Scalped Vol. 4: The Gravel in Your Guts [Paperback]

Jason Aaron (Author), RM Guera (Illustrator), Davide Furno (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Scalped | Publication Date: April 28, 2009

This intense crime drama that mixes organized crime with current Native American culture.

Fifteen years ago, Dashiell "Dash" Bad Horse ran away from a life of poverty and hopelessness on the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation in search of something better. Now he's come back home armed with nothing but a set of nunchucks, a hell-bent-for-leather attitude and one dark secret, to find nothing much has changed on "The Rez" - short of a glimmering new casino, and a once-proud people overcome by drugs and organized crime.

In this volume, Dash makes a dark and fateful decision that will forever affect his future on the reservation as he learns more secrets from his former girlfriend's past.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"* "Overwhelming is the right word to use for this book. It's a must-buy." - Silver Bullet Comics * "Scalped reads like an action movie... punctuated by dollops of violence, splashes of sexuality, and seeds of future storylines planted everywhere you look." - Newsarama.com * "Jason Aaron's new creation hits the mark. His latest work might start an avalanche unlike Indian Country has ever seen... If Scalped doesn't leave shivers down your back, read it again." - RezNet News" --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Jason Aaron made his comics debut in 2005 with a short story in Wolverine. His first series, The Other Side, received wide critical acclaim. R. M. Guera was born in Yugoslavia, but now resides in Spain. His first widely known comics work was on the series Le Lievre De Mars, and as well as Scalped he is the writer/illustrator of his own series, Howard Blake. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Vertigo (April 28, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401221793
• ISBN-13: 978-1401221799
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.3 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Mystery

More About the Author

Jason Aaron is an Eisner and Harvey Award nominated comic book writer best known for the critically acclaimed crime series Scalped for Vertigo and stints on Black Panther, Ghost Rider and Wolverine: Weapon X for Marvel. Current projects include Wolverine, Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine and PunisherMAX, all for Marvel. He was born in Alabama but currently resides in Kansas City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best in the Series Thus Far, January 23, 2011

By 

Tyler S. "Super-Review" (Brentwood, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scalped Vol. 4: The Gravel in Your Guts (Paperback)

From start to finish, Gravel in Your Guts is non-stop epic noir. Red Crow, Dash, and Dino are really developed this time through and their storylines are getting really, really intense. I'm almost thinking, where could J. Aaron go from this? It's already a giant ticking time-bomb that's inches from exploding into a mystery-solving masterpiece. Somehow the author is managing to go deeper and deeper, while still biding his time on revealing the secrets of Scalped. I'm loving every dirty minute of it.

I honestly have never read a series where I'm equally interested in a cast of at least 5 characters. It's hard not to pick favorites in those situations. Scalped is one of my favorite comics of all time, because magically I want to know about every single character (Dash, Carol, Red Crow, Dino, Mr. Brass, even Shunka). There's astoundingly never a dull moment, and I think comic writers should read Jason Aaron's work. The backstory flashbacks are actually inventive, while usually I hate that convention. Really, I have nothing bad to say about this comic and I know it will just get better and better. By this time, Scalped is officially a staple of the graphic novel genre.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gritty, October 8, 2011

By 

Sam Quixote - See all my reviews

This review is from: Scalped Vol. 4: The Gravel in Your Guts (Paperback)

Dash Bad Horse and Carol Red Crow's destructive, desperate relationship continues with Bad Horse getting into some of Carol's bad habits, namely heroin; Dino Poor Bear gets to tell his story here and we see him go from bad to worse; Chief Red Crow's past continues to unravel as he converses with his dead ex Gina Bad Horse, Dash's mum, and his current situation with a group of murdering Hmong gangsters.

Ed Brubaker in his intro points out that "Scalped" is noir and that means it is meant to be as dark as all hell, and boy is he right - it is! I know Brubaker does noir as well, his series "Criminal" is superb, but even that doesn't compare to the deepest depths that Jason Aaron and RM Guera takes the reader, and "The Gravel in your Guts" is no exception.

Well it sucks to be an indian on the Prairie Rose Rez it seems, but on the other hand this series gets better as the characters get more fleshed out and interesting. It's building towards something and Aaron knows how to throw in the right characters at the right times to keep the story barrelling along nicely.

It's the best in the series so far and if you're a fan of the last three books then you'll love this too. "Scalped" doesn't pull its punches but it is a series that has some increasingly fascinating characters, in particular Red Crow who is becoming a modern day King Lear or MacBeth. A good read and a series worth checking out, "Scalped" continues it's great story in this fine volume.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Want to Watch, But Can't Look Away, November 3, 2009

By 

Sean Rueter "s1rude" (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Scalped Vol. 4: The Gravel in Your Guts (Paperback)

Part of me can't stand the wait between volumes of Scalped, and part of me isn't sure I could handle much more of it. Jason Aaron is crafting a tour de force crime drama, and volume 4 takes us closer to the inevitable bad ending for two of the principals on "the Rez", Chief Red Crow and Dash Bad Horse. That we have been given so much history and characterization for these two men allows us to feel the decisions they make here that much more intensely. None of the main characters in Scalped are completely heroic or unsympathetic; we can understand why they make the decisions they do (and in one case, perhaps even respect that decision - and it may not be the character you'd think), even as we know those decisions will lead to their downfall.

One of the reasons it's great that this is a comic book is that the story has room to breathe and build. The other is the chance to see Aaron's partner, R.M. Guera provide great visuals that contribute to every element of the story. In this volume, guest artist Davide Furno pitches in to provide some gritty work on Dash's more intimate story.

A fantastic addition to one of the best comics being produced today. Check it out, starting from the beginning. And then read everything else Jason Aaron has written. (Quick suggestions: The Other Side for the non-capes crowd; Ghost Rider Vol. 1: Hell Bent and Heaven Bound (v. 5) for the Wednesday crowd)