Scalped Series Discussion (Spoilers and Speculation) Thread

This books is just so amazing.

I read #13 last night and it almost break my heart at the end.

Bad Horse is comics' new official badass. I wanna torture someone like that too.

Haven't picked it up yet (stupid long hours at work), but was going to do it today (yay! Day off!). I'm looking forward to it. I've been anticipating Bad Horse's unholy retribution on those he figures are responsible.

I also love how #12 was a solo issue but provided the perfect segue between the old arc and the new arc. I haven't decided on whether or not I like the guest artist. His art is almost exactly like the normal artist so it's hard to tell between the 2 of them.

I agree about the guest artist. The differences are so minute it really is difficult to differentiate between them.
 
I read the first 5 issues. It is a pretty badass series.

Thats what I've been saying for the past 16 months.

This is one of those series I'm collecting by single issue (and been doing it since the first issue). Then later on down the road I'll buy the TPBs, Ebay the whole single issue run, and make a nice little profit.

I love Ebay.

And I love this comic, too.
 
I cannot get enough of this book and am dying to see it adapated for TV. I can just imagine a show like this on FX or Showtime.






And too see Dash reflect on his life thru the kid whose mother was murdered as well is just brilliant. I cannot wait to see how this ends.
 
I cannot get enough of this book and am dying to see it adapated for TV. I can just imagine a show like this on FX or Showtime.






And too see Dash reflect on his life thru the kid whose mother was murdered as well is just brilliant. I cannot wait to see how this ends.

Something tells me the ending will involve a lot of bullets, blood, and broken bones.
 
I'm all caught up.


I love how no one is a straight up bad guy or good guy. You never know what to expect from a single person.

Catcher is awesome.
 
So, I just picked up # 13-15.

I just finished reading # 13.

God that was depressing.

I love how no one is a straight up bad guy or good guy. You never know what to expect from a single person.
I agree with this.

It's said all too often about a number of pop culture properties: "no one is really good or bad," but I feel that nowhere else is it truer in Vertigo right now than it is in Scalped.

You could argue that yes, in American Virgin or other current Vertigo titles, there are no good guys or bad guys. But the difference between other titles and Scalped I think is this:

In Y, you have a very clear personal journey of growth and development for Yorick, who is questioning the ethical and moral bent of people around him, but it's actually rather ambivalent about the question of who is bad and who is good.

In DMZ, the good guys are 'us' insofar as the us applies to the ever changing notions of community within the DMZ, whether that means EVERYONE in the DMZ or a particular alliance relevant to the story arc and the bad guys are pretty much everyone else outside of the DMZ who just 'don't get it'.

But in Scalped, Aaron places the characters in such strongly emotional situations we see what appears to be decisions and thoughts of a moral or ethical nature on the surface, but the point is to play up how it conflicts with a character's interior psychology.

The result? No ONE is a good guy or a bad guy, and it's not because the series is ambivalent about ethics, but because it presents the situations where characters can be good or bad, and then resolves them with "I don't care about being good or bad."

Also, Lincoln Red Crow is my favorite character.
 
Diesel, the racially confused, govt bad *** is mine.

I wonder why? :wink:
You whine about the lack of Scalped love, yet when I post a moderately long intelligentsy wankfest about it, you give me a 'favorite character' discussion?

You disappoint me. :?:gripe:
 
I could really stand to pick this book up. It's one of the few I've never heard a complaint from and I need to give props to my Native American brothers.
 
You whine about the lack of Scalped love, yet when I post a moderately long intelligentsy wankfest about it, you give me a 'favorite character' discussion?

You disappoint me. :?:gripe:

You started it.

Also, Lincoln Red Crow is my favorite character.

See? :wink:



It's said all too often about a number of pop culture properties: "no one is really good or bad," but I feel that nowhere else is it truer in Vertigo right now than it is in Scalped.

You could argue that yes, in American Virgin or other current Vertigo titles, there are no good guys or bad guys. But the difference between other titles and Scalped I think is this:

In Y, you have a very clear personal journey of growth and development for Yorick, who is questioning the ethical and moral bent of people around him, but it's actually rather ambivalent about the question of who is bad and who is good.

In DMZ, the good guys are 'us' insofar as the us applies to the ever changing notions of community within the DMZ, whether that means EVERYONE in the DMZ or a particular alliance relevant to the story arc and the bad guys are pretty much everyone else outside of the DMZ who just 'don't get it'.

But in Scalped, Aaron places the characters in such strongly emotional situations we see what appears to be decisions and thoughts of a moral or ethical nature on the surface, but the point is to play up how it conflicts with a character's interior psychology.

The result? No ONE is a good guy or a bad guy, and it's not because the series is ambivalent about ethics, but because it presents the situations where characters can be good or bad, and then resolves them with "I don't care about being good or bad."

I agree.



Happy now?









But seriously, you've picked up on the very exact reason on why Scalped is so different from the other Vertigo titles.

In Y, it's not a matter of good vs bad or right vs wrong. Its a personal story that revolves around one unique individual's journey and the personal viewpoints of several groups' respective ideas and notions of what could play out if this person isn't "stopped". It's more based on a fear of things reverting back to the way it was when they've come so far from the face of a global tragedy. So there is no clear right or wrong.

Fables of course doesn't really apply to this argument because of the fantasy/fictional nature of the title. There IS a clear good guy and bad guy. The same could also be said about Northlander. Although that in itself could be debatable because one could argue about Sven's validity in coming back to the home he abandoned and decide he's gonna change things......even if it is just for money.

But Scalped, as you pointed out, presents a true representation of the moral ambiguity involved in impoverished areas of not just America, but the entire world. You do whatever you need to do in order to survive. So with that mindset, personal views of right and wrong are obviously gonna be skewed. Thus having blurred lines of who's a good guy and who's a bad guy. There is no clear distinction. Only a representation of "what THIS person would do in this situation in order to get outta this situation and get ahead in life".
 
But Scalped, as you pointed out, presents a true representation of the moral ambiguity involved in impoverished areas of not just America, but the entire world. You do whatever you need to do in order to survive. So with that mindset, personal views of right and wrong are obviously gonna be skewed. Thus having blurred lines of who's a good guy and who's a bad guy. There is no clear distinction. Only a representation of "what THIS person would do in this situation in order to get outta this situation and get ahead in life".
Truth.

What I find really fascinating about this series, which I never tire of re-reading, is how much of that 'survival' is further complicated by the very ****ed up relationships the characters have with heritage and identity.

Forgive me if others don't fully understand this, but I think Scalped resonates with all minorities that have had a ****ed up relationship with the white man or any other colonizing presence, and that includes Filipinos (correct spelling this time, because I'm being serious here) such as myself.

I am compelled by Dino Poor Bear, who loathes everything around him --- the intolerability of a family whose link to him is only blood and a shared roof, the 'futility' of racial and cultural pride in the face of poverty and shame --- and yet fails to develop the will to escape the chaining effect of those circumstances.

I'll go into the rest of the characters, but I have to get back to work.

Incidentally, I am writing a paper about the Cherokee right now. Not a coincidence.
 
Truth.

What I find really fascinating about this series, which I never tire of re-reading, is how much of that 'survival' is further complicated by the very ****ed up relationships the characters have with heritage and identity.

Forgive me if others don't fully understand this, but I think Scalped resonates with all minorities that have had a ****ed up relationship with the white man or any other colonizing presence, and that includes Filipinos (correct spelling this time, because I'm being serious here) such as myself.

I am compelled by Dino Poor Bear, who loathes everything around him --- the intolerability of a family whose link to him is only blood and a shared roof, the 'futility' of racial and cultural pride in the face of poverty and shame --- and yet fails to develop the will to escape the chaining effect of those circumstances.

I'll go into the rest of the characters, but I have to get back to work.

Incidentally, I am writing a paper about the Cherokee right now. Not a coincidence.

You should open with that oldies song, Cherokee people, and come out rockin' a feather hat. That's only if you have to do an oral presentation.

I think the book does speak to certain minorities on a more personal level.
 
You should open with that oldies song, Cherokee people, and come out rockin' a feather hat. That's only if you have to do an oral presentation.
It's for work, not school, which I don't go to anymore.

J. Agamemnon said:
I think the book does speak to certain minorities on a more personal level.
Yes, but it does better than 95% of the 'minority'-targeted material in comics, because it doesn't try to depict some kind of racial reverse utopia, like the super-awesome high-tech black monarchy of Black Panther nor does it deal exclusively with the relationship between the minority and the oppressor (usually, but not always, the white man).

In fact, I think what's interesting about Scalped is that outside of Nitz and his partner, there isn't much actual "brown people to white people" interaction going on, whether it's on an individual or group level.

Rather, the narrative focus is entirely on how the Oglala Lakota deal with their heritage, how the old Dog Soldiers deal with their past and history, and how the white man's impact on the local culture is felt.

So there IS a presence, but it's about the traces and marks that have been left behind by a colonial influence, rather than an individual or group.

EDIT, FOOTNOTE: However, remember that minority is relative. In the United States, yes 'Filipino' is an Asian-American minority, but where I live, we Filipinos outnumber the white man, even though their presence and influence on us is pretty significant.
 
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It's for work, not school, which I don't go to anymore.

Yes, but it does better than 95% of the 'minority'-targeted material in comics, because it doesn't try to depict some kind of racial reverse utopia, like the super-awesome high-tech black monarchy of Black Panther nor does it deal exclusively with the relationship between the minority and the oppressor (usually, but not always, the white man).

In fact, I think what's interesting about Scalped is that outside of Nitz and his partner, there isn't much actual "brown people to white people" interaction going on, whether it's on an individual or group level.

Rather, the narrative focus is entirely on how the Oglala Lakota deal with their heritage, how the old Dog Soldiers deal with their past and history, and how the white man's impact on the local culture is felt.

So there IS a presence, but it's about the traces and marks that have been left behind by a colonial influence, rather than an individual or group.

EDIT, FOOTNOTE: However, remember that minority is relative. In the United States, yes 'Filipino' is an Asian-American minority, but where I live, we Filipinos outnumber the white man, even though their presence and influence on us is pretty significant.

Honestly I never saw it that way. I think I need to reread this series.
 
Other than me, are Doom and Agamemnomnomnom the only people who read this series? I was a little behind but just picked up 9 whole issues at the LCS.

Also, Jason Aaron on being picked by Wizard as 2008's Writer of the Year:
Jason Aaron said:
Over the course of 2008, I had my characters blow themselves up, smoke black tar heroin, **** each other, **** a dead dog, eat human flesh, slap nuns, punch nurses, terrorize teenage girls with giant birds, fight a bear, shoot children, decapitate Skrulls, yank eyeballs out, drink excessively, brood, curse, piss on fresh graves and beat someone unconscious with a Bible. Just goes to show I guess, folks like feel-good stories.
 
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