1.02.09 Reviews

Scalped #24 (DC/Vertigo): Although it would be accurate to say that Scalped is the best Vertigo series currently being published, that would certainly give it short shrift. So, let's just say it's one of the best books being published. Period. Like previous issues that focused on Dino Poor Bear, this issue shines the spotlight on another b-player, Red Crow's right hand man Shunka, and gives him a chance to shine. Here he proves that he's not just hired muscle, but a thoughtful man who knows how to motivate his boss and the psychological hot buttons to push, speaking truth to power in order to have Red Crow stand up to the Hmongs. I'm reminded of the line "let justice be done, though the heavens fall." The goal of Red Crow's vision suggests that the end automatically justifies any means necessary to achieve it. It's a noble, distorted twist on his own (Native) American Dream "To carve a better place in this world for my people. To leave this rez better off than I found it." Grade A.