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Scalped #4
Scalped: The Gravel in Your Guts
The intense crime drama that mixes organized crime with current Native American culture. Fifteen years ago, Dashiell "Dash" Bad Horse ran away from a life of poverty and hopelessness on the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation in search of something better. Now he's come back home armed with nothing but a set of nunchuks, a hell-bent-for-leather attitude and one dark secret, to find nothing much has changed on "the Rez" - short of a glimmering new casino and a once-proud people overcome by drugs and organized crime.
In this volume, Dash makes a dark and fateful decision that will forever affect his future on the reservation as he learns more secrets from his former girlfriend's past.
Collects: Scalped #19-24.
In this volume, Dash makes a dark and fateful decision that will forever affect his future on the reservation as he learns more secrets from his former girlfriend's past.
Collects: Scalped #19-24.
145 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 28, 2009
9 people are currently reading
450 people want to read
About the author
Jason Aaron
2,414 books1,665 followersJason Aaron grew up in a small town in Alabama. His cousin, Gustav Hasford, who wrote the semi-autobiographical novel The Short-Timers, on which the feature film Full Metal Jacket was based, was a large influence on Aaron. Aaron decided he wanted to write comics as a child, and though his father was skeptical when Aaron informed him of this aspiration, his mother took Aaron to drug stores, where he would purchase books from spinner racks, some of which he still owns today.
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.
In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.
Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.
In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.
In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.
After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.
Aaron's career in comics began in 2001 when he won a Marvel Comics talent search contest with an eight-page Wolverine back-up story script. The story, which was published in Wolverine #175 (June 2002), gave him the opportunity to pitch subsequent ideas to editors.
In 2006, Aaron made a blind submission to DC/Vertigo, who published his first major work, the Vietnam War story The Other Side which was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Miniseries, and which Aaron regards as the "second time" he broke into the industry.
Following this, Vertigo asked him to pitch other ideas, which led to the series Scalped, a creator-owned series set on the fictional Prairie Rose Indian Reservation and published by DC/Vertigo.
In 2007, Aaron wrote Ripclaw: Pilot Season for Top Cow Productions. Later that year, Marvel editor Axel Alonso, who was impressed by The Other Side and Scalped, hired Aaron to write issues of Wolverine, Black Panther and eventually, an extended run on Ghost Rider that began in April 2008. His continued work on Black Panther also included a tie-in to the company-wide crossover storyline along with a "Secret Invasion" with David Lapham in 2009.
In January 2008, he signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, though it would not affect his work on Scalped. Later that July, he wrote the Penguin issue of The Joker's Asylum.
After a 4-issue stint on Wolverine in 2007, Aaron returned to the character with the ongoing series Wolverine: Weapon X, launched to coincide with the feature film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Aaron commented, "With Wolverine: Weapon X we'll be trying to mix things up like that from arc to arc, so the first arc is a typical sort of black ops story but the second arc will jump right into the middle of a completely different genre," In 2010, the series was relaunched once again as simply Wolverine. He followed this with his current run on Thor: God of Thunder.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 117 reviews
August 27, 2025
(A-) 83% | Very Good
Notes: Lives of attrition, juxtapositions of character choices and fates, no reservation liberation: neither turf nor mental state.
*Progress updates: Preamble ◦ Issues #19-20 ◦ Issues #21-22 ◦ Issues #23-24
Notes: Lives of attrition, juxtapositions of character choices and fates, no reservation liberation: neither turf nor mental state.
*Progress updates: Preamble ◦ Issues #19-20 ◦ Issues #21-22 ◦ Issues #23-24
April 6, 2023
More of this artfully crafted human interest tale with its no holds barred look at the darker side of the modern Native American communities that have been set-aside by the 'Americans' in Reservations. In this volume Dashiel has to make the right decision, but do any of us even know what that is? We also get some backstory on his partner. This series is so bloody intense... and the use of the word bloody was not unintentional! 8 out of 12, Four Stars.
2017 and 2013 read
2017 and 2013 read
August 21, 2018
Volume four of Scalped: The Gravel in Your Guts, features maybe even more misery on the rez than the previous three volumes combined. I called the series “operatic” in scope and tone in a review of an earlier volume, but Ed Brubaker’s introduction suggests that Aaron and Guera are essentially writing noir, where inevitability reigns, “the inevitable decay of us all.” Whew. “Tapping into the heart of noir, Jason Aaron tells us a story that is really many stories, and which all have the same ending.” And that ending we all know isn’t gonna be good. For anyone. But we keep reading even though it is inevitable.
In this one Dash slides down to Carol Red Crow's self-destructive level, trying out heroin; Dino Poor Bear, who was saving money to get him and his kid off the rez, gets into delivering contraband stuff to bad guys for cash and then some murder happens; Chief Red Crow was given a “soul bundle” by Granny to take care of the departed Gina’s soul for a year, having to commit to living a “harmonious” life for that year. Wanna make a bet about whether he can do it? When the murderous Hmong gang who are one of the financial backers of the new casino come in to explore their investment, Chief Red Crow has to hand that soul bundle back to Granny, alas. Shoot-out on the old rez.
From Dostoevsky to Jim Thompson to J. M. Coetzee to James Ellroy to Ed Brubaker there is this Calvinistic strain of inevitability, or call it predestination, that we are all born to ruin, to anguish, to Hell, from all our bad choices. And this is one of those stories.
My criticisms: Davide Furnò’s guest artwork in the first two volumes doesn’t mesh well with Guera’s work. And I dunno; just mentioning Ed Brubaker here raises the question of how much misery we can take. Brubaker always makes us laugh on the road to the bitter end. Would it kill you to throw a few laughs in here, Aaron? I had to take a break in the middle of reading to take in a couple hilarious Noah Van Sciver comix! Scalped continues to be a grim, but admittedly powerful series.
In this one Dash slides down to Carol Red Crow's self-destructive level, trying out heroin; Dino Poor Bear, who was saving money to get him and his kid off the rez, gets into delivering contraband stuff to bad guys for cash and then some murder happens; Chief Red Crow was given a “soul bundle” by Granny to take care of the departed Gina’s soul for a year, having to commit to living a “harmonious” life for that year. Wanna make a bet about whether he can do it? When the murderous Hmong gang who are one of the financial backers of the new casino come in to explore their investment, Chief Red Crow has to hand that soul bundle back to Granny, alas. Shoot-out on the old rez.
From Dostoevsky to Jim Thompson to J. M. Coetzee to James Ellroy to Ed Brubaker there is this Calvinistic strain of inevitability, or call it predestination, that we are all born to ruin, to anguish, to Hell, from all our bad choices. And this is one of those stories.
My criticisms: Davide Furnò’s guest artwork in the first two volumes doesn’t mesh well with Guera’s work. And I dunno; just mentioning Ed Brubaker here raises the question of how much misery we can take. Brubaker always makes us laugh on the road to the bitter end. Would it kill you to throw a few laughs in here, Aaron? I had to take a break in the middle of reading to take in a couple hilarious Noah Van Sciver comix! Scalped continues to be a grim, but admittedly powerful series.
February 28, 2025
Gritty, violent, heartbreaking!
March 27, 2018
Another worthy addition to the Scalped series.
I like the issues with Guera doing the illustrating. I hate the issues with the other illustrator.
I like the issues with Guera doing the illustrating. I hate the issues with the other illustrator.
October 8, 2011
Dash Bad Horse and Carol Red Crow's destructive, desperate relationship continues with Bad Horse getting into some of Carol's bad habits, namely heroin; Dino Poor Bear gets to tell his story here and we see him go from bad to worse; Chief Red Crow's past continues to unravel as he converses with his dead ex Gina Bad Horse, Dash's mum, and his current situation with a group of murdering Hmong gangsters.
Ed Brubaker in his intro points out that "Scalped" is noir and that means it is meant to be as dark as all hell, and boy is he right - it is! I know Brubaker does noir as well, his series "Criminal" is superb, but even that doesn't compare to the deepest depths that Jason Aaron and RM Guera takes the reader, and "The Gravel in your Guts" is no exception.
Well it sucks to be an indian on the Prairie Rose Rez it seems, but on the other hand this series gets better as the characters get more fleshed out and interesting. It's building towards something and Aaron knows how to throw in the right characters at the right times to keep the story barrelling along nicely.
It's the best in the series so far and if you're a fan of the last three books then you'll love this too. "Scalped" doesn't pull its punches but it is a series that has some increasingly fascinating characters, in particular Red Crow who is becoming a modern day King Lear or MacBeth. A good read and a series worth checking out, "Scalped" continues it's great story in this fine volume.
Ed Brubaker in his intro points out that "Scalped" is noir and that means it is meant to be as dark as all hell, and boy is he right - it is! I know Brubaker does noir as well, his series "Criminal" is superb, but even that doesn't compare to the deepest depths that Jason Aaron and RM Guera takes the reader, and "The Gravel in your Guts" is no exception.
Well it sucks to be an indian on the Prairie Rose Rez it seems, but on the other hand this series gets better as the characters get more fleshed out and interesting. It's building towards something and Aaron knows how to throw in the right characters at the right times to keep the story barrelling along nicely.
It's the best in the series so far and if you're a fan of the last three books then you'll love this too. "Scalped" doesn't pull its punches but it is a series that has some increasingly fascinating characters, in particular Red Crow who is becoming a modern day King Lear or MacBeth. A good read and a series worth checking out, "Scalped" continues it's great story in this fine volume.
July 25, 2011
The tension and the violence wind up another notch; the line between Skelton, Dino, Dash and Red Crow is drawn finely, beautifully and sadly. The more complex this gets, the more compelling, the more the horrible, terrible inevitabilities kick you in the gut. Wonderful.
July 11, 2018
Uzun bir aradan sonra "Scalped" çizgi roman serisine sıkı bir dönüş yaptım. Serinin dördüncü cildi "Deli Cesareti" ile hikaye sürüyor. Jason Aaaron'un yazdığı, David Furno ve R. M. Guera'nın çizdiği, Çizgi Düşler tarafından çizgi dünyamıza dahil edilen, İlker Keskin'in editörlüğünü yapıp Egemen Görçek'in çevirisini üstlendiği eser her seferinde çıtayı, aksiyon seviyesini, hikayenin katmanlarını arttırarak yoluna devam ediyor. İlk cildlerdeki o karışıklık (okur adına) her seferinde merakla beklenen bir sonraki cilde dönüşüyor. Kitap, özellikle çizgi roman fiyatları pahalılanıyor, dolar euro böyle giderse daha da sıkıntılı olacak. Ancak unutmamak lazım ki bu zorlu günleri en iyi değerlendirme yolu yine kitaplar. Bu anlamda yayıncısından yazara, çizere, çevirisini yapandan editöre kadar tüm kitap emektarlarına destek vermek lazım.
November 7, 2018
Ed Brubaker's introduction sets the appropriate tone for this installment. “The inevitable decay of us all.” Some things are inevitable and yet we cannot look away. The bleakness and grimness and violence gets upped in this one, and there are several character plot lines that you hope won't go the way that they inevitably do, and as Brubaker said, there could not be any other outcome that would hold water.
I continue to both like and dislike the art style of this series, yet some of the most evocative scenes are wordless panels. I found myself talking to these people trying to steer them a different way, knowing all the while that there will be no light at the end of this dark tunnel. That ending though was most satisfying.
My review of the complete series can be found here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I continue to both like and dislike the art style of this series, yet some of the most evocative scenes are wordless panels. I found myself talking to these people trying to steer them a different way, knowing all the while that there will be no light at the end of this dark tunnel. That ending though was most satisfying.
My review of the complete series can be found here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
April 15, 2013
The end was sad....Red Crow accepting who he is and giving Gina's soul back to granny because he cannot be different.
I can't believe Dash started doing drugs. I don't have a good feeling about this.
I can't believe Dash started doing drugs. I don't have a good feeling about this.
October 28, 2014
Well shit got even darker than it already was pretty fast...
Intro by the great Ed Brubaker rightly points out: This is Noir. Noir is when you know shit gonna go bad, but you can't help but watch, you just know things aren't getting better.
There's some beautiful work being done in the Noir world, and Jason Aaron makes it raw, unflinching, and downright sad.
He also writes characters that are some crazy shades of grey. Red Crow was an asshole at the start, but now we get a glimpse into who he thinks he is, why he's done what he's done, and who he thinks is evil. Dash was going to be our unconventional hero, but he's getting tainted with darkness all over his white hat too.
It's like this is the Graphic Novel version of Alice in Chains beautifully miserable "Down in a Hole".
Down in a hole, feelin so small
Down in a hole, losin my soul
I'd like to fly but my
Wings have been so denied
Red Crow is becoming a Shakespearean villain (ie. multiple layers of evil/bad on top of what used to be a pure/decent soul; or simply one bad decision that led down the road to years and years of them).
The "romance" between Dash and Carol Red Crow is agonizing and makes you feel like shit, because you know it's based on something so real. Neither of them has anyone else they can come close to trusting, so they join together for the downward spiral.
(This really is an early 90s Alternative Music video adaptation I swear.)
Bravo to Mr. Aaron, it's so authentic, so real, I'm amazed this hasn't been made into an HBO series yet. It's right up there with those ideas.
If you're not already reading this series, what is wrong with you? Wake up! Get it!
Get this review and more at:
Intro by the great Ed Brubaker rightly points out: This is Noir. Noir is when you know shit gonna go bad, but you can't help but watch, you just know things aren't getting better.
There's some beautiful work being done in the Noir world, and Jason Aaron makes it raw, unflinching, and downright sad.
He also writes characters that are some crazy shades of grey. Red Crow was an asshole at the start, but now we get a glimpse into who he thinks he is, why he's done what he's done, and who he thinks is evil. Dash was going to be our unconventional hero, but he's getting tainted with darkness all over his white hat too.
It's like this is the Graphic Novel version of Alice in Chains beautifully miserable "Down in a Hole".
Down in a hole, feelin so small
Down in a hole, losin my soul
I'd like to fly but my
Wings have been so denied
Red Crow is becoming a Shakespearean villain (ie. multiple layers of evil/bad on top of what used to be a pure/decent soul; or simply one bad decision that led down the road to years and years of them).
The "romance" between Dash and Carol Red Crow is agonizing and makes you feel like shit, because you know it's based on something so real. Neither of them has anyone else they can come close to trusting, so they join together for the downward spiral.
(This really is an early 90s Alternative Music video adaptation I swear.)
Bravo to Mr. Aaron, it's so authentic, so real, I'm amazed this hasn't been made into an HBO series yet. It's right up there with those ideas.
If you're not already reading this series, what is wrong with you? Wake up! Get it!
Get this review and more at:
March 13, 2014
"Noir is the entropy to society's order, the inevitable decay of us all"
Ed Brubaker; from the introduction to Scalped, Vol. 4: The Gravel in Your Guts
This series is so dark, gritty and mesmerizing. Each volume offers up more destruction and more degradation. So many lessons about choices, history and attaining desires at any cost. I look forward to each new trip onto The Rez and the darkness that is there.
Ed Brubaker; from the introduction to Scalped, Vol. 4: The Gravel in Your Guts
This series is so dark, gritty and mesmerizing. Each volume offers up more destruction and more degradation. So many lessons about choices, history and attaining desires at any cost. I look forward to each new trip onto The Rez and the darkness that is there.
December 28, 2024
My lord in christ this shit gets even darker.
The main lead, Dash Bad Horse, is going deeper into a hole. After not being able to do a single thing about the kid killed last volume, he's dealing with going lower into the pit of depression with his girlfriend Carol. Red Crow takes care of his business and we get glimpses of his past. A Complicated man trying to do good in his vision but in most people's mindset, he's a piece of shit, and rightfully so. So much happens here, including a move on the asian gang. I wonder how bad this is gonna get in the end.
The main lead, Dash Bad Horse, is going deeper into a hole. After not being able to do a single thing about the kid killed last volume, he's dealing with going lower into the pit of depression with his girlfriend Carol. Red Crow takes care of his business and we get glimpses of his past. A Complicated man trying to do good in his vision but in most people's mindset, he's a piece of shit, and rightfully so. So much happens here, including a move on the asian gang. I wonder how bad this is gonna get in the end.
February 19, 2012
Scalped is classic noir in the best sense. To paraphrase Ed Brubaker's excellent introduction, Noir is about watching a character fall into darkness. In The Gravel in Your Guts, Dash falls from grace. Chief Red Crow fails an old friend. People on the Rez, try to do the right thing and never seem to escape their destiny and it is fascinating to watch as the bloody drama plays out across the pages.
October 4, 2015
And things really, really did get messed up in the fourth volume. Red Crow's encounter with the Hmong gangsters resulted to an all-out bloody violent action that we've all been waiting for since the start of Scalped. Shunka and Red Crow sure kick ass, so better not mess up or control them to do your bidding.
Meanwhile, Dash is relatively quiet in this volume, having majority of his scenes with scumbag Diesel and her drug addict girlfriend Carol.
Meanwhile, Dash is relatively quiet in this volume, having majority of his scenes with scumbag Diesel and her drug addict girlfriend Carol.
April 2, 2018
This is like, a perspective-redefining graphic novel. This is a sprawling epic with many moving parts that collide with the speed and violence of asteroids. There is very little Dash Bad Horse in there and a lot of Lincoln Red Crow, Dino Poor Bear and Carole Ellroy, but I didn't care. This is how you know a story is beyond good: you start caring about all the characters equally.
October 21, 2022
One word says a lot about the SCALPED series - grim. Really grim. Well, maybe a couple more words - - - brutal and bloody . . . and sexy. VOLUME 4: THE GRAVEL IN YOUR GUTS is the most grim, brutal, bloody, and sexy of the series so far . . . . and as disturbing as it is I can't look away.
On top of all that, Aaron's skillful writing and the evocative art have managed to get me to like every single native American character in this series. Now I understand Chief Lincoln Red Crow better. I get why his daughter took such a bad turn the way she did. I'm dripping with empathy . . and sorrow. I need to read something a little lighter in tone as a breather before I tackle the next volume.
The only characters I don't like, and even despise, are the outsiders - - the manipulative, revenge-driven FBI agent and the Hmong gang members. So much so, that I wanted Mr. Brass to die in a very brutal fashion. Shame on me. That's the power behind this book. You have to react to it.
On top of all that, Aaron's skillful writing and the evocative art have managed to get me to like every single native American character in this series. Now I understand Chief Lincoln Red Crow better. I get why his daughter took such a bad turn the way she did. I'm dripping with empathy . . and sorrow. I need to read something a little lighter in tone as a breather before I tackle the next volume.
The only characters I don't like, and even despise, are the outsiders - - the manipulative, revenge-driven FBI agent and the Hmong gang members. So much so, that I wanted Mr. Brass to die in a very brutal fashion. Shame on me. That's the power behind this book. You have to react to it.
April 23, 2009
The Scalped crew does it again! Moving, violent, epically tragic. The story grows here to encompass more characters, and give you more insight into some of the main characters (I'm starting to really like Red Crow, which kind of scares me). The two-issue story about Dash's relationship with Carol -- both of them drowning the pain in their lives in sex with each other -- was unexpectedly tender, considering the way this series normally hits you right in the gut. With the publication of the 4th trade I am now totally caught to the individual issues and can start devouring this terrific series on a monthly basis! YES!
July 9, 2019
Bir önceki cildin gölgesinde olsa da yine çok iyi.
July 14, 2015
Still brilliant. This volume features a great introduction by Ed Brubaker, who makes a point about Scalped being perfect noir. And he is, of course, right. This story feels so dark, so hopeless, but you just can't look away. Perfect storytelling.
December 23, 2022
Things get grimmer and grimmer for these characters! Poor Dino lost an eye. Red Crow’s arc where he almost redeems himself was great. He can’t help but be the villain that he is. I love how this book has a couple layers of plot where sometimes we get flashbacks to Gina and Red Crow’s young activist days. I’m wondering if we’ll find out in later issues that Red Crow was really the FBI informant. Or maybe we’ll get a reveal that he’s Dash’s actual dad. Hmm.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2024
Vol. 4 of “Scalped” might be the grittiest volume yet. Drugs, sex, murder, car wreck fatalities, abortion, suicide attempts, gouged our eyes, knives through faces. It’s all here.
There’s a lot going on in this volume. Some of the threads: Dash sinks down to Carrol’s level and tries heroin, Red Crow receives Gina’s ashes (and we get their back story), and the Hmong gang that backs the casino starts interfering in the Rez.
Highly entertaining and a quick read.
There’s a lot going on in this volume. Some of the threads: Dash sinks down to Carrol’s level and tries heroin, Red Crow receives Gina’s ashes (and we get their back story), and the Hmong gang that backs the casino starts interfering in the Rez.
Highly entertaining and a quick read.
April 8, 2020
The majority of this volume gave us an insight into Red Crow's mind. He obliviously has a lot of hidden skeletons in his closet. But his guilt is over taken by ego, believing the only way of surviving is by being evil.
Sadly there wasn't enough of an emotional balance between the story and the conflict to get me hooked as the previous volume.
Sadly there wasn't enough of an emotional balance between the story and the conflict to get me hooked as the previous volume.
June 26, 2017
I apparently like this series more when Bad Horse isn't the main story. I really like the stories weaving in and around Gina, she's my favorite character so far.
August 28, 2025
4.5 Stars
May 29, 2021
This volume is where the series goes from very good to really great! Red Crow is a fascinating character and I absolutely love how easily the story flows and shifts focus between the different characters. This re-read has been incredibly enjoyable so far!
October 2, 2022
(Zero spoiler review for the deluxe edition collecting this arc) 4.75/5
Please see my book one review for a more expansive look at the series in general. This will just be a shorter commentary on the developments in the story, spoiler free of course. I loved this book before, but Ii feel I am even more enamoured with it now. Those small little points of contention I'd mentioned previously, such as artwork have been well and truly ironed out. R.M Guerra has hit is strides well and truly. Honing his style to a fine point. Three issues in this run were given to a guest artist, I would assume because of tie constraints or artist fatigue, although this is one of the cases where I feel the guest artist was stronger than the original. Whilst there were the inevitable issues around character models changing, which is always a let down in my book, even if the artist is technically more proficient, it wasn't long before I was pining for Guerra to come back, which he inevitably did towards the end of the run. I don't think I mentioned it in my previous review, although the first arc of the story, despite being great, was perhaps not as grounded in reality as I would have appreciated. With Dashiel Bad Horse being written as a little too bulletproof for my taste. I only mention that, as this second book has set out to humanise Bad Horse, as well as several other of the main characters. The journey's these characters commence in this arc has ben wonderful to behold, with the sentimentality, the more toned down but no less impactful violence, and the intermittent reflection this book offers up, becomes it's greatest strength. And what made an already outstanding story go to an entirely different level, that few comic books could hope to achieve. I said I would be succinct with this one and I will. God, I hope DC pull their finger out of their arse and give this one an omni sometime in the near future. If they did, I will be the first one in line to get it. 4.75/5
OmniBen
Please see my book one review for a more expansive look at the series in general. This will just be a shorter commentary on the developments in the story, spoiler free of course. I loved this book before, but Ii feel I am even more enamoured with it now. Those small little points of contention I'd mentioned previously, such as artwork have been well and truly ironed out. R.M Guerra has hit is strides well and truly. Honing his style to a fine point. Three issues in this run were given to a guest artist, I would assume because of tie constraints or artist fatigue, although this is one of the cases where I feel the guest artist was stronger than the original. Whilst there were the inevitable issues around character models changing, which is always a let down in my book, even if the artist is technically more proficient, it wasn't long before I was pining for Guerra to come back, which he inevitably did towards the end of the run. I don't think I mentioned it in my previous review, although the first arc of the story, despite being great, was perhaps not as grounded in reality as I would have appreciated. With Dashiel Bad Horse being written as a little too bulletproof for my taste. I only mention that, as this second book has set out to humanise Bad Horse, as well as several other of the main characters. The journey's these characters commence in this arc has ben wonderful to behold, with the sentimentality, the more toned down but no less impactful violence, and the intermittent reflection this book offers up, becomes it's greatest strength. And what made an already outstanding story go to an entirely different level, that few comic books could hope to achieve. I said I would be succinct with this one and I will. God, I hope DC pull their finger out of their arse and give this one an omni sometime in the near future. If they did, I will be the first one in line to get it. 4.75/5
OmniBen
October 14, 2011
This volume starts with a guest artist, Davide Furno, illustrating a central 2-part story that finally gives some pathos to Lincoln Red Crow’s daughter Carol, whose role until now has been that of prodigal daughter to Red Crow and spiteful fuck buddy to Dash Bad Horse. Aaron plays the mother card with her similarly to the last volume; it’ll get me every time. After that story, the camera zooms back out to the crime-ridden rez and all its scumbag denizens, with gore galore, including a powerfully bloody show down between Red Crow and the ever-creepy Mr. Brass, the last scene that’s predicated on Brass’s torture of probably my favorite character of the series (I won’t say who). I think my mistake when starting this series was hoping for something like HBO’s The Wire, where all the carnage and backbiting serves a complex and intense political statement. I’ve now come to think of this series much like another HBO series, Deadwood, and I just enjoy watching the bodies stack up in Aaron’s morally black vision.
September 24, 2010
What a great series. Like many of DC's Vertigo books, I've opted to read them as trades, as I believe they read better that way ... but man, when you do? You get completely engrossed. I read trades 2-4 (having read the first 6 issues monthly when it first came out) yesterday, and Scalped blows all of Aaron's Marvel stuff out of the water. It's hard not to feel sympathetic for the anti-heroic Lincoln Red Crow, whom I believe is the true star of Aaron's story. He's a lot like Tony Soprano, but I have faith that Scalped will turn out better than the aforementioned HBO drama, which was pretty much done after the third season.
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