Scalped

I finally read Jason Aaron's Indian Sopranos. The bad news: it's not changing the face of comic books like all of the industry blurbs say. It's not the best book on the shelves, but that's not because it's not good. In fact, it's largely because it's in line with a lot of very good things being published today, like Criminal, Powers, 100 Bullets (R.I.P.), and the rest of the modern noir (not to be confused with Marvel noir -- which is crap) books that are seemingly everywhere today. Hyperbolic drivel about the transformative nature of the book doesn't serve anyone. This isn't a particularly good single issue book; I'm a comic collector, I read everything in single issues, and I would have been bored if I'd gotten this book in any other format than the trades.

The good news: it's very good. The characters are well designed. Aaron gives them time to develop, makes them multi-dimensional and evolving, and breaks them. Much like The Wire or The Sopranos, there are no happy endings for the players in Scalped.

The plot is ok and getting better. I'll admit that after reading the first couple of books I thought "I'm already pretty familiar with Leonard Peltier and AIM; this is going to be derivative." But then the plot shifts and switches. The good guys start to seem bad; the bad guys seem variously worse and less bad. Motivations become murkier. I rarely find comics' plots twisty, but this one is.

The art grew on me over time. It was always appropriate to the mood, but the skill in the execution of facial structure and emotion improved greatly from book one to book five. It became one of those icing on the cake touches that really makes a book fun to read by the end. I expect good things in the future.

I suspect that this will be a long running book. It doesn't appear to be close to ending. There isn't any reason it would. I'm sure one day we'll see it on the big screen or TV. It would lend itself well to a "No Country for Old Men" treatment. It feels cinematic at points.

I've been in the mood for fewer capes/cowls books lately and this book filled a needed void for that. It was an enjoyable read. Would I trade Captain America for it? No, for sure not. Is any of it better than the first Irredeemable trade? No. Pax Romana? Not even close. I'm not even sure it's the best Jason Aaron book I've read (I like Ghost Rider and Punisher better), but it is good.