For those that haven’t read it, Jason Aaron and R.M. Guera’s Vertigo series “Scalped” is one of the greatest comics of the past decade, and one of my favorite comics ever. It’s an incredible look at the corruption and crime on the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation in South Dakota, and follows an FBI agent as he tries to take down the Rez’s crime boss, while trying (very unsuccessfully) to not get sucked back into the life he once had as a youth on Prairie Rose. It’s a crime story, but it’s very much a character study first, and one of the more heartbreaking comics I’ve ever read.
Now, it’s going to be a TV show on WGN America, as they’ve hired Banshee‘s Doug Jung to adapt it for the small screen. WGN America is just getting into the original programming game, with a scripted series debuting Sunday, but I have to admit this one is a bit of a head scratcher for me. “Scalped” was a book that never once turned a blind eye to the darkness life brings a persons way, bringing a real emotional honesty to the dark world of Prairie Rose and the directions its denizens lives would often take. Can a basic cable network adapt some of the stories that Aaron and Guera (and others) told without having to cut some of the more important – and harsh – moments?
I don’t know. I really hope they do. Most adaptations I adopt a “wait and see” approach on, but with the nature of this book, it’s a bit sketchy as to whether or not WGN can even air some of the things that transpire in this book. That said, from what I understand, Banshee is quite good and more on the intense side. Sounds like Jung could be a great fit, and at the very least, I’m interested to see what they do. If it’s anything like the source material, this should be a damn good show.
