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I just picked up American Vampire #1. Based solely on you guys and your reviews...and that King is involved.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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So I cracked into my recent big buy pile of trades and naturally the first one I went for was the latest volume of Scalped I needed to catch up, Volume #5. I admit at first I was hesitant to start the trades from just being tired with the baby but man, once I got to the title page I was freaking hooked again and couldn’t wait to get through it. So much so that I started it last night at 10:00 PM and have finished it now, 14 hours later—I’ve been sneaking it in at work and read more than half during a long lunch.
So much praise has been thrown at Scalped in this thread by Lardy and myself that I don’t want to keep beating a dead horse. I’ll sum it up: this is in my top five best current comics in the market, is the best noir story/serial to come out since the early 40’s and is one of the greatest comics of all time. Still not blown away by my praise? I’ll come for you in your sleep.
I’m not really a person that likes to pick out volumes and say ‘this is my favorite’, but for Scalped I’ve kind of had it in my head that Vol #2, “Casino Boogie” was just my favorite because of how it worked as a bunch of single issues bundled into a larger story. I now think perhaps Vol. #5 is giving it a run for it’s money. It was just so incredibly terrific and Jason Aaron once again flexes his storytelling muscles in using different time periods and different storylines divided by single issues to weave an incredible tapestry that fits perfectly into a 5 issue trade. I wish Jason Aaron wrote EVERY title I collect.
The artwork is spectacular as always with R.M. Guerra gritty style hammering home the violence and bleak sense of hopelessness. What’s different in this volume was there were two stories with fill-in artists and one just happens to be an artist I’ve been praising like a madman lately, Francisco Francavilla, whose work on Zorro restored my faith in art and humanity. He does the Agent Nitz story, right in the middle of the two, and it was really cool to see his style used in crime fiction—and a much more rugged book at that—rather than the adventure/pulp inspired Zorro stuff. Where he truly excels is the way he portrays so much emotion in very simple ways and how he puts together the composition to pace the issue. In my opinion, Agent Nitz is the biggest asshole in the entire comic book, and yet with this story the creative team actually makes you feel something for him and want to see more of what is in store for Nitz.
That is Aaron’s best quality, of course, as we’ve said all along, that he gets you to feel sympathy and empathy for these characters who are the most part people you wish you’d never, ever meet in real life.
More spoiler-specific:
Click Here For A SpoilerLardy, you may have been more aware of this earlier than me, but I totally didn’t realize it was Catcher who killed the agents until I opened up that title page. The trade may be different than any single issue so to let you know, there is a widescreen shot of Catcher on his horse overlooking the terrain; its very beautiful but just filled with sadness. At that moment I realized that not only did Catcher kill Gina, but he probably killed the two agents. And later when you actually see the scene I couldn’t believe at how crazy it is! Catcher is one fucked up dude!
Another great character is of course the guy who sets it all off, the con-artist whose real name I’m not sure if we ever learn (I still didn’t believe him when he told Dash who he is). All we know about him is he’s a master con-artist, is black, and can’t help himself to screwing up. That was a classic noir/crime character and just fits so well with what Scalped is all about.
Dash wasn’t in this trade much until the end and yet by the close I felt this was a major turning point for Dash. He survived something that by all rights should have killed him and I hope he quits the drugs and gets his life together. You couldn’t help but feel this was a turning point.
I have the 6th trade as well and will start it tonight. This has been one of the most rewarding series I’ve read since Preacher. I even got my brothers to read it and they aren’t reading much these days, just this and Walking Dead and rereading Sandman and Preacher for the thousandth time.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Chief Taylor: Well, Dev, one thing about LW recommendations--they rarely steer ya wrong!
Indeed!
I think you'll like American Vampire, Dev. Skinner Sweet has been in three comics thus far (or is it four now, I'm so behind ), and he's already establishing himself as one of the great vampires EVER.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I don't want to respond entirely in spoiler box, so I'll try to be vague. No, Cobie, I didn't know before that story exactly who had killed the FBI agents. I mostly vacillated between it either being Gina or Red Crow. It's pretty ironic who Nitz blames, isn't it, with the real killer being mostly off of Nitz's radar? Yes, there's a lot of story to be told about the actual killer and his or her motivations. "The Gnawing" ends with another interesting development for that character.
Speaking of "The Gnawing"...I think you may be just about to reassess again which trade is your favorite! I thought that was one amazing arc and quite possibly the best of the series so far. Can't wait to read what you think since you'll get through that one really soon!
It's interesting seeing someone experience Scalped thru trades. After reading the first two, I caught up with individual issues and am quite happy to be supporting it monthly. It's a top of the stack book, and I couldn't imagine waiting six months or more for my next fix!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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Well Lardy, you weren’t kidding! I came home and opened up Vol. #6 and within the last four hours read through it all! There were a few interruptions but I really took my time with it just taking it all in, fighting off the need to rush through it all. And “Gnawing”, this volume, man….now that is some damn good reading.
What sets this apart from the two volumes I liked most previous was while they were almost grand experiments in master storytelling, this was more a culmination of the entire series so far that just exploded into your face! This was a major game changer with every single character having things happen to them that changed the direction of the series and some characters not getting out alive. In, it kind of had the Shakespeare feel where everyone in the finale sequences gets killed one after the other—I kept waiting to see who else would buy it.
And the best part is it feels like there is so much more to go in this series! In a way, the title has come full circle with the relationship of Dash and Red Crow growing tighter again and I’m dying to know where they go next.
Click Here For A SpoilerAnd I couldn’t help but cheer when Dash killed that bastard Diesel, especially after Diesel killed Agent Newsome so viciously.
I’m seriously concerned about Falls Down as well, since he’s in probably the most dangerous situation he could be considering whose trailer he was last seen in. I like Officer Falls Down quite a bit and his smaller role as conscious of the series is a welcome perspective.
Catcher acting as Dash’s ally / mentor at last just adds even more irony to Catcher’s role throughout the series. As we’ve said a million times, this is the most noir comic perhaps ever and all noir fans know the genre is always loaded with irony. Catcher fills that role in almost every way possible.
Man! So much happened that I can’t get my reactions all down on paper fast enough. Red Crow and Shunka taking care of business at the end in Minnesota was badass as well! I’ve kind of grown to like Shunka. I hope we get a chance to delve into him a little more since at least one of the more major characters bit it.
Even Matt Fraction’s intro in the trade was pretty groovy. He goes into this huge rant about the infamous American myth “the Alabama Corn Snake” and how it was a person/vigilante who killed this gang of Methodists and I’m thinking “wtf?” and then he ends it with how the Alabama Corn Snake once saved his life at a gas station and he asked the vigilante what he would do when all the Methodists were dead and the ACS replied: “I’m going to write comics”…and that was Jason Aaron. (I figured you’d never seen it before Lardy so I’d summarize it).
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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Funny you should mention Shunka, Cobester. He gets a two-part tale in 36 & 37 that is quite unexpected in its content and revelations. I talked about it a little here without divulging any of the spoilers. I thought it was a terrific spotlight for the character.
In typical Scalped fashion, we don't yet know what happened between Catcher and Officer Falls down as Aaron has used the issues since "The Gnawing" to pull back a little and tell stories like Shunka's, one about Dash's dad and another about a couple on the reservation that are apart from the central cast. This is typical of Aaron's approach, and I wouldn't have it any other way! I'm sure when Aaron does show what happened, it'll be the kickoff to the next big plot movement. (Or maybe it won't, knowing Aaron! )
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Interesting that they're still having writers intro the trades. A lot of those fall by the wayside as a series progresses thru collections. Have all of them had intros thru the six volumes?
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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Hopin Scott Snyder friends me on FB. He has a lot of posts about AV on his wall. Dude is gonna be big.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
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I'm thrilled that mine and Cobie's recommendations have hit a home run with you, Dev. Since you're loving Chew based on a push from me, I'm feeling pretty smug right now!
Now all ya gotta do is try Scalped!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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