’s focus on mood, atmosphere, and environment (the end of the Vietnam War) despite the heavy character work.  While we never fully grasp Wade’s motivations, aside from some vague ideas of destiny towards issue’s end, we are carried along the stream right with him.  Wade seems to float through his life in this book and so, that’s what we do.  Regardless of what major historical events he’s a part of or what completely spontaneous acts of violence or cruelty he commits, there’s a constant sense of meandering and meaninglessness, possibly because of that very spontaneity.   Even when he does a fairly heroic deed, it doesn’t feel like a fist-pump; Wade rescues an old man from slavery, only for the man to spit in his face and say “go home.”

That sums up the effective moodiness of this issue, really.  A constant sense of drifting lethargy and confusion encircles a man who bounces from day to day, surviving but not really living, making as few choices as he has to and often being unaware of it when he actually does.  Due to Wade’s “curse” (by dumb luck, he seemingly can’t be killed), even war is made bland and un-invigorating.  Wade’s life is just one big wash that sees him increasingly isolated on his existential island.  By issue’s end, when Wade actually begins to have some sense of destiny, this lasts all of a couple pages before that is quickly inverted and problematized.

Scalped #37 – Review

by Jason Aaron (writer), Davide Furno (art), Giulia Brusco (colors), and Steve Wands (letters)

The Story: Shunka settles a score, only to learn that things are never that simple.

What’s Good: I’m not sure I remember the last time that it was a good thing when a book disappointed me, but that’s the situation Scalped #37 confronts me with.  What at first looked worryingly like a filler arc has ended up being perhaps the bravest material Aaron has ever written.

So, what exactly am I going on about?  Well, it’s a giant spoiler, so I can’t really say.  Essentially, this issue’s latter half will slap you across the face.  It’ll make you feel like a fool for ever believing, even for just a moment, that there was ever a truly, 100% good and innocent character in the world of Scalped.  There’s a giant twist that’s sure to shock and make you feel all the dumber for being shocked.  It’s a brutal reminder of just how nasty Jason Aaron’s world is in Scalped.

Big twist aside, this is another strong outing for Shunka.  Early in the issue, he unleashes his rage, creating a bloodbath that is wince-inducingly visceral.  Yet, the sheer efficiency of his attack and his wordlessness throughout make it clear that this is more than simple comic violence and the swift dispatching of faceless goons.  Shunka is more than Shunka and this scene is more than it appears to be; at least for a moment, Shunka is rage incarnate and his violence is a railing against an institution steeped in prejudice, hatred, ignorance, and homophobia.  Shunka’s being a “one man army” makes it clear that he’s more than just a man and Furno helps to lend the scene a kind of surrealness.  Every action is full of anger and it’s clear that Shunka isn’t doing this for Crane; he’s doing it because he, and the closeted homosexual he represents, has had enough of the system.  The violence is, in many ways, anarchic in its abandon.

Aaron weaves his story expertly, with the unreliable (and now deceased) narration by Joseph Crane continuing to be effective.  Crane’s voice is clear in its limitations, adding to Shunka’s mystique and lending a sense of tense unknowing throughout.  Basically, despite the narrator, you’re relied on to catch what’s implied.  That and, let’s face it, the idea of a deceased narrator, particularly one that’s so winding, is always cool.

Punishermax #4 – Review

by Jason Aaron (writer), Steve Dillon (art), Matt Hollingsworth (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)

The Story: The Punisher goes head to head with the Mennonite and the Kingpin finally makes his move.

What’s Good: This book really has that R-rated action movie feel that’s pretty integral to a comic like Punishermax.  While the issue never comes close to approaching intellectual fare, it’s fun to watch and read in that blockbuster sort of way.

The bulk of the issue is an extended brawl between Frank and the Mennonite.  It’s beautifully paced and sequenced and has a fantastic flow to it, with one frame naturally and organically following the last.  It’s completely smooth, without any of the hiccupping that often occurs in lengthy fight scenes.  It’s also brutal and unforgiving, while also being fairly creative, visceral, and personal.  I think that a lot of that owes to Aaron steering clear from the over-the-top excess that Ennis often utilized, which ended up turning fight scenes into comedy.  By keeping it relatively realistic, Aaron ups the intensity.  Of course, a lot of this has to do with Steve Dillon, who brings his action chops along, without the goofy faces.

The Mennonite also really delivers, as Aaron really makes the most of the concept.  Leaving the character motivations behind this month, Aaron decides that the character will only use the weapons that his “religion allows.”  In other words, no guns or cars – just horses and a big mallet.  It’s really humorous stuff that colors the book and gives it its own unique personality.  It really livens things up and brings something special to the Mennonite character, enough that I hope to see him again soon.

Aaron also does well with the Frank Castle internal monologues, owning up to the tradition of using the textboxes to have Frank describe his gruesome injuries in detail.  It makes the fight scene that much more difficult to read and ups the desperation and brutality quotients exponentially.

Scalped #33 – Review

by Jason Aaron (writer), RM Guera (art), Giulia Brusco (colors), and Steve Wands (letters)

The Story: Red Crow and Nitz instigate competing manhunts to find the witness as the Hmongs finally reach the Rez.

What’s Good: I’m not sure that there’s ever been a bad month of Scalped, and #33 continues that trend.  This is one of those issues that’s solid if only for its ability to successfully juggle all of its many plot threads.  Despite this, it never feels scattered or thin, and every one of these threads remain entertaining and integral.  Not a single scene feels overly divorced from the rest of the book, and all of them feel honest and engaging, easily dodging the danger of becoming mere “updates.”

Overall, this issue further validates this arc’s title, “the Gnawing.”  Heading into said arc’s final installment, the tension has never been higher, as this month ratchets it up to fever pitch.  The manhunt for the witness remains as thrilling as ever and a confrontation between Nitz and Shunka is a great read, if only because of its being the first time any member of Red Crow’s organization has ever actually gotten physical with Nitz.  The scene also recalls Nitz’s issue in the High Lonesome arc, as Aaron again insinuates the disgruntled agent’s seeming deathwish.

With R.M. Guera putting out his usual quality, scratchy, “dusty noir” look, this Aaron truly succeeds this month if only because he has written exactly what a pen-ultimate issue should be to any storyarc.  So much is left dangling, and you know that most all of it will be resolved, most likely in cataclysmic fashion, next month.  Of course, that’s not to say that this issue is purely set-up either; there’s several developments that are sure to have long-lasting ramifications well beyond this arc, chiefly some new developments in Dash and Diesel’s alliance, particularly as it relates to the death of a long-running character.

Yes, I did just say that someone dies this month, and the manner in which he/she is killed and by whom is sure to cause all sorts of havoc down the road.

What’s Not So Good: The final page is a little less than ideal, and I suspect that it largely has to do with Aaron running into page-count difficulties.  It’s meant to leave us on a cliffhanger as Red Crow walks out to meet the Hmongs, but the book ends a little abruptly if only because Aaron only has one page to work with.  It’s clear that ideally, the book should’ve ended with a splash of some sort following this.  Pacing-wise, it’s as though someone tore out the last two pages of my comic.

Also, I felt that Aaron was wasting his time a little in his attempt to make Agent Newsome a little more likable.  The guy’s been a complete jackass for the entirety of the series, that dumb jock in a position of power that you love to hate, and there’s no way Aaron’s going to make the guy particularly sympathetic in just a couple of scenes.  In fact, it feels a little strange.

Conclusion: Scalped is an awesome series, and this is another really solid outing.  I can’t wait for next month’s installment.

Grade: B+

-Alex Evans

Scalped #32 – Review

by Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (art), Giulia Brusco (colors), and Steve Wands (letters)

The Story: Dash tries to save a murder witness from Red Crow and Carol’s life continues its tailspin.

What’s Good: The high-paced chase sequence that results from the conclusion of last month’s issue was certainly a lot of fun.  Aaron has successfully made the murder witness a ridiculously irritating character.   It’s a great in a stressful sort of way, as most of Dash’s FBI-related actions are.  The whole scene also shows just how easily Aaron is able to toy with his readers.  How many times has he made us despise Nitz and like Red Crow?  Yet in this issue, it’s hard not to root for Nitz and pray that Red Crow gets caught out, if only for Dash’s sake.  The ease and speed with which Aaron is able to turn the tables is astounding.

Meanwhile, Catcher continues to be an interesting character in as much as he’s always so damned ominous.  This month definitely makes him seem even darker .  There’s a strong sense of foreboding and danger whenever he appears on the page.

The best thing about this issue by far, however, is the traditional, noir tone the book takes on in its latter half.  These are miserable conversations/monologues with miserable people.  The sadness is palpable, powerful, and brooding.  Guera’s artwork certainly helps in that regard.  While the first half of the book is that rough, dusty look we’ve gotten used to, these later scenes make expert use of darkness, shadow, and negative space.  The character positioning is also fantastic.  You really get that combined feeling of smoky mystery and tragedy that you’d normally only find in classic noir.

What’s Not So Good: The biggest problem with this issue is that it’s pretty much all set-up.  As such, there’s really only so high a grade I can give it.  Everything is a prelude, a lead-in, or a glimpse of danger on the horizon.  We are dead centre in the middle of the story-arc, and it definitely feels that way.  This is an almost purely transitional issue that often is intent merely to provide updates or consolidate.

I also didn’t like how Aaron acts as though last month’s massive cliffhanger never even happened.  At the end of that issue, it looked as though Carol may very well be dead.  This month, the very first time we see Carol, she’s up and about as though this collapse never occurred.  Sure she’s sick, and these blackouts will be regular occurrences, but Aaron could at least have provided a couple of images of her getting up off the floor from where we last saw her.  Perhaps page count was an issue here, but it was very strange and a bit irritating to see the high drama of her collapse last issue be completely written off and disregarded.

Conclusion: While it isn’t the most earth-shattering installment of the series, Scalped has never had a bad issue and this month doesn’t see a buck in that trend.

Grade: B

–Alex Evans