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 and all.

Aaron uses her to narrate most of the issue. A drug addicted pregnant woman going through withdrawals. He does a terrible, terrible job with that first person narration but he does even worse with the few pages he spends on Dash.

Odd how Aaron’s so bad at narrating his “protagonist” even train wrecks are better.

Guera’s art is utterly wonderful, regardless of what’s going on in the scenes. He’s really hit a good stride lately.

Nothing happens this issue besides Carol deciding to detox. She doesn’t even start detoxing. It’s all useless filler.

CREDITS

Unwanted, Part One; writer, Jason Aaron; artist, R.M. Guera; colorist, Giulia Brusco; letterer, Steve Wands; editors, Mark Doyle and Will Dennis; publisher, Vertigo.

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Contemporaneously…

• Namora 1 (August 2010)
• Nancy in Hell 1 (August 2010)
• Buzzard 3 (August 2010)
• The Unwritten 14 (August 2010)
• DC Universe: Legacies 2 (August 2010)

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 best frost person Aaron has written in Scalped, even better than his occasional Lincoln first persons.

It just goes to show the series’s salient problem–Dash is poorly realized character. In one issue, Aaron does a better job realizing Wade than in thirty-some with Dash.

The issue is one of the series’s best, both in writing and art. Guera really captures the desperation in the battle scenes and the subsequent “regular life” ones. Aaron doesn’t try for profundity, just earnestness and the result is a sublime issue.

Shame it’s a done in one though.

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p style=”font-size:11px;”>CREDITS

Family Tradition; writer, Jason Aaron; artist, R.M. Guera; colorist, Giulia Brusco; letterer, Steve Wands; editors, Mark Doyle and Will Dennis; publisher, Vertigo.

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Contemporaneously…

• Girl Comics 2 (July 2010)
• Rescue 1 (July 2010)
• Buzzard 2 (July 2010)
• The Unwritten 13 (July 2010)
• DC Universe: Legacies 1 (July 2010)

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 three issues about Carol’s pregnancy but it’s a big surprise to her. It makes absolutely no sense.

The issue’s pretty good–except when Aaron writes Dash’s internal monologue. You can just feel Aaron straining to do tough pulp writer. It stale.

As for resolving the street fight cliffhanger, Aaron actually follows through very well. Sure, he’s been hiding an integral factoid to the Hmong behavior in regards to Lincoln so he could surprise the reader… but Scalped is all about the cheap narrative tricks, bad cliffhangers and occasionally profound character developments.

So, there you go.

CREDITS

The Gnawing, Conclusion; writer, Jason Aaron; artist, R.M. Guera; colorist, Giulia Brusco; letterer, Steve Wands; editors, Mark Doyle and Will Dennis; publisher, Vertigo.

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Contemporaneously…

• Black Widow: Deadly Origin 1 (January 2010)
• Red Herring 4 (January 2010)
• Supergirl 47 (January 2010)
• Immortal Weapons 5 (January 2010)
• Immortal Weapons 4 (January 2010)

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 up to do the right thing.

And Aaron spends most of the issue on him, only giving Falls Down a page or two. Sure, Lincoln gets the rest of the comic, but Lincoln’s hunting down the prize witness or he’s being opaque about how to deal with the Hmong war.

Aaron’s cliffhanger for the issue is in the middle of a street fight. One has to wonder if he’s going to actually resolve it or do the Aaron thing and pick up later on.

This issue’s engaging, but it’s not particularly good (or bad) otherwise.

CREDITS

The Gnawing, Part Four of Five; writer, Jason Aaron; artist, R.M. Guera; colorist, Giulia Brusco; letterer, Steve Wands; editors, Mark Doyle and Will Dennis; publisher, Vertigo.

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Contemporaneously…

• Red Herring 3 (December 2009)
• Phonogram: The Singles Club 6 (December 2009)
• Supergirl 46 (December 2009)
• The Invincible Iron Man 20 (December 2009)
• The Invincible Iron Man 19 (December 2009)

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 pregnant. Little Dash on the way.

She’s got a great scene with Lincoln.

As for Lincoln, Aaron continues positioning him opposite Nitz in the whole thing, even having them mirror dialogue, but it still doesn’t work. Aaron spent way too much time on Dash, which all seems wasted at this point.

The waste continues this issue with Dash having the only action scenes in the issue. Two times Aaron sets Dash up with confusing behavior (pulling a knife but not to hurt someone, visiting Carol) and no resolution.

It’s tiring.

But the rest is great.

CREDITS

The Gnawing, Part Three of Five; writer, Jason Aaron; artist, R.M. Guera; colorist, Giulia Brusco; letterer, Steve Wands; editors, Mark Doyle and Will Dennis; publisher, Vertigo.

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Contemporaneously…

• Red Herring 2 (November 2009)
• Supergirl Annual 1 (November 2009)
• Supergirl 45 (November 2009)
• Immortal Weapons 3 (November 2009)
• The Invincible Iron Man 18 (November 2009)

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. He puts in a shockingly paltry amount of work on Carol this issue.

Everything’s on a convenient collision course–Nitz is raiding the reservation (well, him and his sidekick), the Hmong are coming, Dash is in a bind regarding his heroin addiction (don’t know why I assumed it was meth)–and Scalped is definitely getting exciting.

While Lincoln’s at the center of it all, he’s got the only calm this issue. I guess there’s a little with Falls Down, but it’s a repeat. Lincoln’s the one character Aaron never cuts corners on.

He makes Scalped.

CREDITS

The Gnawing, Part Two of Five; writer, Jason Aaron; artist, R.M. Guera; colorist, Giulia Brusco; letterer, Steve Wands; editors, Mark Doyle and Will Dennis; publisher, Vertigo.

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Contemporaneously…

• Chronicles of Wormwood: The Last Battle 1 (September 2009)
• Bad Dog 3 (September 2009)
• Supergirl 43 (September 2009)
• Immortal Weapons 1 (September 2009)
• The Invincible Iron Man 15 (September 2009)

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. Lincoln is an amazing character, easily the best thing about Scalped and probably the best thing Aaron will ever do as a writer. Nitz is a disposable racist psychopath. It’s not a worthy setup. And Aaron seems to know it–why else would the disposable Hmong get propped up in stature?

Catcher and Dash have a scene where Aaron tries to foreshadow Dash’s redemption. Unfortunately, it comes off a little more like the origin of Eagle-Man.

Falls Down has a little scene. He’s still Aaron’s second best creation.

Warts and all, excellent stuff.

CREDITS

The Gnawing, Part One of Five; writer, Jason Aaron; artist, R.M. Guera; colorist, Giulia Brusco; letterer, Steve Wands; editors, Mark Doyle and Will Dennis; publisher, Vertigo.

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Contemporaneously…

• Supergirl 42 (August 2009)
• The Immortal Iron Fist 27 (August 2009)
• The Invincible Iron Man 14 (August 2009)
• Chew 3 (August 2009)
• Unknown Soldier 9 (August 2009)