Oh, why do you do it to me, Jason Aaron? Is it because I’ve never liked Agent Nitz (not that we’re meant to)? It is, isn’t it? Because I openly despise Nitz we get a whole issue dedicated to him and the crumbling of his mission to infiltrate the Rez and get rid of Red Crow; that’s basically the entire plot of the series, and in this single issue we see how the events of the last few arcs have completely destroyed Nitz’s credibility as an agent, and his operation is now beyond compromised. And yet, even though Nitz is arguably the least likeable character in a series filled with horrible people, this issue makes him human and makes us care about him. Jason Aaron gives us a tale of a man completely broken down by the system he works within, struggling to decide what to do with his life when he feels he has no life left to live; it’s all in the dialogue as Nitz has a meltdown throughout the issue and does some things you never realised you wanted to see him do until now. There’s a confrontation with Red Crow that ends nastily, some soul-searching that leads to a dramatic showdown and then a wonderful turn as we realise that Nitz’s role in the story is far from over despite what we’ve just read. It just goes to show that Jason Aaron knows what he’s doing and does it beautifully. Speaking of beauty, Davide Furno’s artwork is as majestic as ever, capturing the harshness of Nitz, as a character, and the bleak, unforgiving nature of the Rez in winter. It’s been great to focus on side characters these last few issues, but next month should be something special with the return of Dashiell Bad Horse to the foreground and some more brutal action. But as a character piece, this might be one of the best issues of Scalped ever published.