Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Scalped #54
Vertigo Comics (DC)
Aaron & Guera
"Knuckle Up" reaches the penultimate chapter with this issue as it pits two of the main characters against each other for the next issue. This book manages to up the body count in a couple of unforeseen areas as it seems like Aaron is trying to ease the reader into the idea that a lot, if not most, of the familiar and favorite characters are going to end up dead before this is all over with. This is as strong an issue as this series has had and is just another example of how great a series this comic book has been.
It's all pretty simple. Shunka has crossed Red Crow and everyone seems to know it. In the process of doing so, Shunka has crossed the people that seemed to have hired him to cross Red Crow. Just about everyone wants Shunka dead. While this is coming to a boil, Karnow and Nitz finally come to a conclusion in their feud. This probably doesn't end quite the way the readers are expecting. Of course, the issue is completed with Dash's father and Catcher having a deadly heart to heart while they are in neighboring cells.
The issue is just jam-packed with drama and death. You'll notice Dash isn't really present in this issue and for good reason. Dash is the main event for the next issue and it promises to be very good.
The artwork is excellent. There is a ton of tension in every panel that Red Crow walks into and it comes across perfectly in the artwork. The scenes with Nitz and Karnow are shocking and the art handles that with all the distress you would expect while reading the book. Yes, it's difficult to tell Catcher and Dash's father apart, but aren't they really such similar, almost mirror image characters to begin with? Overall, the powerful story is met with equally powerful artwork.
Aaron is ramping up the ending to this title and leaving no rock unturned. What Aaron is doing in the process is making sure that no other arc is going to be better than these final two. All of the violence this book has seen over the last few years and this is as violent an issue as we've seen. With all of the death and, yet, you might be surprised as to which character lives. This is an excellent comic book.
4 out of 5 geek goggles
