Men of wrath #1-5

2014 saw the debut of long-time Marvel exclusive creator Jason ("Scalped", "Wolverine and the X-Men") Aaron's first creator owned project. Released by the publisher's Icon imprint, reserved for the rare few talents that have previously produced a large body of work for the company, "Men of Wrath" reunites the writer with his frequent collaborator, artist Ron ("Captain America") Garney. The mini-series is the veteran artist's first creator owned project, while Aaron is concurrently publishing "Southern bastards" for Image.

"Men of wrath" is reportedly the first project the writer has begun following his long run on Vertigo's "Scalped", drawing somewhat on his own family history. A murder at the dawn of the 20th century introduces a bloody and pessimistic generational saga of a family of killers. The readers are introduced to Ira Rath as he dispatches his latest targets in a way that makes it challenging to sympathize with him. Yet, by beginning each issue with a flashback to a member of the family, the writer nevertheless tries to inform the reader of the events that have lead to the creation of the seemingly unrepentant murderer. The plot involves the terminally ill man deciding to take one last job - a hit on his own estranged son.

In many ways, this is not the book the readers could have expected from Jason Aaron. The writer has presented a much more nuanced way in his neo-noir offerings and even his escapades into mainstream superheroes have been over the top in their grindhouse influences. "Men of wrath" hues much closer to the excess of Frank Miller's "Sin City", cutting a large swathe of blood all over its five short issues.

Most interestingly, the reader is denied the filter that usually accompanies stories starring anti heroes. In Aaron and Garney's hands, the violence is not in the least sanitized, nor is it restrained to the typical dramatic moments. Both the protagonist and the antagonists are quick to eliminate anyone who inconveniences them, even when it comes to police officers and the clergy. Human lives are very cheap on these pages, but the book still retains something of a moral center in the form of Ira's son.

At first, Ruben seems like a small time criminal, but his care for his pregnant wife quickly provides the impetus for the central conflict. Contrasting with his father's towering physique, the young Rath is depicted in regular clothes, sweaty and always on the run. Unfortunately, their final confrontation is one of the book's weaker scenes, even as it covers the necessary narrative beats.

Despite this, the book maintains a frantic pacing and succeeds in most of the longer set pieces, providing several interesting twists and turns and ultimately manages to wring a modicum of sympathy for its lead character. Garney's layouts are always clear and staged well, yet the second part of a story adds to the rushed feeling of the proceedings. The pages gain a more kinetic tone, but when read together, they provide a noticeable shift, no doubt due to the scheduling limitations.

The final issue calls back to Frank Miller once again in featuring several black pages punctuated only by narrative captions. In many ways, "Men of wrath" seems an outlier in the current comic book landscape, harkening back to a style that has never left action cinema.

Taken as a whole, the book is a thematically sound, yet very aggressive work that sternly pushes the reader through a hideously bleak moral landscape before making its point. While not wholly successful, it is still an interesting mini-series that provides a different sort of story contrasted to its creators usual offerings. It may lack the style of "Sin city", yet it is likely that the readers would enjoy what it has to say about family and the manner in which it is told more than some of Miller's latter works in the series.

Scalped 43-44 "You gotta sin to get saved" prelude

Following "Unwanted", the Vertigo's longtime title ambitious story arc, a break was called for before the beginning of another multi-parter. Traditionally, the DC imprint commissions the one-off short stories in order to allow the lead artist time to advance with the artwork enough so as to prevent any breaks in the publishing schedule. Although by definition slighter than the RM Guera pencilled arcs, these episodes usually spotlight a peripheral player, and act largely as foreshadowing for the future events. Typically, a certain amount of back story is related to in flashback, framed by the present day trigger, and narrated by the character in question.

Lately, though, Jason Aaron has opted to tie these one-offs even more directly to the narrative, in this case going as far as extending the theme of the larger arc to the two preceding short stories. The first of these, "A come-to-Jesus" at first feels very superfluous, starring a minor character from one of the previous arcs. Yet, the Jason Latour pencilled and inked issue acts as much more of a bridge toward the "You gotta sin to get saved" five parter, than it's somewhat more crucial follow-up, starring agent Nitz.

The reader is first invited to partake in the snapshot of sheriff Wooster Karnow's regular routine which is filled with lies spun to make a local hero out of a seedy aging bureaucrat. The story consists of him encountering a visiting war veteran turned US marshal. Seeing how a real hero deals with a situation involving a highly dangerous criminal, forces sheriff Wooster to reevaluate his bullying and exploitative ways. Following a near-death experience, he eventually comes to a decision that promises to tie him in more directly with the regular "Scalped" ensemble cast. Read on it's own, the issue seems almost a generic noir morality tale whose main importance seems to be in fleshing out a side character for future use.

Yet, taking into account the arc that it precedes, it's apparent how it introduces the main conflict and plays it out on a much smaller field, before the basic ideas are introduced into the more complex #45-49. Unfortunately, some of the detail of Latour's caricatural figures gets lost in Giulia Brusco's murky atmospheric coloring of the central part of the issue. The rough linework and extreme closeups make for a very involved atmosphere that only breaks up when the John Wayne-styled sheriff stops in his tracks, surrounded by contradictory backgrounds all around him. The artist's expressive cartooning at times reminds of Sean ("Joe the Barbarian") Murphy's work, but even then Latour still manages to channel the "Scalped" atmosphere perfectly. Much more importantly, Jason is a natural storyteller, equally adept at character design, as well as layouts and the sense of pace. The one time the book feels a little unclear turns out to be done on purpose and is used to maximize the intended effect.

By the time the book opens up again to daytime setting and brighter colors, it's clear that the writer is leaving nothing to chance. In utilizing the narrative captions on the final page to return to a point made in the opening scene, Aaron seems to underline the irony. Yet, the writer makes the subtext explicit, doubling as both the morale of the story, and the credo for the character's future actions.

 Rereading the story in lieu of "You gotta sin to be saved" reveals the underlying depth of Aaron's approach. Basically, the writer uses "A come-to-Jesus" as a way to introduce a spiritual dimension to the complex psychological underpinnings of his established characters. This is in keeping with the general approach regarding his and Guera's flawed and all too human cast. Explicitly in #43, Aaron's larger idea is in trying to recontextualize Wooster's painful emotional journey of facing his demons as a test of fate.

Every man's got somethin' out there, waitin' to test him, he's just gotta be willing to find it, and face it

The idea is put to action in the second oneshot, pencilled by Guera's regular replacement on the series, Davide Fuerno. "The night they drove old Dixie down" is a very frantic experience, as befits protagonist agent Nitz' more energetic personality. During his work on the fill-ins, Fuerno's art has improved so much, that he's today a very different artist than he was when first tasked to fill in for Guera. For a start, he's work on this issue is much less angular, with characters realized in such a way that the story is told mostly through their emoting faces. That the backgrounds seemingly exist only when specifically called for is hard to notice when faced with such strong layouts and excellent panel flow.

At the same time, the artist works so well with colorist Giulia Brusco, that it appears as though one person alone has handled all of the art. The final look seems almost like it has been reproduced directly from Fuerno's pencils, skipping the inking stage altogether. In what is a very fast paced story, Fuerno and Brusco do a lot to flesh out agent Nitz' mental state, going so far as to render some of his narration unnecessary. Arguably, the key three conversations that make up the issue reveal all the information the reader needs to understand the extreme circumstances agent Nitz has found himself in.

Aaron duly lists the reasons the FBI has for questioning the current state of the investigation, but there is still something contrived about the manner in which the events unfold. By the time Nitz decides to take matters in his own hands, the way in which he proceeds to confront Red Crow seems absurd. What's worse, on the page it reads not so much as shocking but almost like a dream sequence, which is surely not the intended effect. Yet the casino scene is merely the set up for what follows.

In a true noir fashion, Aaron plots the issue so as to make sure that Nitz's downfall is all but certain, playing with the reader's expectation of a last minute reversal. It's important to note that despite the realistic milieu, "Scalped" has always been a genre book, so in itself, the writer's adherence to the noir tropes is not a problem in the slightest. Yet, even for a genre book, the gimmick Aaron comes up with is completely unrealistic.

Adding a political element for the sake of plot convenience is very sensationalistic, and the fact that it enters the story without any kind of set-up certainly goes against the book.Upon further examination the reader finds that Red Crow's men brought Nitz almost to the exact location of his controversial "blaze of glory", yet there is no clue that they knew about the complication the disgraced agent would get himself in, nor is it clear how they could have benefited from his actions. A very forgiving and creative reader could suggest that they manipulated him into eliminating the competition, but even this seems as a stretch compared to how they were treating him just minutes before.

In any event, it brings a lot of drama to the story and leads to the specific conclusion the writer was going forward, perhaps inspired by "the Wire". Yet, getting back to his overall statement regarding "You gotta sin to get saved" it's easy to recast the huge coincidences in Nitz's story in a new light. Using sheriff Wooster's terminology, one could look at the FBI agent's sudden fall of grace as another near death experience, allowing the character to continue his life from a different point of view.

And while Nitz's arrogant smirk certainly doesn't double as a typical sign of wisdom on the face of the tested, it can be said that it serves the same purpose. At first glance, The FBI agent seems simply to recede back to his arrogant self, but perhaps the knowledge he's gained through the ordeal will become more apparent later on. Even if it he remains pretty much the same character as he was before, which seems implied in his limited page time in  "You gotta sin to get saved", the renewed focus on his work certainly seems a positive outcome. It's doubtful that even such a cautiously optimistic pronouncement can be made concerning the primary characters of the next arc.

Scalped #35-38

With the release of the latest issue of "Scalped", Vertigo's premiere ongoing crime title has finished it's new spell of one-off stories. In preparation for a longer arc that is to come, Jason ("Other side", "Ghost rider") Aaron has scripted three accessible self-contained episodes, illustrated with the help of guest artists. Regular artist R.M. Guera was presumably so busy with the follow up story arc that he only found time to complete the final of these four issues.

Interestingly, the publisher has commissioned the work of expressionistic Danijel ("Plague", "Rex") Zhezhelj, with his issue being the first to open this latest cycle. The Croatian artist's style is so unique that anytime Vertigo uses him, he completely overpowers anyone's idea of a typical fill in. With his layered and painterly disposition, Zhezhelj is perhaps the publisher's most distinctive artist, which fits with Aaron's story providing a temporary break from the series' typical stylings.

Focusing on the farm life of an elderly couple, it brings to mind the independent work of recent Vertigo addition Jeff ("Essex county trilogy") Lemire, a slow, atmospheric work that seems an antithesis to "Scalped". Yet, the far more brutal ongoing still practices a leisurely pace, with it's frequent rotating points of view making such a connection possible. Zhezehlj picks up on this, and starts putting his rough brush strokes, and heavy inks at play, to try and capture a desperate family dynamic. Gulia Brusco's colors never let up from making the problems these people face appear anything less than bleak and unforgiving, while at the same time preparing the reader for the cathartic ending.

Acting as a complete break for the series, this is the most successful of the three latest short stories, yet it still falls short compared to some of the series' previous high points. As usual with these tales, Aaron's main writing contribution ends up being his choice of an interesting narrative perspective, for providing another view of the life on the Rez. This time, it centers on the farm outside the immediate casino surroundings, and it certainly provides for a distinctive experience. Yet, seeing the writer treat such a simple yarn through the medium of two dueling narrations, seems as excessive as some of the background recalled by the characters in captions. As a writing experiment, the story would have most certainly been better of by stepping back and leaving Zhezhelj to handle the bulk of storytelling with his distinctive visuals. Yet, even such an overwritten issue as "Listening to the Earth turn" doesn't prepare the reader for the story that follows.

And while it once again shares the writer's enthusiasm in creating a dense and layered backdrop, the very themes he chooses to spotlight provide for a very uncomfortable experience. On the face of it, by choosing to portray a solo mission the longtime background character Shunka is being sent to, it feels much more at home with the longer "Scalped" story lines. Yet, despite the plot-heavy approach, the writer once again aims for a decidedly simple emotional core, based on a very particular and polarizing aspect of Native American culture.

Davide Fuerno's art capably follows the series' conventions, easing the reader to deal with the controversial themes. Yet, the regular fill-in artist's work is so solid that it calls attention to itself, by reminding the reader of the artist's sheer improvement in technical prowess. Fuerno's soft penciling gives way for much rounder and realistic figures than before, instilling the characters with some much needed humanity and unique designs that are perfectly in tune with Guera's work, yet highly distinctive on their own. Gulia Brusco follows suit, with sepia toned coloring that maintains the pulpy black and white quality of the series' predecessors.

The story they illustrate is the one most adhering to the neo-noir conventions, which Aaron tries to subvert, while remaining true to the form at the end. yet, while the ending serves to bring the escapade in tune with the wider "Scalped" storyline, what precedes it is decidedly polarizing. On the one hand, the fractured narration, and chilling outbursts of violence are the series' forte, and they are used with great care and the precision in the first part of the story. Yet, the second half, with it's over the top narration that was it's only previous distraction leads to some very blunt storytelling choices.

And while the neo-noir trappings serve to round out the whole thing as an unexpected murder mystery, it still feels decidedly ham-fisted in both it's moralizing and the level of violence. Perhaps in retrospect, the excursion could be validated by picking up on the plot points down the line, and further integrating them with the larger narrative. As it stands, "a Fine action of an honorable and catholic Spaniard" is still certainly the most immediate of the short stories, and would likely headline the collection, should Vertigo decide to publish these issues on their own.

Finally, the last side story takes place completely in flashback, filling in the back story for Dash's father, and is once again a completely accessible entry to the series. It goes without saying that opening with a Vietnam war reminiscence takes a special note when taking into account Aaron's own biography. Being the nephew of the veteran combat correspondent Gustav Hasford, the writer was inspired to create his debut Vertigo work with "the Other side" mini-series, so that seeing him revisit the conflict in "Scalped" has much more than the immediate resonance. Even the issue's cover recalls the promotional poster to Stanley Kubrick's "Full metal jacket", that was adapted from his uncle's novel "Short timers".

That said, Aaron uses the opening pages dealing with the fighting to introduce Dash's father, exhibiting an air of the supernatural to his fellow troopers. This he proceeds to deconstruct, by detailing his life in the last days of the conflict. Even before Wade returns to America, Guera is once again set to illustrating the auto-destructive surroundings of a violent man's lifestyle, only set against a lush Asian backdrop, instead of the usual desert setting. Seeing the tragedy centered around a desperate man is nothing new to the series, and in fact the stylistic union proves something of a detriment to the episode as a whole.

The shootout that ends Wade's stay in Vietnam recalls Shunka's similar response in the preceding two-parter, and unfortunately brings to mind the many similar scenes from the accumulated thirty odd issues. That Aaron uses it to build up tension in the final scene taking place in America is a clever device, but one that doesn't make the story distinctive in it's own right. This is certainly fine in an ongoing series that needs to constantly redress it's core themes, but this far in "Scalped"'s history, a random graphic display feels largely inessential.

Moreover, the whole issue seems designed to close the short story cycle by returning the reader behind the typical parameters of Aaron and Guera's work, and it feels strangely limiting. "The Family tradition" ends up being memorable mostly for the regular series' artist returning in time to begin the next issue's "Unwanted" story arc, picking up on the shocking developments of issues 30-34. And with the series entering it's final phase, it seems that the self-contained stores that were so informative in it's beginning have settled into providing local color that is almost superfluous these days.

With three whole years behind it, "Scalped" has long since become the slow boiling neo-noir tale it's creators envisioned, thus making further fragmentation hard to justify. It could be excused previously, with the main character going into an extended seclusion, but certainly not now that he's in a different situation. Of course, the answer to that once again lies with Vertigo's decision to publish it's ongoing titles with no breaks in schedule. The editors count on the writer's fascination with the setting to provide for an entertaining diversion, but in doing so they harm the overall structure.

Faced with the artists increasingly incapable of fulfilling the monthly deadlines when producing highly detailed work, the imprint would do well to break the mold and at least try to publish their creator owned titles as series of mini-series. By forcing Aaron to adhere to a strict storytelling model employed by "the Sandman", the writer responds by saving the important story beats for the larger arcs, regularly bridged by short stories not illustrated by Guera, that seem to increasingly relish their tenuous grip on the series proper. One can't help but feel that with a looser artistic style enabling the artist to work faster, "Scalped" would have ended up a much shorter and more concise book, that still exhibits it's traditional methodical approach, without breaking clear to embrace the trivialities of it's bit players' background.

Scalped #30-34 "the Gnawing"

Jason Aaron and R.M.Guera's "Scalped" has just finished it's new storyline, coming on the heels of "High lonesome", a series of mostly unconnected vignettes framed around a plot-heavy story. "the Gnawing", on the other hand, is a very tense thriller leading to the conclusion of a lot of the plot threads set up earlier in the series.

As with many of "Vertigo"'s ongoing series, it's difficult to consider the new story arc as a story standing on it's own, not only taking into account how seamlessly it fits in the overall series continuity, but also how little actual distinction "the Gnawing" has on it's own. Both the setting and the characters stay the same, and it even retains the usual perspective associated with "Scalped". Yet, none of this is to the series' detrimental, as it has always been first and foremost a serialized story. It's to the creators' credit that the plot beats are so convincing that one can hardly forget them, even though they've happened long months, and even years before.

"the Gnawing" takes it's name from the very bleak beginning showing a nihilistic perspective of the people and their world, as explained by an elderly Native American. It's difficult to see how much of the effect this thematic cue actually has on the heart of this particular arc, as the "Scalped" is nothing if not consistent in it's thorough examination of the elements introduced from the very first issue. In any event, the mythological metaphor serves to point out that the longstanding and developing conflicts are about to start developing more rapidly, as the book has officially went past the setting up phase. The book's writer, Jason Aaron has gone on record as saying that his original plan for the title was set up until this exact point, which is now marked as the half of the series' eventual run.

Yet, despite the fast pacing and rapid plot developments, the writer was sure to explain that the next several issues will mark a return to the slower, more methodical pace that has enabled the creators to flesh out so many different aspects of life on the Indian Reservation. This, in turn, makes "the Gnawing"'s particular take on the life in Praire Rose a rare, and much needed, change of pace, designed to be particularly effective coupled with the presence of book's regular penciller R.M.Guera for it's entire five parts.

Having used the preceding "High lonesome" to shake Dash Bad Horse back into the protagonist role, the creative team are keen to push him even further. By having Dash play an active role in a scenario that once again centers around his role as a double agent, it's all the more surprising to see the character actually use his more active role to relieve himself of at least a part of his problems. The hopelessly nihilistic phase indicated by the previous year in the title is for the moment abandoned, and it's impressive to see Dash that, even though he once again makes his fare share of mistakes, actually takes a stance amid all the chaos and resolves a particular conflict that has long since plagued him.

Still, for all his confusion, he is for once second to Red Crow when it comes to the rash decisions. "the Gnawing" is centered around the way Lincoln deals with the consequences of his own rather hasty way to deal with a very delicate matter that has disturbed him for some time. Yet, the creators haven't spent the past three years nuancing these familiar faces so as to have them act out of character. In fact, it could be said that there is no better showcase of Red Crow's demeanor than these five issues. The way he deals with the situation and eventually resolves it is nothing short of consistent with the way the Indian Chief has been portrayed before, but it's also extremely visual and cinematic.

Having talked of the main players and their characterization, it's important to note the violence that goes with their way of life. "Scalped" was always a character piece that took it's plot points in gritty shootouts and this volume of modern western is no exception. Guera's inks never stop using the tradition of European western artwork to etch the consistent state of despair into the mistakes the large cast of characters makes under the red-hot desert sun. And even though these people frequently move into circles, all but promising a quick and violent end, their desperation still causes for a lot of morally pointless havoc along the way. And "the Gnawing" for the first in a long while makes this apparently clear - for every scene of the characters pounding on the wall and turning to alcohol for escape, there are more than just enough shootouts to drive the plot forward, and make some changes to the story that really matter.

Of course, Red Crow and Dash's actions once more have an effect on the people most important to them, and this in particular colors the proceedings in this arc, and no doubt, many more to come. Both agent Nitz and and Carol are thus deeply affected, and by the end of the fifth issue, heavily removed from where they were before, paying dearly for their relationships with Dash. It is certainly ironic that in order for Dash and Lincoln to gain some kind of release the people they're closest to have to suffer so much, but it also speaks at length of the complicated relationships established by the characters for years ago.

For once, the incident that took place nearly 30 years ago is not referred to extensively, but that doesn't mean that Catcher has stopped playing his uniquely decisive and spiritual role. Having a thoroughly mystical character in such a gritty and realistic crime series might seem contradictory, but Aaron and Guera once again find a way to integrate him in proceedings while retaining the mystery. For all his intrigue, Catcher could have easily turned out a very annoying character, particularly considering Vertigo's tendency of inserting post-modernism and mythology into strange genre mixes, but in "Scalped" he has always been used in precisely the right way. After having slowly revealed the shocking bits of his past, proving how important this self-proclaimed outsider actually is to the series as a whole, Aaron and Guera are once again content to have him play a small but very interesting role in the plot.

Even the traditionally stunted to the side character of Shunka keeps playing his veteran bodyguard role extremely well. In fact, he is even more convincing this time around, making the Aaron promised prospect of his own two-parter storyline seem very interesting in finally revealing another part of the series' whole. More importantly for "the Gnawing", Diesel gets a definite characterization, as the situation of his imprisonment is finally resolved. This subplot is not tied as heavily into the Red Crow scenario that fuels the center of the arc, but it ends up being very important as a character piece.

The lessons these people teach one another are universally harsh and non-forgiving. "Scalped" remains a comic where Red Crow takes a former new helicopter to hunt down a man, where a truck wouldn't do, where every truth is hard gained, and in order to get to a resolution a man has to repeatedly make a lot of missteps. This is what makes it realistic, and a pleasure to read, with characters behaving not in the soap-opera cliches, but by presenting actual emotions that make their tragic lives all the more believable.