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Scalped #3-4
Scalped: The Deluxe Edition, Book Two
Gambling, gunfights, G-men, Dawg Soldierz, massacres, meth labs, trashy sex, fry bread, Indian pride, Thunder Beings and the rugged beauty of the Badlands. In other words, life on the rez.
FBI agent Dash Bad Horse has been forced back into a life and a place that he thought he escaped years before: The Prairie Rose Indian Reservation. To bring down local crime boss Lincoln Red Crow, Dash goes undercover as one of Red Crow’s hired guns. But when Dash’s own mother is slaughtered and scalped, the double agent’s loyalties become even more tangled-until not even he’s sure who the real bad guys are.
In SCALPED: THE DELUXE EDITION BOOK TWO, star writer Jason Aaron (Thor, Original Sin) and artist R.M. Guéra (BATMAN ETERNAL, DJANGO UNCHAINED) continue their critically acclaimed tale of Native American noir, with guest art by John Paul Leon and Davide Furnò and covers by Jock.
Collects: Scalped #12-24.
FBI agent Dash Bad Horse has been forced back into a life and a place that he thought he escaped years before: The Prairie Rose Indian Reservation. To bring down local crime boss Lincoln Red Crow, Dash goes undercover as one of Red Crow’s hired guns. But when Dash’s own mother is slaughtered and scalped, the double agent’s loyalties become even more tangled-until not even he’s sure who the real bad guys are.
In SCALPED: THE DELUXE EDITION BOOK TWO, star writer Jason Aaron (Thor, Original Sin) and artist R.M. Guéra (BATMAN ETERNAL, DJANGO UNCHAINED) continue their critically acclaimed tale of Native American noir, with guest art by John Paul Leon and Davide Furnò and covers by Jock.
Collects: Scalped #12-24.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2015
12 people are currently reading
211 people want to read
About the author
Jason Aaron
2,324books1,628followersJason 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 62 reviews
March 25, 2025
(A-) 83% | Very Good
Notes: Review pending re-read. Individual reviews for included volumes can be found here:
- Scalped: Dead Mothers
- Scalped: The Gravel in Your Guts
Notes: Review pending re-read. Individual reviews for included volumes can be found here:
- Scalped: Dead Mothers
- Scalped: The Gravel in Your Guts
April 1, 2025
Things get really hairy.
Pun intended.
So much happens in this one that becomes the catalyst setting off the dominos that eventually lead to so many characters' downfalls.
We also get more background on what went wrong when Gina Bad Horse and Lincoln were young and idealistic. How did they go from friends to enemies?
One of the things that drew me into this series was how complex and entangled the relationships were in this thing. Exceptionally well done for a crime noir.
Recommended.
Pun intended.
So much happens in this one that becomes the catalyst setting off the dominos that eventually lead to so many characters' downfalls.
We also get more background on what went wrong when Gina Bad Horse and Lincoln were young and idealistic. How did they go from friends to enemies?
One of the things that drew me into this series was how complex and entangled the relationships were in this thing. Exceptionally well done for a crime noir.
Recommended.
July 2, 2018
"And once we've claimed what's due us, then all those people I shot, stabbed, scalped, hanged, and buried along the way...all those poor bastards won't have died in vain. And for the first time in far too long, my dreams might again outnumber my regrets."Book Two in this series improves on the solid first installment in every conceivable way. Not only is the artwork better rendered, the writing seems to have jumped up to the next level as well! While the first book introduces you to the characters and their world, now that all of that is over with, it's time to take a deeper dive, particularly into an exploration of the rich supporting characters. At the same time, as he continues to feel the pressure closing in from all sides, our protagonist Dashiell Bad Horse seeks comfort in every place he shouldn't. I can feel it. This series is going to be great.
August 22, 2016
Am I missing something here? A lot of people have recommended this run and it's gets glowing reviews, but I just don't get it. It's entertaining, it's realistic, but it's not great.
Maybe it's a US thing, because I've had the same issue with southern bastards which I thought I'd love. I'm just not interested in the whole Rez thing.
I thought the artwork was dull, the paper thin (vertigo's fault), and the stories slow. Don't get me wrong it's got some good parts and it builds a fantastic picture of the community and the characters, but I'm not going to make the same mistake I made with 100 bullets and read the whole series for no reward, so I'm just going to go with how I feel now and stop.
I think this would make a good to show, but I think it's all ready been ripped off with that TV show Banshee.
Maybe it's a US thing, because I've had the same issue with southern bastards which I thought I'd love. I'm just not interested in the whole Rez thing.
I thought the artwork was dull, the paper thin (vertigo's fault), and the stories slow. Don't get me wrong it's got some good parts and it builds a fantastic picture of the community and the characters, but I'm not going to make the same mistake I made with 100 bullets and read the whole series for no reward, so I'm just going to go with how I feel now and stop.
I think this would make a good to show, but I think it's all ready been ripped off with that TV show Banshee.
January 12, 2019
Помітно, що Аарон збавив темп порівняно з першим томом, тому деяких читачів, які звикли до брутального й безкомпромісного сторітеллінгу автора, це може відлякати. Однак не мене. Замість вибудовування світу резервації, налагоджування часових і просторових елементів, Аарон більше фокусується на внутрішніх емоціях, переживаннях персонажів, додаючи також нових героїв до цієї непересічної кримінальної історії. Можна навіть виокремити умовне протистояння Даша та Червоного Ворона, поступове занарення в їхні архетипи, тобто страхи й призначення. Зрозуміло, що такий психологізм не може бути динамічним, але й подій тут теж вистачає.
Отже, двері казино відчинили, Даш продовжує стежити за Вороном і розуміє, що у його лавах є ще один агент, про якого дехто вже міг здогадатись раніше. Зрештою, цей другий агент призведе до одного із найбільш потужних драматичних вузлів цього тому, змушуючи просто розриватись від ненависті й безпомічних поривань, як це робить Даш. Врешті, це ще більше зводить його з Керол (історію якої ми теж дізнаємося), душевна безодня якої все більше вглядається в самого Дашіеля. Також з'являються нові антагоністи, зокрема дуже моторошний Містер Брасс, катувальник без однієї руки, який переслідує свої цілі тут, а точніше - просто любить мучити людей. Це моторошне, невиліковне зло у плоті, яке просто треба пристрелити як погань - такі відчуття виникають, коли читаєш про нього. Переконливість - хіба це не показник гарної історії?
Мені також імпонують нові культурні вплетення. Наприклад, збереження душі померлої людини, щоб її краще провести у потойбічний світ. Знову крепка, як міцно заварений чорний чай, кримінальна драма, яка блискуче поєднала в собі й інші жанри, тому намертво закріпила за собою статус кращого кримінального коміксу останніх років або й взагалі усіх часів.
Отже, двері казино відчинили, Даш продовжує стежити за Вороном і розуміє, що у його лавах є ще один агент, про якого дехто вже міг здогадатись раніше. Зрештою, цей другий агент призведе до одного із найбільш потужних драматичних вузлів цього тому, змушуючи просто розриватись від ненависті й безпомічних поривань, як це робить Даш. Врешті, це ще більше зводить його з Керол (історію якої ми теж дізнаємося), душевна безодня якої все більше вглядається в самого Дашіеля. Також з'являються нові антагоністи, зокрема дуже моторошний Містер Брасс, катувальник без однієї руки, який переслідує свої цілі тут, а точніше - просто любить мучити людей. Це моторошне, невиліковне зло у плоті, яке просто треба пристрелити як погань - такі відчуття виникають, коли читаєш про нього. Переконливість - хіба це не показник гарної історії?
Мені також імпонують нові культурні вплетення. Наприклад, збереження душі померлої людини, щоб її краще провести у потойбічний світ. Знову крепка, як міцно заварений чорний чай, кримінальна драма, яка блискуче поєднала в собі й інші жанри, тому намертво закріпила за собою статус кращого кримінального коміксу останніх років або й взагалі усіх часів.
May 25, 2018
Really loving this series. Its so dark and violent. Do not expect good paths or decisions from any character. This kinda deflects to other characters instead of Dash most of the time like Vol 1. Very good crime and I cant wait for Vol 3.
August 29, 2018
Aaron's writing in this series is impressive for its risk taking. Talk about just opening a vein. In this volume he goes especially dark by showing each of the characters at essentially their weakest and darkest moments, showing their slide down the slippery slope and the letting them bounce along the bottom until they decide to soldier on.
January 12, 2018
Ya era una buena historia y sigue mejorando. Personajes tristes y carismáticos en un mundo hostil donde quieres y odias todo por igual.
El dibujo y el color le van como anillo al dedo a la historia.
Hay algunas páginas cuyo corte eso sí no está muy bien hecho, los bocadillos están demasiado cerca del lomo y dificulta su lectura.
El dibujo y el color le van como anillo al dedo a la historia.
Hay algunas páginas cuyo corte eso sí no está muy bien hecho, los bocadillos están demasiado cerca del lomo y dificulta su lectura.
July 23, 2024
What the first volume still lacked in some areas of the story, I gotta say Book Two had in spades. While some of the twists you kind of can see a mile away, it is still a interesting read and managed to win me over to the ip. This book also focuses a lot on other characters too which is a welcomed change to our run of the mill protagonist. And one of my biggest complaints of book one was the lack of Indian culture actually being shown, he catches up on that with this book somewhat. I am definitely looking forward to the next volume! 4.5 out of 5
January 24, 2016
Any type of review I do for this book will not do it enough justice as compared to how I feel when I am reading it.
Jason Aaron is a damn good story teller and in the world of scalped, he seems at ease showcasing this ability. Telling the story of the forgotten native americans, living in the same country yet in such different circumstances. I can't wait to read the next volume. Absolutely riveting stuff.
Jason Aaron is a damn good story teller and in the world of scalped, he seems at ease showcasing this ability. Telling the story of the forgotten native americans, living in the same country yet in such different circumstances. I can't wait to read the next volume. Absolutely riveting stuff.
January 6, 2025
Incorporating Volumes 3/4...this is where the series really takes off for me.
So many subplots and revelations..
And some genuinely surprising turn of events.
So many subplots and revelations..
And some genuinely surprising turn of events.
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 2, 2022
(Zero spoiler review) 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 letdown 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 letdown 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.
May 16, 2017
Ed Brubaker escribe en la introducción a este segundo tomo de la edición deluxe de scalped su particular visión del género negro, que no identifica con el crimen, la violencia, la traición o las historias policiacas y de investigación, sino que lo ve como el retrato de unos personajes en continua caída, como tener una idea general bastante clara de la manera en que va a acabar algo y que no va a ser bonito, pero aún así ir disfrutando del camino mientras anticipamos el desastre.
Este segundo tomo tiene mucho de eso, personajes tomando malas decisiones o pagando las consecuencias de las decisiones que tomaron en el pasado, malas decisiones que llevan a dilemas aún peores que los anteriores, personajes que se regodean en la autocompasión o simplemente quieren olvidarse de la vida utilizando las herramientas que tienen a su alcance... un oscuro retrato de la vida diaria en la reserva Prairie Rose, cuyos habitantes van cayendo sin llegar todavía a tocar fondo...
En este caso además, Jason Aaron se toma el tiempo de mostrarnos las motivaciones de los personajes... casi cualquier decisión que toman los personajes está perfectamente justificada o bien en la historia que se nos cuenta en la línea temporal principal, o bien en los numerosos flashback que nos encontramos. Esto hace que consigamos empatizar con unos personajes que viven situaciones límite, tanto en el caso de Dash, como en el de Carol, Cuervo Rojo o Dino Oso Pobre... entendemos por qué se ven inmersos en esa espiral de autodestrucción.
En el apartado gráfico... pues genial, con un pero, no me terminan de convencer los números que dibuja davide furno... afortunadamente se mantiene el tono general de la serie ya que el color sigue estando a cargo de Giulia Brusco, que hace un gran trabajo. Las portadas de Jock son impresionantes
Este segundo tomo tiene mucho de eso, personajes tomando malas decisiones o pagando las consecuencias de las decisiones que tomaron en el pasado, malas decisiones que llevan a dilemas aún peores que los anteriores, personajes que se regodean en la autocompasión o simplemente quieren olvidarse de la vida utilizando las herramientas que tienen a su alcance... un oscuro retrato de la vida diaria en la reserva Prairie Rose, cuyos habitantes van cayendo sin llegar todavía a tocar fondo...
En este caso además, Jason Aaron se toma el tiempo de mostrarnos las motivaciones de los personajes... casi cualquier decisión que toman los personajes está perfectamente justificada o bien en la historia que se nos cuenta en la línea temporal principal, o bien en los numerosos flashback que nos encontramos. Esto hace que consigamos empatizar con unos personajes que viven situaciones límite, tanto en el caso de Dash, como en el de Carol, Cuervo Rojo o Dino Oso Pobre... entendemos por qué se ven inmersos en esa espiral de autodestrucción.
En el apartado gráfico... pues genial, con un pero, no me terminan de convencer los números que dibuja davide furno... afortunadamente se mantiene el tono general de la serie ya que el color sigue estando a cargo de Giulia Brusco, que hace un gran trabajo. Las portadas de Jock son impresionantes
September 12, 2016
3.5 stars
Wow! This volume was a page turner: a couple big secrets revealed, more character backgrounds to fill in their history and some crazy violence. Everything really came together in this volume and Dash takes a turn for the worst.
The art is still a little dark at times but later in the book it seemed to lighten up. Not sure if that was a conscious decision on their part or maybe a different inker, either way it helps with making the visuals clearer.
Wow! This volume was a page turner: a couple big secrets revealed, more character backgrounds to fill in their history and some crazy violence. Everything really came together in this volume and Dash takes a turn for the worst.
The art is still a little dark at times but later in the book it seemed to lighten up. Not sure if that was a conscious decision on their part or maybe a different inker, either way it helps with making the visuals clearer.
June 2, 2016
Great volume. The story gets more entertaining and you start to care more about some characters. The writing by Jason Aaron on the first volume was good but in this one gets really, really great. Really excited to see what's coming on the third volume.
February 6, 2016
Just keeps getting better and better !
December 31, 2024
Vol. 3 (Issues #12-18) We’re back in the dirt with criminal/sheriff/FBI informant Dashiell Bad Horse. In this one, two women have been killed (no spoilers but take a hint from the title: “Dead Mothers�).
Gritty, bloody, depressing, take-no-prisoners.
Vol. 4 (Issues #19-24) 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.
Gritty, bloody, depressing, take-no-prisoners.
Vol. 4 (Issues #19-24) 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.
February 14, 2024
Z każdym kolejnym zeszytem historia zyskuje. Pojawiają się nowi bohaterowie, Aaron ewidentnie ma do opowiedzenia znacznie więcej niż historię Dasha. I mimo rozwijania wątków wielu osób, poprzez retrospekcje, wiele z nich z czasem zaczyna się łączyć, a przepowiednia Catchera zaczyna się powoli spełniać... Kim jest Dash, kim jest Catcher? Sprawdźcie sami ;)
December 21, 2019
We get to know the characters better, they gear up for war and most importantly we all go deeper on the spiral of violence and poor. What a ride.
February 20, 2022
OK, asta face ca filmele lui Gaspar Noe să pară episoade din serialul Cabbage Patch Kids.
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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.
May 20, 2024
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.
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. 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. Though this series does improve while reading this volume I still don't love the characters or story currently being presented by Aaron.
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.
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. 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. Though this series does improve while reading this volume I still don't love the characters or story currently being presented by Aaron.
November 26, 2022
This is looking like my tap out point.
I keep feeling like this book is the late 2000's version of comics that tried to be "dark" in the 90's. And the late 2000's version of dark comics is gritty comics.
So much grit you could polish and entire mountain's worth of stones!
Every character is a bad man who does bad things. "I know I've done bad things. Walked a dark road. And it seems like, with every hill, maybe when I crest it, I'll be out of the darkness, see the sun on the horizon. But then it's just another hill. Another stretch of blood-soaked asphalt."
Ha, that's fun!
"You wonder about the darkness in a man's heart. But what you gotta look for is the darkness in his balls. Because that's where the real darkness lives. The man who can gut another man and be balls deep in a whore the same night--that man's got a darkness deep in his balls, and he'll never fuck it out."
Too easy.
"I ever tell you how I got this scar? Most people see it, think I probably got it doing a dime in Florence, maybe from my time in the sandbox. Boy, I got this scar tripping in the bathroom in the shithole of a trailer I live in. Got it from my mom after she died. Overdose. Her boyfriend was squatting there when I found him, passed out in a pile of his own shit and piss. I put an end to that, got the place cleaned up. Even put in a tile floor. Probably the only trailer in the park with a tile bathroom floor. What they don't tell you, though, is how slick that new tile is. You know, after I slipped, and I tasted the blood in my mouth, I laughed. I laughed because after all the shit I been through, it was a slick tile floor that almost done me in. Pride cometh before the fall, son."
I keep feeling like this book is the late 2000's version of comics that tried to be "dark" in the 90's. And the late 2000's version of dark comics is gritty comics.
So much grit you could polish and entire mountain's worth of stones!
Every character is a bad man who does bad things. "I know I've done bad things. Walked a dark road. And it seems like, with every hill, maybe when I crest it, I'll be out of the darkness, see the sun on the horizon. But then it's just another hill. Another stretch of blood-soaked asphalt."
Ha, that's fun!
"You wonder about the darkness in a man's heart. But what you gotta look for is the darkness in his balls. Because that's where the real darkness lives. The man who can gut another man and be balls deep in a whore the same night--that man's got a darkness deep in his balls, and he'll never fuck it out."
Too easy.
"I ever tell you how I got this scar? Most people see it, think I probably got it doing a dime in Florence, maybe from my time in the sandbox. Boy, I got this scar tripping in the bathroom in the shithole of a trailer I live in. Got it from my mom after she died. Overdose. Her boyfriend was squatting there when I found him, passed out in a pile of his own shit and piss. I put an end to that, got the place cleaned up. Even put in a tile floor. Probably the only trailer in the park with a tile bathroom floor. What they don't tell you, though, is how slick that new tile is. You know, after I slipped, and I tasted the blood in my mouth, I laughed. I laughed because after all the shit I been through, it was a slick tile floor that almost done me in. Pride cometh before the fall, son."
November 4, 2018
I’ve warmed to this series. Volume 1 I rated 1/5 because I was overwhelmed by the negative tropes that we’re dogpiled on the reader by a non-indigenous writer. The art was outstanding in Volume 1 but I just couldn’t get over the dire dystopian violence of Rez Life in the book. All of this was through the lens of an Anishnaabe man who lives on a reserve himself.
Volume 2’s 4/5 rating is the product of a discussion with a friend who loved the series. He is also an Anishnaabe and, like me, an educator in a First Nations community. He convinced me that these social problems depicted in Scalped are in fact part of the reality for our communities. Traditionalists exist on all reserves. Tribal police and corruption and alcohol/drugs and poverty are all prevalent. Aaron has done his research and regardless of his non-indigenous background he has done a good job of writing a crime noir comic. Never thought I’d say this but I’m looking forward to Volume 3 which I purchased recently.
Volume 2’s 4/5 rating is the product of a discussion with a friend who loved the series. He is also an Anishnaabe and, like me, an educator in a First Nations community. He convinced me that these social problems depicted in Scalped are in fact part of the reality for our communities. Traditionalists exist on all reserves. Tribal police and corruption and alcohol/drugs and poverty are all prevalent. Aaron has done his research and regardless of his non-indigenous background he has done a good job of writing a crime noir comic. Never thought I’d say this but I’m looking forward to Volume 3 which I purchased recently.
January 3, 2017
Deeper, darker, more harrowing ...
This series continues to impress. While gritty crime and noir are not my normal reading fare, I'd say this is one of the best examples of such I've ever read. Part of what makes it so compelling is that Aaron lets you in on EVERYONE'S motivation. While you may not approve of the choices they make, you darn well understand what drove them to this point. Heck, Dash, who I had seen as the main character of the series, fades from view for practically this entire volume as we focus on others for a time. This is all almost certainly not going to end well. For anyone. I am loving this series, and looking forward to Book Three.
This series continues to impress. While gritty crime and noir are not my normal reading fare, I'd say this is one of the best examples of such I've ever read. Part of what makes it so compelling is that Aaron lets you in on EVERYONE'S motivation. While you may not approve of the choices they make, you darn well understand what drove them to this point. Heck, Dash, who I had seen as the main character of the series, fades from view for practically this entire volume as we focus on others for a time. This is all almost certainly not going to end well. For anyone. I am loving this series, and looking forward to Book Three.
June 20, 2020
No longer using this website, but I'm leaving up old reviews. Fuck Jeff Bezos. Find me on LibraryThing:
This book, and the first one, are brutally violent, gritty, and licentious to a degree that is exploitative. There is so much suffering, the pages are saturated with the blood, sweat and tears of every character. The book doesn't even handle it well, doesn't let the reader come up for air or allow a moment to smile. It's a nonstop wince, if not a grimace, from cover to cover. But I'm totally addicted...
This book, and the first one, are brutally violent, gritty, and licentious to a degree that is exploitative. There is so much suffering, the pages are saturated with the blood, sweat and tears of every character. The book doesn't even handle it well, doesn't let the reader come up for air or allow a moment to smile. It's a nonstop wince, if not a grimace, from cover to cover. But I'm totally addicted...
September 12, 2016
Esto despega chicos: secretos, cajones de mierda y asesinatos
January 24, 2017
Mroczne to, jak diabli. Noir, które osiada na duszy i wgryza się w nią brudnym realizmem i brakiem nadziei.
June 22, 2020
The closest I've come to The Wire in comic format.
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