This issue of Scalped originally cost 2.99. One can watch a collection of John Woo’s Mexican standoffs on the Internet for free. He or she might even be able to watch the finale to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly for free. Of the three choices, the third would have the most artistic value,…

The shoot out between Dash and Lincoln is pretty good. It makes up for the hilarious scene where Dash shaves his head to show he’s a tough guy and not the nice boy who’d been shacked up with the American Indian rights girl. Maybe if Vertigo had taken a publishing break with Scalped, Aaron could…

In its final arc, Scalped feels like a sequel done by adoring fans rather than the original writer. Maybe Aaron’s writing needs to be read on a monthly schedule, not accelerated enough to know when and where he’s pulling a fast one. In other words, Scalped works as a periodical, not a trade. There’s some…

It’s a one year later comic! Wow. So now Aaron is ripping off “Battlestar Galactica,” Millar’s Swamp Thing and Dark Horse’s Aliens to make up for his lack of forethought. Oh, I guess it’s not a year. It’s eight months. Dash has cleaned up and is dating a saint–much to Carol’s disappointment–but Catcher has disappeared,…

I wasn’t sold on Guera’s handling fight scene between Dash and Shunka, but he won me over. It’s a hard scene, since neither character is particularly likable and Aaron has spent whole issues intentionally making them more unlikable. Reading Scalped is occasionally letting Aaron handle you as the reader. Sometimes the manipulation’s obvious, sometimes not.…

Eh. Aaron’s stopped with the intricate plotting and now he’s on to resolutions and he apparently doesn’t have any idea how to do those. He tries for sensationalism, whether it’s a riff on Saving Private Ryan or The Godfather Part II and he flops both times. Guera doesn’t help in those occasions either. His visual…

In writing workshop terms, Aaron doesn’t “earn” the surprise events in this issue. He never put in the work on the characters he’s got going–I always thought Scalped had a finite number of issues planned and Aaron probably would’ve need another ten to properly introduce all these new guys–but damn if it isn’t a lot…

Aaron does get one heck of a surprise ending out of this one. I’m impressed; even with some discreet visual foreshadowing, it’s unexpected. The other big development is Dash’s voice. With his jaw wired shut, he can’t talk. Somehow, making the character mute is the best thing Aaron has ever done for him. It gives…

For the first time ever (I think), Guera has so much action he can’t lay it out properly. The opening scene has Shunka defending Lincoln, but the panels are so tiny, I thought it was Lincoln defending himself until halfway down the next page. Everything’s coming together now, as Aaron starts racing towards Scalped‘s finish–Dash…

Making it fifty issues in today’s comics industry is no small feat, so I guess one can forgive Aaron and company for just wanting a breather with the fiftieth issue of Scalped. It’s basically a pin-up issue, besides some slightly weak framing content, and there are some great artists on it. Oddly, Brendan McCarthy’s page…

Aaron abandons Dash. He embraces Lincoln, big shock, but he abandons Dash after a gunfight with Catcher. Why? Because it’s easier. To be fair, Aaron created such a weak character with Dash–and Catcher–there’s nothing much to do with them. The dialogue’s awful between them and it’s unimaginable someone could’ve made it through FBI training and…

I’m fairly impressed… Aaron tries for another concept issue and he actually succeeds. It’s a fractured narrative with Dash in the center of it, playing him off Lincoln, Catcher and Nitz, all at different time periods–in fact, it’s unclear where the cliffhanger fits. Some of Aaron’s success with it might have to do with Dash…

Is Catcher narrating this issue? It’s Dino’s issue, but Aaron doesn’t use him to narrate. Until the Catcher appearance–and Aaron ripping off narration from Ed Brubaker’s Criminal–it’s an okay issue. Dino is in love with Carol, Carol’s still in love with Dash or whatever. Poor Dino’s heart gets broken. Dino crushing on Carol, who’s nearly…

Catcher isn’t a crazy man or a prophet, he’s Hannibal Lector. The other half of the issue is Lawrence–the guy in prison–and his half of the issue is great. Maybe his name’s not Lawrence, but whatever. The guy in prison. Aaron does a great job with him. As for the stuff with Falls Down and…

Maybe I was wrong. I thought I could shake off a bad issue and move along, but I find myself unable to trust Aaron anymore. This issue, starting a new arc, is a little bit of a soft reboot. Dash and Carol aren’t together, Lincoln’s bringing Dash into politics, there’s a bunch of new characters……

Holy God, is this issue trite. Aaron’s been trite and obvious before, but never to this degree. The entire issue poses Dash and Carol as tragic, star-crossed lovers. It felt like Aaron had just got done reading Twilight and wanted to homage it with some Scalped fanfic. It doesn’t even feel like the same comic.…

Guera’s art is something of a disaster this issue. A managed disaster. Everyone looks off. Men’s faces are too skinny, women’s faces are too full. I was surprised Guera didn’t have any credited help. It really doesn’t look like him, but an impression. As for the rest of the issue… it’s incredibly trite. Wade’s back…

Reading about Dash detoxing is about as interesting as watching paint dry. Oh, Aaron throws him naked into the snow, hallucinating about Heaven, but it’s still no good. Gina’s detox story–Aaron’s big on juxtaposing this arc, like he just got out of an AP literature class–is a lot better. Maybe because Aaron’s actually doing some…

Well, Wade’s back, which is good. Aaron can write Wade. But Wade’s return is the soft cliffhanger. Before his appearance, Aaron deals with Carol’s pregnancy and drug addiction. I’m fairly sure there’s some Lifetime movie out there he ripped off, what with Carol literally burning down her drug den to show she’s changing her ways…

Aaron sure does expect a lot from his readers. I was almost through the issue before I remembered Wade is Dash’s dad. I thought it was an unlikely Falls Down flashback. The issue takes place at the end of the Vietnam War, with Wade working the black market and romancing a local girl. It’s the…

Well, Aaron definitely surprised me. Dash does not become George Clooney. Sadly, Aaron’s only way of making the arc surprising was to change Dash’s character entirely. He’s about thirty issues late for the development he’s doing now. It comes off as contrived. Intricate, unexpected, but contrived. And how has the reader known (or guessed) for…

Roger Ebert once wrote, “the very essence of noir is that there are no more heroes.” Much as I loathe Ebert, it’s not an incorrect observation. Someone really should have told Aaron. Just because he’s turned Dash into a dope fiend doesn’t mean he doesn’t have him running around this issue like George Clooney setting…

Okay, so Carol didn’t die. She just fell down in a very suspect way and it looked like her neck broke. She’s alive and well this issue and Aaron reminds the reader she knows Dash is an undercover agent… he also reminds the reader he never resolved that particular cliffhanger. And she appears to be…

I think I’ve figured out one of Aaron’s big problems as a writer. He’s scared of women. Sure, if it’s Granny or the old lady who lives by herself, he’s fine. She can show up and be wise. But if it’s a character he’s actually got to develop, he’s not willing to make the commitment.…

Guera’s art changes a little once again. It’s more crime art now, a lot less mystical. It’s good and it fits where Aaron’s taking the story–Lincoln going to war, Dash going nuts at the stress. There’s one weak panel with Nitz. Let’s talk about Nitz. Aaron has Dash as a pawn between Lincoln and Nitz.…