Scalped Deluxe Ed. Book Four

This is the second to last collection as Scalped is starting two wind down.  This book feels much more like an anthology as it includes several side stories.  I absolutely love issue 35 which opens up this book it is a beautiful one & done story about Mance & Hazel.  Next up we learn about Carol’s past as she comes to the realization that she is pregnant with Dashiell Bad Horse’s child.  She winds up torching her house & going to live with Granny Poor Bear.  Granny helps get Carol off of drugs & by the end it looks like Carol is turning her life around.  Dashiell’s father Wade has returned to the reservation & he wants to see his son.  Everybody is always giving Wade a hard in this book & I understand that he really doesn’t stand up for himself but he is at least trying to make an effort & is his past with all of the characters is murkier than anyone can guess.

The Native American sweat lodge comes into play in this book a lot as it is used to ween Dash off of drugs & even for prayer or meditation.  Other side characters get their chance to shine as Wooster Karnow from Nebraska keeps reminiscing about how he used to be such a big shot & a war hero until he starts chasing down a guy wanted by the US Marshalls office.  This is issue was also quite amazing & is setting up something for the final book.  The other character who really get some page time is Nitz.  Agent Nitz has such a fall from grace when his superior comes in from Washington fires him for incompetence & getting his partner killed.  Nitz is in a drunken rage goes to confront Red Crow who basically has his men beat the crap out of him but not kill him.  Nitz trying to find a way to end it so he goes to a meth lab hoping that the tweaking junkies will kill him in a fire fight.  But do to his luck things don’t work out the way he was expecting them to.  The whole Unwanted storyline is about regrets & bad decisions. 

The next story-arc in this book is called You Gotta Sin to Get Saved.  This is a very Red Crow centered story.  Lincoln is coming up against a rival for chief of the tribe & his rival is the man who raised him.  As Red Crow is dealing with this new threat Dashiell & he have become quite close.  Meanwhile Dino Poor is developing a major crush on Carol that balances on the very edge of creepy.  The character that I have lost all respect for in this book is Catcher.  In this collection Catcher proves how messed up & sadistic he really is as he tries to kill Officer Falls Down & Dashiell Bad Horse.  I can’t wait for him to wake up in the last book & see who is in the same hospital room as him.  This series has gained a lot of respect from me as I have continued reading it but it is not an easy series to get into.  But once it has its hooks into you be prepared you are in for a wild ride.