One of the things I appreciate most from Scalped is how real the world feels. I’m not saying that Prairie Rose Indian Reservation is a realistic depiction of how life on an Indian reservation is. I wouldn’t know since I’ve never lived on one. I’m saying that the world that Aaron & Guera created feels like it lives and breathes. And one of the ways that they achieve this is by taking the time to focus on a character and flesh him or her out. The narrative mainly focuses on the organized crime, casinos, federal agents and broken families, but every few issues the story zeroes in on a particular character’s backstory. We learned more about Shunka in the previous arc, which was quite intriguing. Agent Nitz and Diesel had similar treatment. This time we learn more about a character who I believe has never been in the book at all, except for when Red Crow referred to him as a “waste of space”. I’m glad that Aaron doesn’t share Red Crow’s view because I could read a whole new title just about him. A Sioux Vietnam vet with uncanny luck returning to his reservation with bad intentions sounds like a fun read. Hell, I could even read a comic about his great grandfather, who was a cavalry scout that chased renegade Apaches. It only took the opening panel to have my imagination running. I don’t want to give away who the surprise character is, even though it is pretty easy to figure out. Guera is such a skilled artist that you can see the resemblance between this character and who he’s related to. I’m curious how this character’s destiny plugs into the current story line. Is he charmed or cursed? Since he’s a character in Scalped, odds are he’s cursed. And things might get ugly.