JASON AARON ON SCALPED/THE OTHER SIDE/WOLVERINE

[MattBrady]

by Vaneta Rogers

Jason Aaron is proving the status quo wrong. After all, nobody buys war comics – right? And nobody wants to read realistic stories about Native Americans – right?

According to fans of the up-and-coming writer, those assumptions are wrong. The critical success of his war-focused mini-series The Other Side and ongoing series Scalped, both from Vertigo, have gotten him a lot of attention from fans and professionals throughout the comics industry.

And now comes word that Aaron will be writing a special issue of Wolverine for Marvel comics, and hints that you'll be seeing a lot more of this guy's work later this year.

Aaron caught the eye of the comics’ world with The Other Side, which is being released in trade paperback on May 23rd. The mini-series, featuring art by Cameron Stewart, was praised by Y: The Last Man writer Brian K. Vaughn as “one of the best things Vertigo has published.” Focusing on two soldiers – one American and one Vietnamese – during the Vietnam War, the series received wide critical acclaim for its gritty, realistic portrayal of the horrors of war.

And Aaron’s ongoing series Scalped, an action-filled comic set on a poverty-stricken Native American reservation, has also been praised by his peers – including Matt Fraction, co-writer of Immortal Iron Fist, who said the series “absolutely knocks me out.”

Scalped, with art by R.M. Guéra, follows the story of tough guy Dashiell ("Dash") Bad Horse, who recently returned to his boyhood reservation home. His reappearance has gotten the attention of the reservation's political leader, Red Crow, who just happens to also be in charge of local organized crime. In fact, Red Crow is so impressed with Dash's brutal fight with a few of his paid thugs that he gives him a badge, deputizes him, and puts him on his payroll.

Throw in a few mobsters, a shady casino, a slew of meth labs, Red Crow's mixed-up daughter (who still has a thing for her former boyfriend Dash, despite the fact she's married), and Dashiell’s defiant mother, who demonstrates for Native American rights (and against Red Crow) -- and you’ve got a story that makes the Sopranos look tame.

But wait – it gets better. What none of them know is that Dash is working undercover for the FBI.

Yeah. Told you it got better.

As Scalped #4 comes out this week, Newsarama talked to Aaron about the ongoing series, what he thinks of all the attention he's been getting lately, and what we can expect from the special issue of Wolverine he's got coming up for Marvel Comics.

Newsarama: Jason, you were interested in writing from a pretty young age. At what point did that interest turn toward comics?

Jason Aaron: I was always interested in writing for comics, but I had no idea how to go about breaking into the industry. So I tried every other kind of writing I could. I won a small scholarship for the editorials I wrote in my high school paper, majored in journalism, did an internship at a local newspaper, realized I wasn’t cut out for journalism, dropped out of school, wrote a couple of unreadable novels, shaved my head, went to Woodstock where somebody stole my notebook and car keys (and I’m still looking for you, a-hole), went back to school and eventually graduated with an English degree, had some short stories published here and there, got a job writing movie reviews, and next thing I know, here I am writing comic books, which is where I wanted to be to begin with. I just took the roundabout way of getting here.

NRAMA: Have you always been a comics reader?

JA: Yeah. My mom bought me comics when I was barely old enough to read. But it was the mid 80s when I really got into them, thanks to Frank Miller’s DAREDEVIL, Alan Moore’s SWAMP THING and Wolfman and Perez’s NEW TEEN TITANS, plus books like ATARI FORCE, BLUE DEVIL, CONCRETE, SCOUT and anything by Rick Veitch and Grant Morrison.

NRAMA: How did you get started in the comics business? You won a Marvel talent search, right?

JA: Yeah, I was one of the winners in the Talent Search that Marvel held back in the summer of 2001. I wrote an eight-page story that saw print in WOLVERINE #175 where Wolvie stumbles out of the woods to talk with a woman about God while changing her flat tire. There was also some killing involved.

NRAMA: Did that eight pages in Wolverine open any doors for you?

JA: The Wolverine story didn’t directly lead to anything else, but I did get a check with Spider-Man on it, so all of a sudden I could honestly say that I was a professional comic book writer, even if I only had eight published pages to my name. Most importantly, the whole experience gave me the courage to keep plugging away and sending in pitches, to Marvel and everybody else. Eventually Will Dennis at Vertigo said yes to my Vietnam War idea, and for that, I will always be in his debt.

NRAMA: That Vietnam War idea was The Other Side, the five-issue mini-series that just finished up in February. With the trade coming out May 23rd, can you give a quick synopsis of what readers can expect if they pick it up?

JA: Talking maggots, talking bullets, a talking machine gun, a ghost that can’t talk because his jaw is missing, leeches that quote the Proverbs of Hell, zombified grunts, tigers, a dragon, references to the Louvin Brothers, the Sex Pistols, and Dante’s Inferno, gorgeous art courtesy of Cameron Stewart, amazing colors courtesy of Dave McCaig and various curse words courtesy of yours truly.

The trade will also be loaded with extras, about 20 pages worth, including an introduction by Capt. Dale Dye, the technical adviser on PLATOON and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, a brief essay I wrote about my late cousin, the Vietnam vet and novelist Gustav Hasford, and a diary of Cameron’s trip to Vietnam, featuring photos, sketches, layouts and his dispatches from the DMZ and the bustling streets of Hanoi.

NRAMA: How did you come up with the story of the two soldiers and how they each reacted to the horrors of war? And why were you sold on the idea of doing a war comic?

JA: I wanted to do a Vietnam War story because of the influence my cousin Gus has had on me. It was his novel, THE SHORT-TIMERS, that Stanley Kubrick’s FULL METAL JACKET was based on. Gus died back in 1993, but I’ve spent many years since then researching his life for a biography, and I’ve been fortunate enough to gain the friendship of his fellow combat correspondents of the First Marine Division. THE OTHER SIDE is dedicated to those guys.

If I was gonna do a war story, I knew I couldn’t simply do a re-tread of what had come before. Doug Murray and Don Lomax were both Vietnam vets, and they gave us THE ‘NAM and VIETNAM JOURNAL, respectively. I could never do a simple ground-level view of the war that would compare to what those guys had done. So I added surreal elements to play up the psychological horror of the situation, and I broadened the scope of the story, to look at the war from both perspectives. It all just seemed like a natural fit.

NRAMA: You mentioned Cameron Stewart's visit to Vietnam, a trip he took because of his upcoming gig drawing The Other Side. How was it working with him?

JA: Cameron is a consummate professional and one hell of an artist. I’d work with him again in a second. He really went above and beyond on this book, and I think the results speak for themselves. I met him for the first time at the San Diego con back in 2005, and he left from there to fly directly to Vietnam. At the time, I felt a little like Robert McNamara, shaking hands with the poor draftee and sending him on his way, warning him to keep his socks dry and his weapon clean. Thankfully he didn’t catch malaria or eat any pickled snakes or anything. He did crawl through Viet Cong tunnels though and fired a few rounds from an AK-47, and eventually he returned to The World, squared away and born again hard.

NRAMA: Your next project to get the green light at Vertigo was Scalped, a story of organized crime within a poverty-ridden Native American reservation. What can you tell us about the germination of this story?

JA: It seemed like a story that was flat-out dying to be told. You really haven’t seen much crime fiction connected to Indian gaming or reservation life, but it was a story that just came together naturally. I’ve always been fascinated with Native American history, from Crazy Horse and Chief Joseph to John Trudell and Leonard Peltier, so I’ve been able to work a lot of that in as well.

NRAMA: In the first three issues, the main character, Dashiell Bad Horse, not only establishes himself as quite the bad-ass, but talks to his fellow FBI agents about how he's not particularly happy about returning undercover to the "rez" where he grew up. What can you tell us about the character and the journey he'll be taking over the course of the story?

JA: Dash’s journey is gonna be a tough one, no doubt, and it’ll get a lot uglier before it ever gets any better. But it’s still basically a journey of discovery. Or re-discovery, as he’s forced to come to terms with a Native culture that he’s spent his life rejecting.

NRAMA: Let's talk about Red Crow, who seems to function as the story's villain as he runs not only the reservation's casino, but just about everything else from the police force to the drug trade.

JA: Red Crow was a militant “Red Power” activist in the 1970s, fighting for Native American rights. But over time, his tactics changed. He became more of a legitimate political figure, while also conversely becoming more corrupt and brutal. He still feels like he’s fighting for the good of the rez, but he’s had to make so many moral compromises along the way, that it’s hard for him to tell if he’s winning the fight or not. Red Crow has become my favorite character to write, and if anybody comes away from SCALPED feeling like he’s a pure villain, then I’ve failed. I want this to be the type of story where it’s often hard to tell the good guys from the bad, where one character can be both a villain and a hero at different times, and where all the characters have depth and sympathetic characteristics, even the most brutal.

NRAMA: The women in Dashiell's life are pretty mixed up -- his mother and Red Crow's daughter come to mind. How would you describe his relationship with these characters? They've been kind of showing up peripherally so far -- will we see more of them in future stories?

JA: Issue #11 focuses solely on Dash’s mom, and she’ll become a very important figure in the coming months. We’ll get more info on Carol, Red Crow’s daughter, as her relationship with Dash develops. Why does she hate her father so much? Why is she so desperate to get away from the rez, yet she’s never been able to do it? What does she really think of Dash? What will her husband do when he finds out about… well, you’ll see. All of those questions will be answered.

Dash is obviously someone who has tumultuous relationships with the women in his life, and unfortunately for him, that’s not going to change any time soon.

NRAMA: You mentioned Red Crow was a favorite character in Scalped. Can you tell us some of your other favorites?

JA: The arc I’m writing right now focuses on a different character each issue, and I’m loving every one of them. The diversity of the characters and the richness of the setting allow me to tell all sorts of stories, from dark character studies and intense action tales to gritty social drama and meditations on spirituality. Red Crow’s been my favorite character so far, because I can love him and hate him all at the same time. The issue I’m about to write is focused on Catcher, the mysterious old guy who talks to his horse, and I’m really looking forward to writing that one.

NRAMA: Can you tell us what is coming up in the next few issues of the series?

JA: Greedy officials from the BIA. Practitioners of Jeet Kune Do. A two time Soldier of Fortune Combat Knife Champion. A brutal Hmong street gang. The sheriff who presides over the largest drunk tank in the United States. A shoot-out in a chicken coop. A knife fight in a bull ring. Fellatio. Animal spirits. Jesuits. Tobacco ties. Prairie oysters. And Merle Haggard’s tour bus. Plus more murder, more sex and more methamphetamine.

NRAMA: How has it been working with R.M. Guéra on the series?

JA: Guéra is the most passionate guy you can imagine, a real character, and he brings so much experience and excitement to the table that he not only makes SCALPED a better book but he makes me a better writer.

NRAMA: So many comic books that feature Native Americans like to focus on spiritual or mystical stories, but there doesn't seem to be any of that in Scalped. How would you describe your approach to this story and why do you think it's important to show the bitter realism of reservation life? In your research, are things really this ugly out there?

JA: The rez in SCALPED is probably worse than any one reservation you’d find, but nevertheless, all of the issues we deal with, like corruption, meth addiction, loss of cultural identity and alcoholism, are issues being faced by present-day Native Americans. So far, I have shied away from any sort of mysticism, preferring to keep the book as gritty and down to earth as possible. But we will be touching on elements of spirituality from time to time, like in issue #9, the Catcher issue that I’m about to write.

NRAMA: You've approached two pretty controversial issues with these first two stories -- war and Native American reservations. Do you like doing these types of stories, and will we see more of them from you?

JA: I figure if you’re not pissing somebody off somewhere, then just you’re not trying hard enough. You’re not taking chances. And I want to always take chances, whether I’m writing a work-for-fire superhero story or my own creator-owned series. It’s not that I want to intentionally stir up controversy. In person, I’m actually a really mellow guy. I just want to tell fresh, exciting stories, controversy be damned.

NRAMA: There are rumors you've got some other gigs coming up. Can you give us any hints about what you'll be writing?

JA: Here’s a hint: it involves me typing the word “SNIKT” in a script again.

NRAMA: You’re back writing Wolverine?


JA: I’ve written Wolverine #56, an extra-sized, stand-alone issue that features the legendary Howard Chaykin on art. In it, we meet Wendell Rayfield, a recently divorced, down on his luck ex-cop who's looking down the business end of 40 with no hope for the future and with demons from his past still haunting him at every turn. All he has going for him is his new job. A job that involves a very large machine gun, a hole in the ground, a certain hirsute mutant and several thousand bullets. We all know what kind of damage Wolverine can do with his claws, but how can dangerous can the guy really be when all he's able to do is talk? Poor old Wendell Rayfield is about to find out.

Beyond that, I have several different projects in the works for a number of different companies, but nothing I can talk about just yet. Overall, it looks to be an exciting year for me.

NRAMA: You really do seem to have a lot of doors opening for you now -- and a lot of your peers citing your work among their recommended reads. How does it feel to get the accolades and attention?

JA: Oh, it’s a huge thrill to have guys like Brian Vaughan and Brian Wood as such vocal supporters of my work. As far as I’m concerned, writing comics is the greatest damn job in the world (except for maybe starting outside linebacker with the Pittsburgh Steelers), and I’m loving every single minute of it.

NRAMA: OK, Jason -- as Scalped comes out this week and shop owners are taking orders now for The Other Side trade, what would you say to Newsarama readers (many of whom stick pretty much with the superhero stuff) that might make them interested in giving your Vertigo stuff a try?

JA: I don’t know, do they enjoy napalm explosions or people getting hit in the face with nunchucks? Surreal, psychological horror? Gritty character drama? Profanity? Nudity? If so, look no further. You’ve hit the motherload.

[larkinja]

The Other Side was a great book and I'm really enjoying Scalped. DC or Marvel should be smart and try to wrap him up with an exclusive.

[xdemon]

I have been really enjoying Scalped. It's a great read.

[Ed Brubaker]

Scalped is one of my favorite books on the stands.

[Crusader K]

Scalped stunned me.

I had visited a Native res several years ago in New Mexico and was shocked at the third world conditions there while being amazed at the same time that casino's making millions were opening up. I love this series. I had bought the 1st 3 issues but didnt get a chance to read them so I got to read them all at once. It defintely was not what I was expecting but was surprised at the reality it portrayed.

If you're not buying this - start, especially if you like The Sopranos or The Black Donnelly's!

[Black Beetle]

I read the first issue. I wasn't expecting that! Good stuff. I've been meaning to check out the last couple issues. And it's cool to hear Mr. Aaron's got a Wolverine issue coming up.

[briancwood]

I don't know how Jason does it... his comics are damn near perfection.

-brian

[The Spirit]

Originally Posted by Ed Brubaker

Scalped is one of my favorite books on the stands.

Get matt to edit his original post and put your quote in it.

[neodragzero]

Originally Posted by larkinja

The Other Side was a great book and I'm really enjoying Scalped. DC or Marvel should be smart and try to wrap him up with an exclusive. I think he'd do wonders with DC's war books like the Unknown Soldier or maybe stick him in the DCU on The Question.

Agreed, except on the part about the Question.

The Other Side was a truly great read. And Scalped never fails to entertain. One of the few writers that makes a story that makes me deaf to the rest of the world with ease.

I don't know how Jason does it... his comics are damn near perfection.

Almost like he sold his soul to the devil or something...

[bigdaddyhub]

Wolvie one-shot????

Let's see this guy get a major character for a whole run! He's already sold 1 copy of Wolverine 56.

[FanBoyKevbo]

"JA: I don’t know, do they enjoy napalm explosions or people getting hit in the face with nunchucks? Surreal, psychological horror? Gritty character drama? Profanity? Nudity? If so, look no further. You’ve hit the motherload."

Well...I'm sold.

[Skinshark]

Originally Posted by Ed Brubaker

Scalped is one of my favorite books on the stands.

AGREED! But excuse me while I plug your book as well...Criminal is a nice apertif to be reckoned with!

[remender73]

The Jason Aaron revolution begins!

[DoctorDoom]

You had me at Wolverine....


J/k!

Sounds like good stuff.

[Tony Moore]

anything Jason touches is pure platinum.
in no time, this cat will be a force to be reckoned with, guaranteed.

-T

[EmeraldGuy32]

A Chaykin cover that's actually good? Damn.

[Jason Aaron]

Thanks everybody. Don't forget to look for SCALPED #4 today.

And if you're not already, do yourself a favor and pick up IRON FIST as well. Helluva good book.

[RedRonin]

Scalped sounded really cool, but I didn't give it a second thought. Sounds like I should have. I'll have to check it out.

[Skyhawk]

I absolutely love Scalped. Haven't tried The Other Side, but will check it out. I was really tired of Wolverine (the character in general because he seems to be everywhere) but I'll definitely take a look at how Jason handles him.

[Dark Light]

One of the best books. I wanted people to try this book since I read the first issue, so I put it in my sig. Lets raise the sales numbers!!!!

[TheToileteer]

Do you suppose "The Other Side" will ever be translated into Vietnamese?

[Jason Aaron]

Originally Posted by TheToileteer

Do you suppose "The Other Side" will ever be translated into Vietnamese?

That would be great if it was. I have no idea if it ever will be though.

If you're a fan of THE OTHER SIDE, make sure you get in on our MySpace giveaway contest where you can win an actual page of Cameron's original art from the book.
Details here.

[TheGrayHulk]

Originally Posted by DoctorDoom

You had me at Wolverine....


J/k!

Sounds like good stuff.

Yeah, but you lost me at Chaykin.

[victor lanza]

Originally Posted by Jason Aaron

Thanks everybody. Don't forget to look for SCALPED #4 today.

And if you're not already, do yourself a favor and pick up IRON FIST as well. Helluva good book.

Two great books this week!!!

[PhilipAMoore]

I just read issue four . I Iliked how it fleshed out Carol and Red crow.

Since this is the first book I read out of my large stack you know what I think of this issue . after reading this three word come to mind great issue.

Free Linard Peltier