I remember the first time I read “Scalped.” I was sitting in a hospital waiting room a few years ago, awaiting a phone call from a doctor that would let me know everything was ok and to tell me what room to visit. I read the first few volumes of “Scalped” in that time, eating them up as if it were a delicious and unhealthy treat I couldn’t think of putting down for a drink or even to catch my breath, and diving into this world provided a very comforting experience as I was able to detach from my own.
It’s a few years later now and I have just read “Scalped” #60. All I really have to say is: if you somehow missed out on this book, then you did yourself a massive disservice.
…Well, ok, I’ll say a bit more.
Written by Jason Aaron
Illustrated by RM GueraIT ALL ENDS HERE.
“Scalped” #59 ended like a loaded gun: a single bullet was loaded into the chamber and the gun was cocked, a finger on the trigger with the nose of the barrel firmly against the temple of the reader. There was no way to tell when it would go off, or what would happen when it would — the stakes couldn’t have been higher as every final bit of emotion was jam-packed into a single final page, a pot just about to boil over. It was breathtaking, exciting, unnerving and dangerous all at the same time; one of the finest penultimate issues to come out for a book in a long while. And as “Scalped” #60 opens, the gun finally goes off, the pot boils over — and what comes in its aftermath is a roller coaster ride of emotions that no one could possibly begin to predict. Pay-offs are delivered, endings are given and all of it is weighted against one singular and highly emotional pay-off.
Good lord. That was a damn fine comic.
When it first began, “Scalped” wasn’t exactly a stand-out title. In fact, outside of the original setting and a sharp creative team, the premise to the book alone seemed a little too typical; we’d kind of seen it before, but not really. And yet in that first issue, for every familiar beat there was something new: these characters were unlike those we had seen before, the world around them visceral in a new way. The first arc provided a grim and intense story that led into a crime odyssey of sorts, and even that is over-simplifying things quite a bit. “Scalped very quickly became it’s own beast,” and 59 issues later that initial intensity has only grown up to this point, where the tenuous house of cards holding everyone up collapses, the chips falling where they may as the unseen hand of destiny interferes with these characters for the last time.
It’s been a long, hard journey, but Aaron and Guera never missed a step. Unlike the typical trend found amongst most Vertigo books, “Scalped” leaves no final stone unturned — there is no final flash forward, no questions left unanswered; all of the initial promises of the book are paid in full, and with interest. These characters whose lives we’ve intertwined with over the past 59 issues are all brought to their tragic end points in a final play of almost Shakespearean proportions, yet each finale is more like a gift than anything. Aaron and Guera have fashioned a fantastic finale with this book, and from the opening first page monologue to the final shot of the book, “Scalped” #60 is just as unrelenting and poignant as the book has always been. And to top it all off, the true, sad nature of the book is somewhat revealed as the most important character of all, the “Rez,” is given the only ending that could have ever come. It’s a bit heartbreaking, but in the best kind of ways.
Suffice it to say, Aaron and Guera have wound up a powerhouse of a creative team. It’s interesting to look back at the first issue and see the two working together on a different level than here; Aaron’s clearly more comfortable with Guera’s art taking the lead over the story for example, as is evidenced by the brutal opening sequence. Aaron’s writing still delivers gut punch after gut punch with expertly delivered lines and a killer series of monologues, but the fists in which they’re all delivered are Guera’s. The final few pages of the book are some of the most impressive; the book was always heavily layered with characters and subplots, but seeing the way Aaron and Guera are able to weave in and out of the lives of the characters as things come to a close is a master class in story telling. It’s a beautiful choreographed dance the two perform, but it couldn’t have played out any better. Add to that the reminiscent final Jock cover and you’ve got a slam dunk of a book.
Continued belowTruly, a book called “Scalped” was never going to have a happy ending, but as the last page finally turns you’ll forget that you may have ever wanted one. If nothing else, “Scalped” #60 is a viking funeral: it’s brutal, it’s tough as a boulder and it sails off into the sunset amidst a glorious flame. Highly reminiscent of “Preacher” #66, one of the best finales ever to grace a Vertigo book, Aaron and Guera deliver a power house finale to one of the best books of recent memory, and while the story of “Scalped” may have ended, the book lives on. “Hecheto aloe” indeed.
It’s been a long time since a modern Vertigo title felt like it was destined to be a classic that would stand amongst the greats, but if any book has a chance it’s this one. Congratulations to Aaron, Guera, Jock and the entire team behind the book on a fantastic piece of comic work, and we’re officially counting down the days until the next one.
Final Verdict: 9.0 – Buy
