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Scalped #1-2
Scalped, Book One
Comics acclaimed writer Jason Aaron (Thor, Original Sin, Wolverine) and artist R.M. Guéra (BATMAN ETERNAL, DJANGO UNCHAINED) take the crime genre to a whole new corner of the world with their tale of violence, betrayal, mysticism, despair, hope and the terrible things history leads men to do to one another in SCALPED BOOK ONE.
Fifteen years ago, Dashiell “Dash” Bad Horse ran away from a life of abject poverty and despair on the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation. Now he’s back, but this time he’s got something to hide: Dash is an undercover FBI agent sent to investigate tribal leader Lincoln Red Crow, former “Red Power” activist and current crime boss. Surrounded by the same mess of meth labs, murder and organized crime he thought he’d left behind, Dash must decide how far he’s willing to go—and how much he’s willing to lose—to uncover the bloody secrets of the Rez.
Collects: Scalped #1-11.
Fifteen years ago, Dashiell “Dash” Bad Horse ran away from a life of abject poverty and despair on the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation. Now he’s back, but this time he’s got something to hide: Dash is an undercover FBI agent sent to investigate tribal leader Lincoln Red Crow, former “Red Power” activist and current crime boss. Surrounded by the same mess of meth labs, murder and organized crime he thought he’d left behind, Dash must decide how far he’s willing to go—and how much he’s willing to lose—to uncover the bloody secrets of the Rez.
Collects: Scalped #1-11.
285 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 24, 2015
46 people are currently reading
561 people want to read
About the author
Jason Aaron
2,360 books1,677 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 121 reviews
November 13, 2025
(A-) 83% | Very Good
Notes: Review pending re-read. Individual reviews for included volumes can be found here:
- Scalped: Indian Country
- Scalped: Casino Boogie
Notes: Review pending re-read. Individual reviews for included volumes can be found here:
- Scalped: Indian Country
- Scalped: Casino Boogie
April 1, 2025
This is a crime story set on a Native American reservation.
So right off the bat, that's a bit different.
I definitely think you should keep in mind that this is noir and it's automatically going to showcase the seedy underbelly of the setting, so I don't think anyone should look at this and think that this is what Native American culture is like.
I didn't think I'd like this very much but I got sucked into the story fairly quickly, and by the end of the book, I found myself downloading the next one because I wanted to see what happened next.
You've got a main character who is angry and flawed and rolls into town with a lot of issues that don't make sense until a spoiler is revealed.
And then you get a load of side characters that are multi-dimensional enough to make the whole thing feel very real.
I liked it.
On to the next one.
So right off the bat, that's a bit different.
I definitely think you should keep in mind that this is noir and it's automatically going to showcase the seedy underbelly of the setting, so I don't think anyone should look at this and think that this is what Native American culture is like.
I didn't think I'd like this very much but I got sucked into the story fairly quickly, and by the end of the book, I found myself downloading the next one because I wanted to see what happened next.
You've got a main character who is angry and flawed and rolls into town with a lot of issues that don't make sense until a spoiler is revealed.
And then you get a load of side characters that are multi-dimensional enough to make the whole thing feel very real.
I liked it.
On to the next one.
August 6, 2018
I live on a reserve and as an Anishnaabe I found most of this book to be cliched, stereotypical, and filled with tropes. In fact I would say the majority of it was offensive.
I am starved for graphic storytelling that helps me to understand who I am. Instead , with this book we get gratuitous violence piled on top of alcoholism and drug abuse piled on top of corrupt politicians and band officials piled upon obscene portrayals of women as “whores”. Aaron did his research. We have plenty of Oglala Sioux language, sweat lodge, AIM ( American Indian Movement), and a character resembling Leonard Peltier but all of this is token and inauthentic because as far as I can tell Aaron is not indigenous. We call this syndrome The Hollywood Indian ,a character or set of characters fictionalized by the non indigenous entertainment industry. This book is cowboys and Indians on steroids or more accurately meth.
Now don’t get me wrong. My reserve has many social problems that are portrayed in this book. But we also have traditional singers, dancers, environmentalists, activists, Elders, Medicine people, artists, teachers, sweat lodge conductors, storytellers. We also have beautiful children and women that are an antidote to their distorted portrayal in this book.
I wanted to read this and recommend it to my 15 year old who is a struggling reader and young Anishnaabe. I just can’t. I’d much prefer he read the following authentic indigenous graphic novels : Moonshot volume 1 and 2 anthologies, Deer Woman anthology, The Outside Circle, or any of the incredible books by David Alexander Robertson.
As for the art. It was good but this is coming from Vertigo so I wasn’t surprised. For me my 1/5 is based completely on the storytelling. There are better books to read than this one in my opinion.
I am starved for graphic storytelling that helps me to understand who I am. Instead , with this book we get gratuitous violence piled on top of alcoholism and drug abuse piled on top of corrupt politicians and band officials piled upon obscene portrayals of women as “whores”. Aaron did his research. We have plenty of Oglala Sioux language, sweat lodge, AIM ( American Indian Movement), and a character resembling Leonard Peltier but all of this is token and inauthentic because as far as I can tell Aaron is not indigenous. We call this syndrome The Hollywood Indian ,a character or set of characters fictionalized by the non indigenous entertainment industry. This book is cowboys and Indians on steroids or more accurately meth.
Now don’t get me wrong. My reserve has many social problems that are portrayed in this book. But we also have traditional singers, dancers, environmentalists, activists, Elders, Medicine people, artists, teachers, sweat lodge conductors, storytellers. We also have beautiful children and women that are an antidote to their distorted portrayal in this book.
I wanted to read this and recommend it to my 15 year old who is a struggling reader and young Anishnaabe. I just can’t. I’d much prefer he read the following authentic indigenous graphic novels : Moonshot volume 1 and 2 anthologies, Deer Woman anthology, The Outside Circle, or any of the incredible books by David Alexander Robertson.
As for the art. It was good but this is coming from Vertigo so I wasn’t surprised. For me my 1/5 is based completely on the storytelling. There are better books to read than this one in my opinion.
June 28, 2018
Dashiell Bad Horse resentfully returns to the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation with a pair of nunchucks and a bad attitude, beginning this dark dive into a tough and gritty crime drama and a new world created by Jason Aaron, and I thought this first installment was great.
This inciting plot isn't the newest thing you've probably read, with a guy returning to his hometown sparking a whole lotta drama. We've seen that before. But this is Jason Aaron we're talking about here, and he paints a complex tapestry the same way he does in his Southern Bastards series. He steadily reveals character and relationships and motivations through flashbacks and shifting POV's, and what you originally think you know about certain characters gets challenged constantly.
The art was a little problematic for me though. It was hard to tell certain characters apart and much of the action was messy and difficult to keep track of. Just like in movies, I feel like the rendering of action in comics should be clear and everytime I paused to try and get a sense of what was happening and who was who, it took me out of the story, and that's a problem. With better art I might've given this a better score. But I'm excited about where this story can go.
This inciting plot isn't the newest thing you've probably read, with a guy returning to his hometown sparking a whole lotta drama. We've seen that before. But this is Jason Aaron we're talking about here, and he paints a complex tapestry the same way he does in his Southern Bastards series. He steadily reveals character and relationships and motivations through flashbacks and shifting POV's, and what you originally think you know about certain characters gets challenged constantly.
The art was a little problematic for me though. It was hard to tell certain characters apart and much of the action was messy and difficult to keep track of. Just like in movies, I feel like the rendering of action in comics should be clear and everytime I paused to try and get a sense of what was happening and who was who, it took me out of the story, and that's a problem. With better art I might've given this a better score. But I'm excited about where this story can go.
May 3, 2016
This has got epic written all over it, but it starts slow, taking you backwards and forwards through time showing important events which have led to today.
You can really feel the tensions building after each page.
I'm looking forward to seeing it all blow up!
You can really feel the tensions building after each page.
I'm looking forward to seeing it all blow up!
September 2, 2015
Meh. This series has apparently been highly praised, but the first volume of the deluxe edition (the first eleven issues plus minimal extras) did not overly impress me. Aaron seems to have done his research--a lot of fact lies beneath this story, as far as I can tell--but he puts it in the service of a shallow narrative few elements of which will surprise anyone with much of a thriller/noir grounding. I knew I was in trouble when I figured out instantly that our hero, Dash, was really some kind of undercover agent, planted on the reserve to nail the corrupt (of course) Chief, who has lined his own pockets dealing drugs (of course) and alcohol (of course), and building a casino (0f course)--and (of course) he has a whore/femme fatale (of course--Aaron even describes her as one in the early script included at the end) daughter with whom Dash was in love as a teenager (of course). Not that drugs and alcohol are not problems for FNMI communities, and not that casinos are not common enough on reserves, but this books reads more like a collection of tropes and cliches than an original story. Just about everyone is a bad-ass posturer, a racist douchebag, a committed radical, etc--there's no room here for nuance or complex characterization. When I got to the one chapter that is just a slice of life account of a day for one of the minor characters and liked that exponentially more than the rest of it, the problems with this book coalesced. Aaron is just trying way too hard, most of the time, to give us a hyperkinetic Tarantino on amphetamines sort of story (right down to the temporally fragmented narrative--reading this comic in its original serial installments must have been a baffling experience), without possessing Tarantino's wit or sense of pacing. Even Tarantino's incessant pop culture referencing is a feature here, though not to particularly good effect (e.g. Chief Red Crow refers to one of his grandparents surviving fighting in WWII only to drown, drunk, in three inches of water in a ditch--a pretty direct lift from Johnny Cash's "The Ballad of Ira Hayes," but with no larger point or purpose to it that I can see, other than the clever obscurity of the reference). As for the "Deluxe" format, well, hard covers are nice, but the extras are minimal: some promotional art, cover images, and what appears to be an early draft of chapter one, but with no contextualizing comments to explain that, or why Aaron chose to provide that draft script. The introduction by Brian K. Vaughan is not terribly elucidating, either. For undiscriminating fans of thrillers driven primarily by hyper-violence, rather than logic. (Well, okay, thrillers are rarely mind-oriented, but still, most aren't quite this devoid of sense.)
March 1, 2018
So I finally got around to reading Scalped, the gritty crime story that pretty much everyone loves and I gotta say, it’s a very good read, my picky self had a few problems though.
What’s it about?
There’s this Indian guy who moves back to the county he grew up in and with there being a controversial new casino opening and a lot of crime happening things get crazy and plot twisty.
Pros:
The story is very interesting and never gets too boring.
The main thing that makes this book good is how interesting the characters are and how there’s a variety of personalities in the story.
There’s some really good action scenes.
This book is very unpredictable. Lots of twists throughout!
This book is definitely not a comedy but there are quite a few funny moments.
The ending is a great way to end book one.
Cons:
I didn’t dig the art. It wasn’t horrible, I just wasn’t a fan of it.
The dialogue is pretty bad which especially sucks since this book relies so much on dialogue in the storytelling.
Holy s***, this book has SO MUCH gratuitous fan service. I normally don’t mind sex and nudity but it had nothing to do with the story and it was all over the f***ing (no pun intended) place and rarely did anything for the story.
Overall:
This is a very good book that I would recommend to fans of gritty crime dramas and I will be adding more of this series to my reading list. The characters, story and suspense make this a really exciting read, I just hope for better dialogue and less fan service (or at least for it to be there for a reason next time around).
4/5
What’s it about?
There’s this Indian guy who moves back to the county he grew up in and with there being a controversial new casino opening and a lot of crime happening things get crazy and plot twisty.
Pros:
The story is very interesting and never gets too boring.
The main thing that makes this book good is how interesting the characters are and how there’s a variety of personalities in the story.
There’s some really good action scenes.
This book is very unpredictable. Lots of twists throughout!
This book is definitely not a comedy but there are quite a few funny moments.
The ending is a great way to end book one.
Cons:
I didn’t dig the art. It wasn’t horrible, I just wasn’t a fan of it.
The dialogue is pretty bad which especially sucks since this book relies so much on dialogue in the storytelling.
Holy s***, this book has SO MUCH gratuitous fan service. I normally don’t mind sex and nudity but it had nothing to do with the story and it was all over the f***ing (no pun intended) place and rarely did anything for the story.
Overall:
This is a very good book that I would recommend to fans of gritty crime dramas and I will be adding more of this series to my reading list. The characters, story and suspense make this a really exciting read, I just hope for better dialogue and less fan service (or at least for it to be there for a reason next time around).
4/5
January 17, 2016
It takes a little while to really start and find its rhythm but once that is done this a hell of damn book although not what I expected. At the heart this is the story of a crime committed 30 years ago and how since then it has affected the life of so many people at the Lakota Reservation.
Jason Aaron doesn't pull any punch and the story is violent and full of sex.
It's full of flash backs too and they help build the background of characters and quickly we realize there is no black and white and the story is a lot more complex than it appears.
If the next books are as good as this I will quickly be pulling out the 5 stars !
Jason Aaron doesn't pull any punch and the story is violent and full of sex.
It's full of flash backs too and they help build the background of characters and quickly we realize there is no black and white and the story is a lot more complex than it appears.
If the next books are as good as this I will quickly be pulling out the 5 stars !
February 14, 2022
Face ca filmele lui Tarantino să pară comedii romantice.
January 11, 2019
Поки чи не улюблений альтернативний комікс. Події відбуваються у резервації, штат Небраска, десь приблизно в наші дні. Брутальний лисий хлопчина на ім'я Дашіель "Погана Конячка" повертається до місця свого дитинства, де небув більше аніж десять років. Повертається поліцейським і відразу починає працювати на місцевого авторитета - "Червоного Ворона", який ось-ось відкриє своє казино. Правда, Даш грає подвійну роль (правда, наскільки це виходить), адже він також агент ФБР під прикриттям. Йому потрібно викрити "Ворона" для того, щоб голова ФБР засадив того за ґрати. А ще є його матір, Джина, одна із активісток місцевого культурного руху за права корінного населення. А ще Керол, дочка "Червоного Ворона", яка також пустилась берега з особистих причин, тому так ідеально пасує "Поганій Конячці". Також тут безліч другорядних персонажів, які спокійно засуговують окремих сп��н-оффів.
Звучить наче заплутано, але все це написано просто відмінно з постійними флешбеками у минуле, блискучими діалогами та неймовірними твістами. Аарон відразу закидає читача у коловорот взаємопов'язаних подій, які мимоволі вимальовують злободенний портрет культури індіаців, а точніше - їхньої персональної трагедії як народу, що загубив себе в наркотиках, алкоголю й бандитизмі (звісно, не без вини американців, які надто пізно почали приділяти увагу цій катастрофі й, зрештою, самі приклали руку до знищення індіанців). Аарон пише брутальну, жорстоку й безкомпромісну історію про падіння (хоча й водночас умовного відновлення) як окремої етнічної групи, так і водночас падіння головного протоганіста Даша - лисого безбашеного поліцейського, який так і залишився злим, невдоволеним хлопчиськом.
Резервація нагадує безнадійне, сповнене відчаю місце, де навіть підлітки підзаробляють тим, що підторговують маріхуаною, а дорослі однозначно залучені у якісь темні справи. Тут важко знайти позитивного персонажа, позаяк усі мають свої недоліки, просто деякі переходять межу й живуть на нею постійно. Паралельно тут є достатньо відсилань до міфології, історії та мови етносу, що додатково допомагають зануритись з головою у світ індіанської резервації. Словом, повний захват від усього, а малюнок Ґуери (Райко Мілошевич) ще більше підкреслює своїми тінями, товстими й почасти неакуратними лініями усю глибину людського падіння, яке, видається, має універсальний характер.
Звучить наче заплутано, але все це написано просто відмінно з постійними флешбеками у минуле, блискучими діалогами та неймовірними твістами. Аарон відразу закидає читача у коловорот взаємопов'язаних подій, які мимоволі вимальовують злободенний портрет культури індіаців, а точніше - їхньої персональної трагедії як народу, що загубив себе в наркотиках, алкоголю й бандитизмі (звісно, не без вини американців, які надто пізно почали приділяти увагу цій катастрофі й, зрештою, самі приклали руку до знищення індіанців). Аарон пише брутальну, жорстоку й безкомпромісну історію про падіння (хоча й водночас умовного відновлення) як окремої етнічної групи, так і водночас падіння головного протоганіста Даша - лисого безбашеного поліцейського, який так і залишився злим, невдоволеним хлопчиськом.
Резервація нагадує безнадійне, сповнене відчаю місце, де навіть підлітки підзаробляють тим, що підторговують маріхуаною, а дорослі однозначно залучені у якісь темні справи. Тут важко знайти позитивного персонажа, позаяк усі мають свої недоліки, просто деякі переходять межу й живуть на нею постійно. Паралельно тут є достатньо відсилань до міфології, історії та мови етносу, що додатково допомагають зануритись з головою у світ індіанської резервації. Словом, повний захват від усього, а малюнок Ґуери (Райко Мілошевич) ще більше підкреслює своїми тінями, товстими й почасти неакуратними лініями усю глибину людського падіння, яке, видається, має універсальний характер.
August 3, 2019
Its more brutal than expected, but it keeps one interested with a very well plotted good ol crime story. I don't wanna spoil anything so I'll keep it vague. The first half you really just get that.. a good crime story with some twists, some backgrounds of the older characters and flashbacks, those were well done and like its too often the case I found myself more interested in the past stories than the current ongoing ones. I really would not recommend it to most, unless they are looking for the graphical gore stuff, because on that front it doesn't hold back, not even for animals.
The characters are a tad bit stereotypical which segways into my problem with scalped, it could've been more about the native's culture at least thats what I expected going in. The setting was right and 2 characters are kind of capturing that cultural aspect a bit although again stereotypical, but with the other characters it seemed irrelevant as they literally could've been drawn as any other ethnicity without changing much.
The art stands out as the clear winner here, sometimes I just took my time to really take in every panel on the page, as it was drawn and colored beautifully, just for that alone its worth its price.
It is more like a good crime story with an Native american setting tacked on it, which is why I'll give it an 4 out of 5 stars.
The characters are a tad bit stereotypical which segways into my problem with scalped, it could've been more about the native's culture at least thats what I expected going in. The setting was right and 2 characters are kind of capturing that cultural aspect a bit although again stereotypical, but with the other characters it seemed irrelevant as they literally could've been drawn as any other ethnicity without changing much.
The art stands out as the clear winner here, sometimes I just took my time to really take in every panel on the page, as it was drawn and colored beautifully, just for that alone its worth its price.
It is more like a good crime story with an Native american setting tacked on it, which is why I'll give it an 4 out of 5 stars.
September 10, 2016
Historia criminal negra, muy negra, en una reserva de nativos americanos. El primer arco argumental de tres números, la presentación, exuda una rabia y una violencia excelentemente plasmadas por las ilustraciones sucias y tenebrosas de Guéra, pero peca de un tanto convencional. Sin embargo el segundo, seis números que cuentan seis historias más o menos en paralelo, cada una desde un personaje distinto, son palabras mayores. Las luces y las sombras de una comunidad rota por los designios del hombre blanco... y todos los que se han dejado arrastrar por ellos.
Tengo muchas ganas de ver cómo continúa la serie.
Tengo muchas ganas de ver cómo continúa la serie.
July 3, 2018
Lot of time jumps and POV changes in this one so you have to really settle in and let the story grow before you, if you do the reward is a hand-hold on a long-arc. Aaron knows how to keep the present action moving while also building character depth through timely backstories. The characters are all loaded with rage and a deep well of motives so that the intensity rattles every scene. The art gets muddy at times and that makes it hard to always recognize quickly who's doing what, that's really the only thing that slows down the pacing. This series promises a lot. Looking forward to Book Two.
May 24, 2018
This has to be my favourite Aaron story that I've read. Dash returns back home to the reservation angry and becomes involved in the world of Red Crow and the local new casino. It jumps around timeline wise with with gritty action crime scenes with loads of violence drug use and sex. The artwork is great and really helps provide the noirish feel. Great read and I highly reccomend this one.
February 12, 2019
Scalped is a visceral tour de force into the badlands, both physically and metaphorically.
The gritty, punched up artwork accentuates the dialogue and the multi-threaded plot careens towards perdition.
There is no clear divide between the proverbial "good guys" and "bad guys". Rather each character grapples with their own inner demons in hopes of taking a right turn towards redemption.
Scalped is sublime in its execution, it doesn't shy away from dealing with harrowing issues and never seeks to dehumanise the many broken people that litter the landscape.
Scalped may start slow, there is also some uneven pacing, but that is understandable for a story that spans 60 issues, a labour of love, four years in the making.
To sum up in one word: brilliant!
The gritty, punched up artwork accentuates the dialogue and the multi-threaded plot careens towards perdition.
There is no clear divide between the proverbial "good guys" and "bad guys". Rather each character grapples with their own inner demons in hopes of taking a right turn towards redemption.
Scalped is sublime in its execution, it doesn't shy away from dealing with harrowing issues and never seeks to dehumanise the many broken people that litter the landscape.
Scalped may start slow, there is also some uneven pacing, but that is understandable for a story that spans 60 issues, a labour of love, four years in the making.
To sum up in one word: brilliant!
October 17, 2016
Pedazo de Cómic, en Scalped Jason Aaron nos lleva a la reserva india de Prairie Rose, Dashiell caballo Terco es un antiguo habitante que regresa tras años alejado de ella, tras algunos altercados con sus hombres, recibe una oferta del cacique local Lincoln cuervo rojo para convertirse en ayudante del sheriff... Aaron y Guera nos mostrarán el interior de la reserva india con mayor paro y tasa de alcoholismo de los USA, cuyos habitantes han caído en la decadencia más absoluta: drogas, prostitución, delincuencia de todo tipo... y una pequeña esperanza en el futuro, la inminente apertura de un gran casino promovida por Cuervo Rojo que promete traer trabajo y riqueza a la reserva. Esta trama presente se entremezcla con otra historia del pasado de algunos de los personajes (la madre de Dashiell y Cuervo Rojo entre ellos), que se nos narra en forma de recuerdos y flashbacks, y explica cómo se llegó a la situación actual en la reserva.
Una gran historia de serie negra, personajes muy creíbles y sobretodo una ambientación poco común, pero realista y desoladora, con un dibujo muy acertado de Guéra, un color excepcional que refleja a la perfección los ambientes y atmósferas de los ocasos y las noches en el desierto, la oscuridad de los interiores, el resplandor de las salas del casino... forman en conjunto un cómic muy bien pensado, duro y eficaz, que muestra la cara oculta de los Estados Unidos, lo más parecido al tercer mundo que se puede encontrar dentro de sus fronteras.
Una gran historia de serie negra, personajes muy creíbles y sobretodo una ambientación poco común, pero realista y desoladora, con un dibujo muy acertado de Guéra, un color excepcional que refleja a la perfección los ambientes y atmósferas de los ocasos y las noches en el desierto, la oscuridad de los interiores, el resplandor de las salas del casino... forman en conjunto un cómic muy bien pensado, duro y eficaz, que muestra la cara oculta de los Estados Unidos, lo más parecido al tercer mundo que se puede encontrar dentro de sus fronteras.
December 15, 2015
Pretty impressive. It has a lot more depth to it than I was expecting. Aaron touches on quite a few topics here without being preachy, including: the plight of the Native America, gun violence, how events in a childhood can completely drive someone's behavior as an adult.
Note that it does have, dare I say it, Aaron's trademark for violence, although I wouldn't say he's exploiting it. His story requires it and there is quite a bit of foul language for anyone concerned.
The art is fairly dark, both in the use of inks and blacks as well as the subject content. At times I felt it was too dark, making it hard to see some details and occasionally it was difficult to tell which charcacter you were looking at. At the same time, it is also appropriate for the story. There's some heavy topics intertwined here.
One other thing to be aware of, this Book One does not finish the first arc. It ends on a cliffhanger so it's off to buy Book Two for me. I'm curious to see how this ends, however, I'm not sure how this can be dragged out for much longer because there are at least Books Three and Four out there. Won't say I'm in it for the long haul yet but definitely worth picking up the next collection to continue reading.
Note that it does have, dare I say it, Aaron's trademark for violence, although I wouldn't say he's exploiting it. His story requires it and there is quite a bit of foul language for anyone concerned.
The art is fairly dark, both in the use of inks and blacks as well as the subject content. At times I felt it was too dark, making it hard to see some details and occasionally it was difficult to tell which charcacter you were looking at. At the same time, it is also appropriate for the story. There's some heavy topics intertwined here.
One other thing to be aware of, this Book One does not finish the first arc. It ends on a cliffhanger so it's off to buy Book Two for me. I'm curious to see how this ends, however, I'm not sure how this can be dragged out for much longer because there are at least Books Three and Four out there. Won't say I'm in it for the long haul yet but definitely worth picking up the next collection to continue reading.
August 21, 2017
Wow. That was epic, gritty, and real. What this comic has that others dont is a sense of reality. It is not sugar-coated. The characters feel real, because they are all flawed in their own way and they act the way actual people would, not perfect comic characters. The art, i thought I would hate. But I realized very quickly on that it is perfect for the story and is actually really well drawn.
Unfortunately I started with the deluxe version which combines 2 volumes into one big book, so I'm going to have to continue getting the deluxe versions. Which means online shopping is in my future. Anyway the book is really good, and filled with so many twists and turns you wouldn't be able to guess what would happen next.
5/5
Unfortunately I started with the deluxe version which combines 2 volumes into one big book, so I'm going to have to continue getting the deluxe versions. Which means online shopping is in my future. Anyway the book is really good, and filled with so many twists and turns you wouldn't be able to guess what would happen next.
5/5
July 26, 2016
I thought it was very good. A number of strong stories with complex characters. Dark noir, with a lot of action. My one complaint is that the story jumped from past to present numerous times. It was usually pretty well indicated but I thought it could have been clearer. I would have preferred fewer flashbacks, although the story certainly turns on an old crime and therefore that had to be shown. Great dialogue. The art is very strong. I'll probably be reading more in this series.
January 7, 2021
(Zero spoiler review)
Boy, I don't know how on earth this book doesn't have more buzz about it. It may be almost ten years old, but when people reminisce on some of the greatest Vertigo titles of years gone by, I have never once heard this book brought up. I wouldn't have even heard about it if I hadn't happened to be flicking through a very old single online, and happened to come across an ad for the series, along with a few pages, and was intrigued enough to grab the first book. Admittedly, there are more than a few hallowed titles which grave the Vertigo roster, but this can go toe to toe with the best of them. This was my first foray into the writing of Jason Aaron. He has gone on to write a number of well received superhero runs. If this book was the catalyst to shoot his star up the ranks, I can very much see why. His is a style I found instantly appealing. Gritty, realistic and very, very dark. Like Garth Ennis, although a little more grounded, though no less impactful. ha alone should have you wanting to dive into this series, which runs for a whopping 60 issues in total, across five deluxe collected editions (only 1-3 are currently available unless you hunt down the hardcovers in the wild. I would love for DC to do a big ol' fat omnibus of this series in the near future, although we'll either get nothing, or a bloody compendium, no doubt. Damn you DC, and your ambivalence towards your amazing back catalogue.
The artwork is solid, and grew on me more and more as the series progressed. In earlier issues, I often struggled to discern what was occurring, especially on darker panels, with the linework and inking not doing enough to tell the story, though by the end of the first book, I was sold on the art and its more murky, grungy style. I can't speak for the entire run yet, although R.M Guerra, the artist and co creator ahs so far pencilled every issue, which is always a big plus.
The story is very well told through a series of interesting characters, whom only grew on me as the story unfolded. Aaron isn't afraid to take this to some pretty dark and dispiriting places, and I love that it does, whilst mourning that more comic books aren't afraid to push these boundaries these days. Maybe its good that this series flies under the radar. it would definitely come in for some heavy criticism from those modern progressives whom have ensconced themselves within so much of the entertainment industries.
I am so grateful I found this little gem of a series, and cannot wait to dig deeper into the tumultuous, intoxicating world of Dashiel Bad Horse. Highly recommended. 4.5/5
OmniBen.
Boy, I don't know how on earth this book doesn't have more buzz about it. It may be almost ten years old, but when people reminisce on some of the greatest Vertigo titles of years gone by, I have never once heard this book brought up. I wouldn't have even heard about it if I hadn't happened to be flicking through a very old single online, and happened to come across an ad for the series, along with a few pages, and was intrigued enough to grab the first book. Admittedly, there are more than a few hallowed titles which grave the Vertigo roster, but this can go toe to toe with the best of them. This was my first foray into the writing of Jason Aaron. He has gone on to write a number of well received superhero runs. If this book was the catalyst to shoot his star up the ranks, I can very much see why. His is a style I found instantly appealing. Gritty, realistic and very, very dark. Like Garth Ennis, although a little more grounded, though no less impactful. ha alone should have you wanting to dive into this series, which runs for a whopping 60 issues in total, across five deluxe collected editions (only 1-3 are currently available unless you hunt down the hardcovers in the wild. I would love for DC to do a big ol' fat omnibus of this series in the near future, although we'll either get nothing, or a bloody compendium, no doubt. Damn you DC, and your ambivalence towards your amazing back catalogue.
The artwork is solid, and grew on me more and more as the series progressed. In earlier issues, I often struggled to discern what was occurring, especially on darker panels, with the linework and inking not doing enough to tell the story, though by the end of the first book, I was sold on the art and its more murky, grungy style. I can't speak for the entire run yet, although R.M Guerra, the artist and co creator ahs so far pencilled every issue, which is always a big plus.
The story is very well told through a series of interesting characters, whom only grew on me as the story unfolded. Aaron isn't afraid to take this to some pretty dark and dispiriting places, and I love that it does, whilst mourning that more comic books aren't afraid to push these boundaries these days. Maybe its good that this series flies under the radar. it would definitely come in for some heavy criticism from those modern progressives whom have ensconced themselves within so much of the entertainment industries.
I am so grateful I found this little gem of a series, and cannot wait to dig deeper into the tumultuous, intoxicating world of Dashiel Bad Horse. Highly recommended. 4.5/5
OmniBen.
September 17, 2015
I was a little skeptical of this series going in, but it really rings true. You'd think Sherman Alexie had a hand in it. Jason Aaron does a great job depicting rez life. The dialogue is on point, the pacing is great, and it touches on a lot of modern aspects as well as federal-Native relations back in the 1970s, old attitudes towards "killing the Indian" in children at schools, 19th century history, and traditional Lakota beliefs. R. M. Guera proves he is not your run-of-the-mill Vertigo artist. His expressions are visceral and he effectively emphasizes all the important aspects of a panel. His style is reminiscent of the best of Frank Miller's old work, but uniquely his own. Even the color palette of Loughridge and Brusco is admirable. The original Jock covers are a treat, as well. I'm happy to see this get the Deluxe treatment it deserves. The cover designs and even the original script to the first issue are interesting extras.
June 11, 2025
My effort to read a comic or graphic novel collection of some kind every month has suffered somewhat recently, but the intention remains pure. Scalped is the latest part of it, a reservation crime drama that owes more to The Wire than anything else, picked up because a friend had the collection handy and I quite liked Aaron’s Southern Bastards when I read it. My trepidation about a grimy, cynical drama with a cast full of Native Americans created by a pair of white guys happily proved...okay I mean not unjustified. There’s some stuff to dig into here. But their heart’s in the right place, anyway. The treatment of women is (with one exception) orders of magnitude worse. Which is basically just table stakes for 2000s crime drama.
Set in the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation, the story follows Dashiell ‘Dash’ Bad Horse, leather-coated and nunchuck wielding badass FBI agent, back after fleeing the reservation fifteen years to find nothing’s changed except a shiny new casino and all his grudges still need settling. Very, very thankfully, after a few issues the story basically realizes he’s the least interesting thing in the whole comic, and the story becomes mired in decades-old trauma, grudges and bad blood of his estranged mother Gina, Lincoln Red Crow – tribal chief and criminal kingpin – and the other survivors, causalities and collateral damage of the liberation struggle that turned the reservation into one of the deadliest places in America for a chunk of the ‘70s.
The blindingly obvious comparison here is to Southern Bastards, Aaron’s other crime drama series about someone with deep and unpleasant family ties returning to a region of grinding, inescapable rural poverty ruled over by a pillar of the community who is also a criminal kingpin, with whom he ends up entangled in a grinding vendetta. The comparison is honestly reassuring, insofar as it proves the bone-deep cynicism and vague contempt the narrative has for the setting and a decent chunk of the cast isn’t a race thing (there’s actually significantly more genuine nobility and heroism among the supporting cast of Scalped, but my god is that a low bar). Scalped also feels – well certainly not grounded or realistic exactly (the protagonist is a nun-chuck wielding FBI agent in a leather jacket), but at least a bit broader and less of a tragic melodrama in specific than Southern Bastards was.
I’d say it’s trying to be The Wire on the reservation and that’s kind of true (with Chief Red Crow’s character in particular) but the story is still much closer to the pulpy end of noir than that implies. Everything’s grimy and gritty, sleazy and cynical – but also there’s plenty of two-fisted action sequences, a bunch of characters one-step-removed from being cartoons and, again, an FBI Agent who fights with nun-chucks. Once you’ve accepted the tone it more or less works, though I admit I find most of the action scenes overlong and not especially clearly blocked out.
Crime and vendettas aside, to me the most interesting theme running through the story by some margin is the conflict between abstract principle and personal obligations. Which is, admittedly, one of those subjects I’ll always forgive a lot for an even slightly meaty dig into. But things like the relationship between Dash and his mother – who he has absolutely never forgiven for, in his eyes, being too busy protesting and fighting for native rights across the US to bother raising him – is an actually pretty nuanced and meaty (and messy) emotional struggle. Helped by being the most compelling thing about Dash in particular by an order of magnitude or two.
On the downside – Gina (Dash’s mom) is an incredibly interesting and compelling character, easily one of the best in the book. She’s also one of exactly two women with a name and more than one scene across ten issues, and of the two the only one who doesn’t most of her time on the page naked and either trying to or having just finished fucking someone. I didn’t exactly count, but I’m pretty sure an absolute majority of women appearing as extras in the background were some variation of ‘waitress/dancer/sex-worker-in-sexy-outfit’ too. And a decent chunk of the rest are specifically there to be grotesquely unfuckable in one way or another (which, to be fair, so are a lot of the men in plenty of scenes. But there’s at least some more variety there). It wears on you.
‘Grotesque’ characterizes a lot of the art, really. I don’t even mean that as an insult (for all that it’s not at all my preferred style), character designs lean toward exaggerated caricature, and an art style that emphasizes flaws and failings in anyone being drawn with any kind of detail. Lots of heavy shadows and poor lighting, lots of sneers and snarls and glowers. It’s all a bit much for me – whereas by contrast, I just adored how many little details and bits of characterization were packed into things like the pickup a character drives the bumper stickers on it, or what someone else had sitting on their bookshelf.
I’m going to keep reading, probably? It compels me, and once you get past 90% of the characters being horrible people in one way or another it’s pretty easy reading. My opinion on it merit as a work of art depends on how well it’s actually going to stick the landing on things, though.
Set in the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation, the story follows Dashiell ‘Dash’ Bad Horse, leather-coated and nunchuck wielding badass FBI agent, back after fleeing the reservation fifteen years to find nothing’s changed except a shiny new casino and all his grudges still need settling. Very, very thankfully, after a few issues the story basically realizes he’s the least interesting thing in the whole comic, and the story becomes mired in decades-old trauma, grudges and bad blood of his estranged mother Gina, Lincoln Red Crow – tribal chief and criminal kingpin – and the other survivors, causalities and collateral damage of the liberation struggle that turned the reservation into one of the deadliest places in America for a chunk of the ‘70s.
The blindingly obvious comparison here is to Southern Bastards, Aaron’s other crime drama series about someone with deep and unpleasant family ties returning to a region of grinding, inescapable rural poverty ruled over by a pillar of the community who is also a criminal kingpin, with whom he ends up entangled in a grinding vendetta. The comparison is honestly reassuring, insofar as it proves the bone-deep cynicism and vague contempt the narrative has for the setting and a decent chunk of the cast isn’t a race thing (there’s actually significantly more genuine nobility and heroism among the supporting cast of Scalped, but my god is that a low bar). Scalped also feels – well certainly not grounded or realistic exactly (the protagonist is a nun-chuck wielding FBI agent in a leather jacket), but at least a bit broader and less of a tragic melodrama in specific than Southern Bastards was.
I’d say it’s trying to be The Wire on the reservation and that’s kind of true (with Chief Red Crow’s character in particular) but the story is still much closer to the pulpy end of noir than that implies. Everything’s grimy and gritty, sleazy and cynical – but also there’s plenty of two-fisted action sequences, a bunch of characters one-step-removed from being cartoons and, again, an FBI Agent who fights with nun-chucks. Once you’ve accepted the tone it more or less works, though I admit I find most of the action scenes overlong and not especially clearly blocked out.
Crime and vendettas aside, to me the most interesting theme running through the story by some margin is the conflict between abstract principle and personal obligations. Which is, admittedly, one of those subjects I’ll always forgive a lot for an even slightly meaty dig into. But things like the relationship between Dash and his mother – who he has absolutely never forgiven for, in his eyes, being too busy protesting and fighting for native rights across the US to bother raising him – is an actually pretty nuanced and meaty (and messy) emotional struggle. Helped by being the most compelling thing about Dash in particular by an order of magnitude or two.
On the downside – Gina (Dash’s mom) is an incredibly interesting and compelling character, easily one of the best in the book. She’s also one of exactly two women with a name and more than one scene across ten issues, and of the two the only one who doesn’t most of her time on the page naked and either trying to or having just finished fucking someone. I didn’t exactly count, but I’m pretty sure an absolute majority of women appearing as extras in the background were some variation of ‘waitress/dancer/sex-worker-in-sexy-outfit’ too. And a decent chunk of the rest are specifically there to be grotesquely unfuckable in one way or another (which, to be fair, so are a lot of the men in plenty of scenes. But there’s at least some more variety there). It wears on you.
‘Grotesque’ characterizes a lot of the art, really. I don’t even mean that as an insult (for all that it’s not at all my preferred style), character designs lean toward exaggerated caricature, and an art style that emphasizes flaws and failings in anyone being drawn with any kind of detail. Lots of heavy shadows and poor lighting, lots of sneers and snarls and glowers. It’s all a bit much for me – whereas by contrast, I just adored how many little details and bits of characterization were packed into things like the pickup a character drives the bumper stickers on it, or what someone else had sitting on their bookshelf.
I’m going to keep reading, probably? It compels me, and once you get past 90% of the characters being horrible people in one way or another it’s pretty easy reading. My opinion on it merit as a work of art depends on how well it’s actually going to stick the landing on things, though.
July 15, 2021
I think you'll really enjoy this book if you're looking for a gritty crime story. In a lot of ways, I was reminded of Preacher. The plot is interesting and I like the pace, which isn't the fastest but does nicely roll out over the course of this book. I also enjoy the flashbacks mixed throughout to share the backstories of the characters. I prefer slightly clearer art, but this was drawn well and is very much like other Vertigo series.
This book lost a star for me because even though I like gritty, over-the-top stories, it felt like Aaron was really playing up the Native American angle in a way that could seem offensive. I was initially drawn to this series because I wanted a story with Native characters and it does seem like Aaron has done his research on the Lakota and reservations in general. He mixes in the Lakota language, traditional cultural elements, and the issues that people on reservations face (like high levels of poverty and fetal alcohol syndrome). But Aaron also makes the reservation feel like a bit of a caricature. It's a complete wasteland full of nothing but drug addicts, whores, and degenerate humans. There are no positive aspects to life on the reservation. There was one character who got a more human backstory, but even that was written to feel very bleak. Perhaps making the reservation look as bad as possible is helpful for Aaron to tell a more dramatic story, but I would have preferred that he tone it down a bit. Now, with all that being said, I am not Lakota and have not lived on a reservation, so I can't say how offensive this book may be. It ultimately feels to me like any other gratuitous crime story with some cultural bits thrown in.
This book lost a star for me because even though I like gritty, over-the-top stories, it felt like Aaron was really playing up the Native American angle in a way that could seem offensive. I was initially drawn to this series because I wanted a story with Native characters and it does seem like Aaron has done his research on the Lakota and reservations in general. He mixes in the Lakota language, traditional cultural elements, and the issues that people on reservations face (like high levels of poverty and fetal alcohol syndrome). But Aaron also makes the reservation feel like a bit of a caricature. It's a complete wasteland full of nothing but drug addicts, whores, and degenerate humans. There are no positive aspects to life on the reservation. There was one character who got a more human backstory, but even that was written to feel very bleak. Perhaps making the reservation look as bad as possible is helpful for Aaron to tell a more dramatic story, but I would have preferred that he tone it down a bit. Now, with all that being said, I am not Lakota and have not lived on a reservation, so I can't say how offensive this book may be. It ultimately feels to me like any other gratuitous crime story with some cultural bits thrown in.
October 21, 2017
I never knew about the 'Reservation' system in the US administration. It's basically a piece of land governed by a tribal representative and populated mostly by native Indians. The setting in Scalped is one such reservation of South Dakota. Bad Horse - an undercover FBI agent with a troubled past infiltrates Red Crow's - the administrator of the reservation - inner ring. In the first edition, we have gritty action sequences, flashes of the histories of most of the characters, alcoholism and meth fueled violence in big dollop. The most fleshed out character seemed to be Dark Horse's mother Gina who had a past with Red Crow - only to be disowned by her son and wandering with the pain of a shootout which went awry years back. Waiting for the second volume to arrive!
October 15, 2024
Chief Red Crow is about to open a new casino on the Rez . . .
But it just so happens that brawler Dashiell Bad Horse has just returned to the Rez.
It’s surely a coincidence, right? Red Crow quickly enlists Bad Horse to be one of his paid goons in a police uniform. Thus begins a sprawling, multi-generational crime epic with drugs, murders, sex, and double crosses.
Top notch art and storytelling.
But it just so happens that brawler Dashiell Bad Horse has just returned to the Rez.
It’s surely a coincidence, right? Red Crow quickly enlists Bad Horse to be one of his paid goons in a police uniform. Thus begins a sprawling, multi-generational crime epic with drugs, murders, sex, and double crosses.
Top notch art and storytelling.
May 30, 2019
The art and the flow of the panels are impressive, Guéra did a very good job. As for the story, I enjoyed the silent parts, where the characters moved around without uttering a word. The style reminded me of 100 Bullets and that's something that attracts me to the series.
February 13, 2024
Mocne, ostre, brutalne, krwawe, wulgarne i miejscami zaskakujące.
Świetna i wciągająca historia w postaci kryminału noir umiejscowiona w Indiańskim rezerwacie, gdzie cały czas ma się wrażenie, że Aaron wykonał swoje zadanie znakomicie.
Lecimy dalej z kolejnymi tomami!
Świetna i wciągająca historia w postaci kryminału noir umiejscowiona w Indiańskim rezerwacie, gdzie cały czas ma się wrażenie, że Aaron wykonał swoje zadanie znakomicie.
Lecimy dalej z kolejnymi tomami!
February 27, 2023
I finished it and wowza what a way for this series to end. Excited to jump into my next series for sure now just dunno which one I’ll go with!
Read
March 22, 2021I had friends who swore by this series, as well as my local comic shop guy, and Youtubers that I watch who like to talk about comics, so I was quite excited to get into this series. In fact, some of the first reviews that I read on this site before I myself starting using it were of this series. Then I found a certain review of this series that so shocked me by its forceful use of its voice and language that, for one, I had to go out and find this guy and befriend him, as I was quite impressed with this review, and two, ruining a lot of chances for me to enjoy this series, as I couldn't get his opinions out of my head. So for that, I thank you Keely.
I've grown quite fond of Aaron through my readings of him, some of his works have given me a lot of joy and fun over these last few years. Though it's quite interesting to see him at an earlier point of his career, still finding himself as a writer, sadly I find that Scalped represents some of the lesser aspects of a debut, rather than the more stronger aspects of one.
Scalped seems unsteady, unpolished, and unsure of itself. Aaron hasn't quite come into his own voice here, and seems to be borrowing (quite liberally I might add) from some of his inspirations. At once we see Ennis' influence on this series, and then Miller's and yet, we don't see the strengths of those two's most celebrated work. Aaron shares Ennis' penchant for over the top extremes, though Aaron can't quite match Ennis' skill for merging his extremes with his storytelling in a natural way until later on in the series.
Scalped seems jarring to read at times with its chaotic pacing and constantly switching around from scene A to scene B. It's one of those cases where I find that if he had a good editor on his side, assuaging his more wild tendencies and focusing him in the right direction, then the series would've had a much stronger outing when it first began. Luckily, this jarred pacing does lighten up as the series moves along, and Aaron gains some more confidence in his voice.
The central idea of Scalped is strong, and the set ups of these characters was also strong, so I suppose it's why I kept with it, to see if this potential paid off in any way and in some ways it does. I was particularly fond of the one off stories focusing on the many characters who live in 'The Rez' as it's known, getting inside their heads and seeing their motivations as to why they are the way that they are. I was particularly intrigued by the story of Red Crow, the Native activist turned crime lord, I was fascinated by the internal conflict that he struggles through as the series goes on, and I was compelled as his story went on. It shows the Aaron that I've come to know, the one who likes to muddy the waters about who is good and evil in his stories and often makes who you root for much more complicated in the process.
The series continues to improve as Aaron continues to find his stride, though its still flawed in several ways. The pacing ends up becoming more streamlined as Aaron continues to roll along, finding his voice. But he never quite gets to the heights that he would eventually when he would go to write Southern Bastards, yet we do see the signs of the later Aaron as we go along, leading to an ending that left me melancholic, but also empty. Yet, it was an ending that was rather fitting to this series: not quite at its peak, but almost.
Guera's art is also intriguing, it has the classic 'Vertigo look' in terms of its color palate and texture, but it also is rather fitting for the series, having a style that's moody while also being ugly and decadent, much like the Rez that the series takes place in. But like with Aaron's writing, I find that the art never quite reaches its full potential, I often found it off-putting and shoddy as much as it was evocative and occasionally rich.
As said before, it is quite curious to see Aaron at the beginning of his career, still in the cusp of finding his voice, still finding his way through the Rez, and seeing where the journey takes him along the way. Scalped is an incomplete work (thematically). But it does show Aaron slowly coming to his own, and giving us a hint of the greatness that Aaron would eventually prove himself to be capable of.
December 27, 2016
Wow! It's hard to know where to begin. Dashiell Bad Horse returns to the reservation where he grew up, full of bad attitude and anger. He draws the attention of Red Crow, the man responsible for building a new casino that's set to open soon, and who's known to be involved in shady business. Dash ends up with more than he bargained for, specifically a gun, badge, and brand new job policing the reservation. There's more going on than is apparent at first glance. Not everyone is who they say they are, and a shooting of two FBI officers in the 70's turns out to have some far-reaching repercussions ...
This is a gritty, street-level crime drama with an unfamiliar (it was to me, anyway) setting. Aaron seems to have done his research. His reservation and all the characters who inhabit it feel real. Yes, there's quite a bit of sex and violence in this book. If that startles you, what part of "gritty crime drama" do you not understand? The story is being told somewhat out of sequence, but Aaron is pretty good about providing enough cues to keep things from getting too confusing. R.M. Guera's artwork is suitably noir-ish and gritty. This is not, by any means, your typical comic book, and that's a good thing. Highly recommended!
This is a gritty, street-level crime drama with an unfamiliar (it was to me, anyway) setting. Aaron seems to have done his research. His reservation and all the characters who inhabit it feel real. Yes, there's quite a bit of sex and violence in this book. If that startles you, what part of "gritty crime drama" do you not understand? The story is being told somewhat out of sequence, but Aaron is pretty good about providing enough cues to keep things from getting too confusing. R.M. Guera's artwork is suitably noir-ish and gritty. This is not, by any means, your typical comic book, and that's a good thing. Highly recommended!
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