Written by Jason Aaron
Illustrated by RM Guera and friendsThis landmark fiftieth issue features two special stories, one detailing the long bloody history of scalping and scalphunters, and the other spotlighting the founding of the Prairie Rose rez as seen through the eyes of Dash Bad Horse’s ancestor, His Many Bad Horses. Don’t miss this all-star celebration of all things SCALPED!
Scalped is 4 years old and reaching an anniversary so few comics are reaching these days. Let’s celebrate the 50th issue of Scalped by Aaron, Guera and all their friends – after the cut.
To an extent, it’s rather difficult to talk about Scalped. For me, personally, a lot of the story has read better in single sittings; I began reading the series in trade with all of the stories having immediate beginnings and endings, and the transition from that to waiting by the issues has been difficult. It’s like having a bunch of birthdays where you get a lot of really great presents from your parents, and then when you’re 18 suddenly you just get one present a year and it leaves you anxious for when you were younger. However, the transition of reading from trade to singles – with any reader – is usually a sign that a title is just far too good to wait for, and that is as true for Scalped as it is any other series.
This week brings us our 50th issue, and it continues what I’m beginning to guess is a time honored Vertigo tradition. The series takes a quick break from it’s main story for a one-shot that features guest artists that allow an interesting and unique way to remind old readers of what has come before, catch up any wandering in new readers, and in no short terms celebrate it’s milestone. Such is the case of Scalped 50, which tells us the never before seen history of our hero, Dashiell Bad Horse. Or rather, the history that we never knew we wanted to know now being presented to us as only Aaron and Guera can.
Here’s the secret of what has ended up hooking me about Scalped: I know the popular consensus is that in a Vertigo title, it’s often not the story that explicitly matters as much as it is the character interactions. For my money, there are few writers in comics these days who can tell singles like Aaron can. Jason Aaron one of my favorite writers, and to be quite frank he could write an issue where the main character sits in a pit for 22 pages and just talks to someone not in that pit about how much it sucks being a pit – and I can guarantee you that issue will be great (and, for the record, he totally did that, and it totally was). Aaron seems to have this uncanny understanding of humanity, of how dark and twisted we can be towards one another. What makes his take so unique in it is that Aaron somehow manages to also show the faintest glimmer of light, redemption and hope in the darkest of scenes – and Scalped #50 is certainly no exception to that rule.
The issue is primarily a representation of this idea that ultimately the cycle of violence will never end. The issue, entitled “The Art Of Scalping,” shows us in a proverbial nutshell the elements that has always been playing throughout Scalped; that of the White Man’s world versus the Native American’s world. Scalped has always had underlying race relations playing a big part of what fuels the characters (as well as, you know, that whole murder mystery thing) in their interactions, and by showing us different generations that ultimately end up leading into the current era where our story takes place, the book offers up a very grim portrayal on simply the nature of existence. It’s impossible to try and view one singular side as the “villain” because everyone is wrong. Everyone is flawed, screwed up, twisted, and ultimately stuck to the lessons and world views inherited from their fathers about life, the universe and everything. How bleak is that? However, as I mentioned, Aaron does end the issue on a darkly lighter note (as much as that may seem like an oxymoron), offering up the potential that the cycle of violence could be broken and that while there is something as horrible as death, there is still the beauty that is birth – and life.
Continued belowThis is what you want in a single issue story of this nature. Its not the specific characters that matter, but rather the themes, the journey, and the lessons hidden in the otherwise bleak facade that Aaron and Guera have draped this world in. Scalped may be one of the darkest books in comics at the moment, but isn’t dark for the sake of being dark. There is a greater game at play here.
The 50th issue also allows Aaron and Guera to have a bit of fun artistically, what with the inclusion of additional artists. Guera’s work in particular is great for the issue, and it’s the dirty grittiness that one has come to expect from Guera (and that I, admittedly, have warmed up to much more since the first issue – even if I find that it can be a tad bit too dirty at times). Guera handles the truly dark moments of the issue with pinache, and the book would arguably never be as realistic as it is without an artist like Guera really nailing that aspect home.
The guest artists all offer up character-centric splash pages of the leads for the story, the various styles of which add that much more depth and beauty to the presentation of the story. Truthfully it’s Steve Dillon’s Red Crow and Shunka that is the stand-out page for me, offering up the single most accurate representation of the characters and their purpose. The beauty is in the details, though, and it’s the various background bits that really make the pages sing (the American Flag in the toilet is perhaps the most spot on bit).
It has never been the story of Scalped that truly drew me in, but rather the extreme realism of the world that Aaron and Guera have constructed. Not that the ongoing story is bad in anyway; far from it. It’s the way that Aaron and Guera show the life on the Rez that keeps me coming back for more. The way the characters interact with one another is such a hauntingly accurate representation of real life that it’s scary at times, and Scalped #50 shows just this sentiment. As long as Aaron continues to write these haunting slice of life stories with all of the grit he can fill a story with, I’ll buy any comic that has his name on the cover. Bringing Guera and friends along for the ride only makes it that much better.
Happy 50th, boys. Let’s do 50 more.
Final Verdict: 9.5 – Buy
If, for some odd reason, you’ve never read Scalped before, here’s a copy of the first issue for free from DC. Enjoy.
