Published as a monthly ongoing series from 2007 until 2012, Scalped is a gritty neo-noir crime comic set in the fictional reservation Prairie Rose. Dark, dire and ruthless, Scalped is a legendary title for a reason, and one of the shining gems of Vertigo’s catalogue.
The Gravel in Your Guts
As always, some context. Jason Aaron is an American comics writer, best known for his legendary run on Thor with Marvel Comics. He broke into the industry in the early 2000s with the war drama The Other Side, illustrated by Cameron Stewart. Scalped is illustrated by Serbian artist R.M Guera, mainly known for European comics such as Elmer Jones. Scalped was initially pitched as a revival of the DC hero Scalphunter, before becoming a unique project with a new premise, inspired by Leonard Peltier, a native activist arrested for the murder of two FBI agents in a shoot-out on a reservation in 1975.
Scalped’s plot is relatively simple. Former soldier Dashiell Bad Horse returns to the reservation he grew up on, Praire Rose, South Dakota, home of Ogala Lakota Native Americans. Unbeknownst to almost everyone else, Dash is working as an undercover FBI agent, working to take down Chief Red Crow, who has just opened a casino as a front for drug dealing and other illegal dealings. The plot and story evolves drastically from there, taking twists and turns in the typical noir fashion. Many more villains are introduced, other compelling side-characters, and before you know it Scalped is focused on presenting elements of real life tragedy many people really experience.
Scalped is through and through a noir story. Characters will have a chance to escape the cycles they are in, chose the better option for themselves, but won’t. They’re trapped in place by their pain and their anger. It’s an incredibly dark story. Inspired by prestige crime dramas such as The Wire and Deadwood, it allows itself to lose focus on the main plot and focus on characters. That isn’t to say the plotting isn’t tight and focused – every single action has significant consequences, which build upon each other as the story goes on, giving the reader the impression the series just get’s better as it goes on. Which it does.
In many ways, Scalped is unlike the regular Vertigo comic. It has more in common with something like Scene of the Crime than it does with The Sandman or Hellblazer. It’s a deeply realistic narrative, with great care placed into logic and detail. You can tell extensive research was done into the language, culture and history of the Lakota people, because they are elaborated upon in detail across the series, and never just as window-dressing either, but as actual plot important aspects.
The large majority of Scalped is drawn by R.M Guera. His artwork is fantastic, and suits the series perfectly. It’s definitely more stylised and exaggerated than the average Vertigo series, but that works in tandem with the very realistic story to create a sense of almost hyper-reality. His shadowy, dark artwork suits this noir story perfectly, and I wish he got more work because he deserves it. There’s a number of fill-in artists as well, including most prominnetly Davide Furno, as well as Francesco Francaville and Jason Latour. The series has a consistent style even when there’s guest artists, so it never feels jarring.
Jason Aaron’s writing is incredible across the board. Aaron writes as if he’s lived a dozen lives before becoming a comics writer, and it absolutely shines across the board. His ability to get into a character’s headset here is impeccable, and his narrative voice is incredibly strong. It’s hard to believe this was his second major comic, because he writes like a seasoned professional. I would love to see him return to crime comics in some capacity soon, because I think it suits his skill set exceptionally well. Tight plotting, dialogue and narration, with some moments I am not likely to forget anytime soon.
The characters are the real stand-out of Scalped. Dashiell Bad Horse is a bad-ass motherfucker, plain and simple. He’s also incredibly sympathetic and compelling, and only gets more so as the series goes on. You root for him inspite of his flaws. The same can be said of Lincoln Red Crow, ostensibly the main ‘villain’ of the series. However, he’s arguably just as sympathtic as Bad Horse, and I found him a truly compelling character, one of the best villains I’ve ever seen in a comic. Other fantastic characters include the psychopathic , 1/16th Kickapoo Diesel, or Dino Poor Bear, whose path to hell is paved with good intentions. Carol Ellroy, initially introduced as Dash’s love interest, is a weak character at first but gradually shifts out of that role becoming a fantastic character on her own. The conclusion to her story made me cry, so there’s that.
Scalped covers a number of dark and emotionally difficult themes, including drug abuse, genocide, loss of cultural identity, abortion, and generational trauma. It handles pretty much all of these with care and empathy, in a way that truly impressed me. It’s important to note – neither Aaron or Guera are indigenous American, as far as I’m aware, but did extensive research and interviews to try and capture life on a reservation. I think they do a fabulous job, but I’m also not indigenous American either. If anyone reading this is, please reach out. I’d love to hear your thoughts on Scalped and if it presents things accurately and with care.
While it’s quite a lengthy series, it’s well worth the investment. The world is richly detailed, and each character is multi-faceted and three-dimensional. The space the series gets allows it to focus on smaller, individual stories in addition to the main plot, which means that it’ll break your heart over and over again by the time the series is done. The ending pays off everything set up beautifully, and the whole comic never sags or becomes anything less than brilliant.
The series is collected as ten now out-of-print trade paperbacks under Vertigo Comics. There’s five hardcover editions, published by Vertigo, that are still relatively easy to find. Later this year, there are DC Black Label omnibus editions of Scalped coming, which you can pre-order from OK Comics here: https://okcomics.co.uk/products/pre-order-scalped-omnibus-edition-volume-1-by-jason-aaron-and-r-m-guera?_pos=1&_sid=ca80e3de9&_ss=r – Many thanks to Danielle Tute from OK Comics for recommending this book, it’s absolutely killer.
All images and intellectual property belong to the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, and their parent company, Warner Brothers.
Jared Talks Comics 