By: Jason Aaron (writer), R.M. Guera (art), Giulia Brusco (colors), Steve Wands (letters) & Mark Doyle (editor)
The Story: The ongoing saga of Office Falls Down and Catcher continues…
What’s Good: I’m mostly just excited that Scalped is back into telling an ongoing story again (with this being the second issue of the arc). I did love the done-in-one stories that we’ve been served the last few months, but getting back into plotting, deception and intrigue as the essential characters of the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation (who all have their own agendas) start their journey through one of Jason Aaron’s intricate plots is the bee’s knees.
Another good thing is that it seems we’re going to be exploring the character of Catcher a little more in this arc. Catcher has been an important character all along and he is the biggest of free agents among the main characters. He’s also the least explored, so I’m looking forward to learning a little more about him.
As for the plot in this issue, we’re in the middle of the arc, so we don’t expect “shocking conclusions”, but the main story deals with Catcher holding Officer Falls Down hostage. Falls Down is another great character as he is seemingly the last honest man on the reservation. He’s just a great example of that “honest man” fixture in an organized crime story (which is what Scalped really is). There usually isn’t any room for such men in these stories, but they are important characters because they are someone you can identify with as a reader. Falls Down hasn’t gotten much reward for his honesty.
Guera’s art is again just great. There are a few places where he get’s a little heavy with the ink, but he sells the nasty/gritty/horrible so well that I don’t mind too much. And an extended B-story in this issue between Red Crow and Lawrence (the Leonard Peltier character) is largely a silent story by Guera. Glad to have him back after a run of guest artists.
What’s Not So Good: I didn’t feel like this issue flowed that well from issue #45. As monthly readers, we’ve been away from these plots for almost a year and I wouldn’t have minded a little additional exposition to help jiggle my aging memory. If you’re reading this in trade, this probably won’t be a problem at all, but if you’re a single issue reader like me, you’re going to have to do a little recall to fully enjoy the issue. Unfortunately, my issues 1 – 34 are off being bound into a hardcover, so I don’t have the ability to look things up.
I also find myself missing some of my favorite characters who don’t have much of a role to play in this issue (or this story arc so far). For example, I LOVE the Carol character because she is so tragic. Granted, we may have already seen “her story”, but I’d like more because I feel like the Dash-Carol-Red Crow relationship is the fulcrum for the whole series.
The only other nitpick I have is the infusion of spirituality in the last couple issues of this series. What I enjoy about Scalped is that it is The Sopranos on an Indian Reservation. I do understand that Native Americans were a spiritual people (at least from they way they are portrayed in popular media), but I really don’t want spirit wolves, supernatural visions and crises of faith in my crime story.
Conclusion: Really glad that we have a truly ongoing story back in Scalped. While I have a few little personal nitpicks with this issue and there are a few things reducing my enjoyment of it, it is so well done that it still is getting a pretty high grade.
Grade: B-
– Dean Stell
Follow Dean on Twitter.
Grade
Conclusion