'Scalped' paints a rough picture of the reservation

Sometimes the comfort of fiction is that the story's sensationalized plotlines are traced over a world far away from us.

That's why we can feel entertained while watching a faraway space cyborg like Darth Vader slice off his son's hand without remorse or see mobster Tony Soprano shoot his best friend in the head and then drop the portly mobster into the Atlantic Ocean's big gulp without wondering if this all-too-real scenario will break into our homes and strip us from our safe, cozy recliners.

But when fiction outlines a world closer to home, the effect can be more like a slap in the face than a subtle sensation. Such is the case with "Scalped," a new comic book set on a fictional reservation in South Dakota.

Written by a white, stay-at-home dad in Kansas, "Scalped" is a violent crime drama scripted on the Prairie Rose Indian Reservation. Again, the Prairie Rose rez is imaginary, ripped from author Jason Aaron's mind. But the setting is too familiar for anyone who's spent considerable time on one of our state's many reservations.

On pages with muted colors and scratchy drawings that look like they were penned by a Frank Miller disciple, "Scalped" shows a sensationalized view of a reservation coping with bureaucratic corruption, exploitation of land and the struggle between traditional values and contemporary habits.

With only one issue out, "Scalped" is being described by comic industry folks as "The Sopranos" on the rez. And while its plot is a mafia-like conspiracy story complete with an undercover FBI agent returning to his homeland to spread justice, the story feels too real. It reads like a bloodier version of the reservation corruption stories I heard while growing up next to the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota.

That's what makes this comic so good. Like Louise Erdrich's fabulously detailed book "Love Medicine" or Chris Eyre's striking and contemplative film "Skins," "Scalped" feels more like a commentary on contemporary reservation ills than an entertaining crime drama that could compel some comic nerds to drop $3 on the latest offering from DC's adult-orientated Vertigo imprint.

"If the book helps to raise awareness about issues faced by Native Americans today, that's fantastic," Aaron says via e-mail. "But I didn't go into writing this book with some sort of agenda in mind. 'Scalped' is still meant to be an entertaining crime series, but hopefully a series with plenty of meat on its bones in terms of social relevance."

The comic succeeds in both respects with stark - and mature - images such as a corrupt casino owner sitting next to a man he just scalped or alcoholics crossing the border into Nebraska to buy some beer.

The scenes seem too real to come from a wasichu who's never even been to the Pine Ridge reservation - which served as a model to Aaron's comic book setting. And I wonder if this cautionary thought is simply the byproduct of me working at a PC-conscious newspaper or the harbinger of skepticism to come. So I called Gabe Night Shield.

The Sioux Falls rapper grew up on the Rosebud reservation and is an avid comic book fan who lights up with excitement the rare times we talk about comics. When asked if Aaron's white skin and lack of first hand reservation experience bothers him, Night Shield says, "I don't care.

"I think it's cool. I went down and bought (the comic) as soon as I read about it," Night Shield says. "It's very rare that something like that has to do with Native Americans that's not stereotypical."

Rather than damn Aaron for presenting reservation dilemmas the writer only learned through research, Night Shield is more concerned with how he can get into the book that's based on land so familiar to him.

"Hopefully I can make a guest appearance and get killed or something," Night Shield says with a laugh.

Ultimately, I wonder if that's the reaction we should all have from "Scalped." Do we praise it for underlining social problems on ignored reservations, or do we simply applaud the comic for its writing and entertainment value?

I suppose it all depends how close we're sitting to the reality of "Scalped," and how we worried we are that this reality will spill into our lives.